KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 — Following the recruitment of high-profile coaches, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) has made it clear that it will not tolerate any excuses from the players, insisting that this substantial investment must yield results.
BAM acting president Datuk V. Subramaniam said this is because they had invested quite a handsome amount of money to pay the calibre coaches as well players including the main stars in Academy Badminton Malaysia, Bukit Kiara.
“This investment should not go to waste. There is a lot of noise that has been made that we are not producing results because when we produce results, of course, the name goes to the players, it does not go to BAM, officials, or even the coach.
“We are bringing in the best leaders or best coaches around the world. If they cannot do well, what can we do? So no more excuse from them and the council is very clear, we are going to be firm as we are giving the best for the players,” he told a press conference after the BAM council meeting today.
Subramaniam added that the coaches must also be responsible for evaluating whether the player is up to the standard or ‘playing the fool’.
He also called for a clear key performance indicator from the coaches to ensure that progress is tracked effectively.
“So, we want to see at least end of the day, it must be about 65 to 75, 60 to 70 per cent results must be there,” Subramaniam said.
SImilarly, BAM will not interfere with the plan laid out by the coaches, and they will be given a free hand to implement strategies to improve national players.
In the meantime, Academy Badminton Malaysia coaching director Rexy Mainaky said that while experienced coaches play a key role, players must also understand and align with the coach’s plan for it to succeed.
He stressed that if players and coaches are not in agreement, progress will be impossible as success requires good collaboration between both parties.
Earlier today, BAM named Indonesian doubles legend Herry Iman Pierngadi, better known as Herry IP, as the new men’s doubles head coach, effective February 1 with a four-year contract.
Herry, who replaces the outgoing Tan Bin Shen, has previously coached Olympic champions like Tony Gunawan-Candra Wijaya and Hendra Setiawan-Markis Kido, along with many other world-class pairs.
Tan will leave the national camp after the 2025 Malaysia Open ends tomorrow and will continue his coaching journey with the Hong Kong national team next month.
In November, BAM appointed former Danish shuttler Kenneth Jonassen as the national singles head coach, who was instrumental in shaping world number four Viktor Axelsen as the 2017 World Champion and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medalist.
— Bernama
