KUALA LUMPUR: The move by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) to invite professional players to undergo weekly training sessions at the Academy of Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara here will greatly benefit both sides, said BAM doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky.
He said similar joint training sessions conducted by the All Indonesia Badminton Association (PBSI) had succeeded in lifting the performance of their national players.
“As far as I know, senior men’s doubles pair Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan still train with PBSI although they are professional players.
“The young players there have learnt a lot from them, especially through the experience shared by Ahsan-Hendra,“ he said after a training session at ABM today.
Rexy said while the professional players serve as sparring partners, their coaches could exchange ideas with their BAM counterparts.
BAM, in a statement yesterday, proposed that the training session for singles and doubles players be held on Wednesday mornings and the second session for doubles on Fridays.
According to BAM, players ranked in the top 50 in singles and top 30 in doubles on the Badminton World Federation (BWF) list are eligible to attend the training sessions, which will also involve the country’s top five players.
Rexy said none of the professional players had contacted him yet about the joint training although BAM had asked them to get in touch before Monday of the week in question.
He also said BAM was still looking for high-quality coaches to fill the vacancies left by women’s doubles head coach Chan Chong Ming, Flandy Limpele (men’s doubles) and Paulus Firman (mixed doubles), who resigned between December last year and April this year.
Their roles have been temporarily taken over by Tan Bin Shen (men’s doubles), Hoon Thien How (women’s doubles) and Teo Kok Siang (mixed doubles).
He said the candidates should be experienced coaches who can communicate effectively with the players.
“In terms of coaching programmes, everyone is the same.The only difference is the way of delivery and sharing of experience with the players,” he added. - Bernama
