Best performance
Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (men’s doubles)
Aaron-Wooi Yik got the monkey off their backs in the World Tour circuit by capturing the Denmark Open in Odense in October.
The pair also continued their fine record in major events by bagging bronze medals in the World Championships and Hangzhou Asian Games.
Aaron-Wooi Yik have now won medals in every major tournament except the Thomas Cup Finals.
They won gold in the SEA Games, bronze in the Commonwealth Games and Sudirman Cup and ended the country’s long wait for a world champion last year.
Best coach
Nova Widianto (mixed doubles)
Nova needs to be given due credit for his role in Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei’s rise to No. 9 in the world rankings in just a year.
The Indonesian, who is a two-time world champion and Olympics silver medallist with Lilyana Natsir, joined the national set-up last December just after Tang Jie-Ee Wei were paired up and did not take long to work his magic on the pair.
Nova had stated that his mission was to make sure at least one national pair qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics and Tang Jie-Ee Wei are on the right track to book their spots.
Most improved pair
Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (mixed doubles)
Eyebrows were raised when Ee Wei and Hoo Pang Ron were split last year and the former was combined with Tang Jie, especially with the 2024 Paris Olympics less than two years away.
But the decision turned out to be a masterclass as Tang Jie-Ee Wei hit it off instantly, quickly became the fans’ favourite with their fighting spirit and attacking style of play.
Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (below).
The colourful duo captured the Orleans Masters and Taiwan Open titles enroute to becomimg the country’s No. 1 pair.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei also qualified for the prestigious season-ending World Tour Finals after finishing as one of the top eight pairs in the world.
Biggest disappointment
Women’s team
The women’s team crashed out of the Cambodia SEA Games in disappointing fashion after suffering a shock 0-3 defeat to minnows the Philippines.
It was a second straight embarrassing exit for the women’s team in the biannual Games after losing 1-3 to hosts Vietnam in the same stage in the 2021 edition.
The women’s team were also not represented in the Asian Games for the second consecutive edition after the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) decided not to compete to avoid another embarrassment.
BAM have their work cut out to produce a team capable of challenging the top nations in the world with the Asian Team Championships at home in February and Uber Cup Finals coming up in April.
