PETALING JAYA: The positions of national men’s singles coaches Hendrawan, Datuk Tey Seu Bock and James Chua are secure for now but changes could be made at the end of the year.
The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) have clarified that none of the coaches are in immediate danger of losing their jobs after advertising that they are seeking to hire a men’s singles coach for the national senior squad.
“Hendrawan, Seu Bock and James are still part of BAM,” confirmed BAM secretary-general Datuk Kenny Goh.
“The advertisement for a new men’s singles coach is part of the normal process in BAM as we usually conduct reviews on coaching structure, coaches and players’ performances at the end of the year.
“This is also part of BAM’s early preparation. We don’t know yet if we will really hire a new coach or not as we don’t know what will happen in the future.
“We need to be ready to strengthen our coaching structure if needed.
“For now, there are no vacancies for the men’s singles coaching position as we still have Hendrawan, Seu Bock and James.
“We will look at all options available to improve our coaching structure,” added Kenny.
For the record, Indonesian Hendrawan and Seu Bock have been part of the BAM since 2009 and 2002 respectively while former Malaysian Open champion James was hired in 2022.
The BAM have been under pressure to produce more world class men’s singles players since Datuk Lee Chong Wei retired in 2019.
World No. 10 Lee Zii Jia decided to leave the national set-up and turn independent in 2022 while world No. 18 Ng Tze Yong’s progress has been hampered by a back injury this year.
Tze Yong missed out on qualifying for the Paris Olympics due to his persistent back issues, leaving Zii Jia as the country’s sole representative in the men’s singles in the showpiece event.
World No. 37 Leong Jun Hao is currently BAM’s highest ranked men’s singles player behind Tze Yong.
