Long layoff: Ng Tze Yong will only be back in action next year after recovering from his back injury.
ODENSE: Malaysia’s men singles department will continue to lag behind if nothing extraordinary is done to restore its past glory. National No. 1 Leong Jun Hao went down in the first round of the Denmark Open while independent shuttler Lee Zii Jia did not take part due to injury.
While Zii Jia is charting his own journey under the flagship of a professional team, the focus is on the national team under the leadership of their director Rexy Mainaky from the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).
The national body have removed some of the coaches, including long-serving Hendrawan and Datuk Tey Seu Bock, from the men’s singles and have limited their elite players to Jun Hao, Ng Tze Yong, Justin Hoh, and Eogene Ewe under a new structuring programme.
Tze Yong is expected to return from his back injury next year but will he be able to return to his fiery form after close to year is a big question.
K. Yogendran and Alvin Chew have been given the mandate to coach the players as they wait for Rexy to name a new singles chief.
Rexy stated two names as his candidates but Mulyo Handoyo of Indonesia is not expected to join while Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark has yet to give a final confirmation.
While Malaysia take effort to steady the ship with many years lost in between following the retirement of three-time Olympic Games silver medal winner Lee Chong Wei, all other countries are moving on steadily.
In the absence of two-time world champion Kento Momota, who has retired, Kodai Naraoka, Kenta Nishimoto and Koki Watanabe are keeping the flame alive for Japan.
Indonesia still have Jonatan Christie and Anthony Ginting and China have their armies in Lu Guangzu, Li Shifeng and Weng Hongyang, while countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea have one or two making their presence felt in tournaments.
Even France have joined in the bandwagon with their 19-year-old hot sensation Alex Lanier, Toma Junior Popov and Christo Popov adding some spice.
And when the two-time Olympic Games champion Viktor Axelsen was down during the recent Denmark Open due to illness, Anders Antonsen stepped up to go all the way to win it.
On Sunday, a determined Antonsen beat spirited Watanabe 21-15, 21-16 in the final at the Jyske Bank Arena in Odense to the delight of his adoring home fans.
It was his second home title following the success in 2020.
“There’s nothing better than winning titles like this. It doesn’t get much bigger. I’m happy to move on from the Olympics (after quarter-final defeat),” said Antonsen.
Japan still went home with one title though Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi of Japan in the women’s doubles but the day belonged to China as they swept the women’s singles (Wang Zhiyi), men’s doubles (Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang) and mixed doubles (Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping).
With other countries advancing ahead, it’s time for Malaysia to join in as a worthy competitors to justify the time, money and effort that are put into in shaping the team for the future.
FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Anders Antonsen (Den) bt Koki Watanabe (Jpn) 21-15, 21-16
Men’s doubles: Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang (Chn) bt Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (Den) 21-18, 21-17
Women’s singles: Wang Zhiyi (Chn) bt An Se-young (Kor) 21-10, 21-12.
Women’s doubles: Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) bt Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (Chn) 21-18, 21-14.
Mixed doubles: Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) 15-21, 21-18, 21-17
