KUALA LUMPUR – National badminton coaching director Rexy Mainaky is befuddled over the performance of the women’s squad at the ongoing Uber Cup, particularly in comparison to their performance during training sessions.
He said that while the players displayed their capabilities during practice sessions, their performance failed to translate under the spotlight of competitive play, both upon stepping onto the court and in their approach to various game situations.
“The difference is in the mindset of our players; they are still at the International Challenge (IC) and Super 100 levels. They are not thinking, ‘I need to show what I can do’.
“Moving forward, I need the players to think of how to improve, not just the coaches telling them what to do.
“I also need them to take ownership of their improvement and strive to enhance their rankings when they compete at ICs and Super 100s so they can start to play at Super 300 tournaments and above,” said the Olympic gold medallist.
Rexy also said that the women’s team might have shown excessive respect for Thailand, urging them to adopt a “nothing-to-lose attitude” instead.
He stressed the need for the younger players to demonstrate their capability at this level by putting on a positive display against top-ranked opponents.
“Against Chinese Taipei, they showed positive signs of fighting hard and pushing their opponents. So I don’t think the gap between our players and them is too big.
“However, against Thailand, they became intimidated and performed poorly, which shouldn’t be the case as they should have adopted a nothing-to-lose attitude.
“In this squad, those who are used to playing at the Super 500 level and above are only Goh Jin Wei and Teoh Mei Xing.
“The youngsters should have shown they belong at this level against the top 10 and 20 players; when you get the opportunity to play against top players, you need to take it,” said the Indonesian to the media in Chengdu.
Malaysia’s Uber Cup squad went down 4-1 to Chinese Taipei on Sunday and was wiped out 5-0 by Thailand on Monday.
However, they successfully salvaged some pride today after defeating Australia 4-1, but this was not sufficient to progress to the quarter-finals.
The last time Malaysia advanced to the last eight was in 2010. – May 1, 2024