KUALA LUMPUR – Ideally, national mixed doubles head coach Nova Widianto would like to oversee a greater number of top pairs. However, the Indonesian coach acknowledges that younger players still lack the maturity needed to compete at the highest level.
Comparing Malaysia’s top two mixed doubles pairs, Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei, and Hoo Pang Ron and Cheng Su Yin, Nova pointed out that much more development is needed at the junior level.
Speaking at the Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) today, Nova said: “At the moment, we have these two top pairs, who are almost at the same level. I hope to see them continue improving.
“Ideally, I would like to have three or four pairs in the mixed doubles department, but unfortunately, we only have two at present.
“I’m also responsible for the juniors, but from what I’ve seen, they still lack maturity, and there is a gap between them and the top two pairs. They haven’t yet made a breakthrough at the International Challenge or even Super 100 level.
“Physically, they also have much to improve. These are young players, so we really need to sit down and have discussions with them.”
National number two pair Pang Ron and Su Yin made a significant breakthrough when they reached the Super 750 China Masters final on Sunday. However, the world number 18 pair had to settle for silver after losing to world number ones Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping in three games.
“Pang Ron and Su Yin have shown good progress since the Hong Kong Open in September, and this is promising for Malaysian mixed doubles, especially as we also have strong independent pairs,” Nova added.
“My only hope is that they will now be braver and more confident, knowing they have the quality to compete. Of course, when playing against Chinese opponents, we need to be extra cautious. The top three pairs in the world are from China, and they look set to dominate in mixed doubles,” Nova continued.
In addition, Nova shared his plan to encourage younger players to compete in both doubles and mixed doubles events.
“Younger players should participate in two events. They can’t use tiredness as an excuse because they are still young,” he said.
“I’ve already discussed this with Rexy (ABM coaching director), Tan Bin Shen (men’s doubles head coach), and Rosman Razak (women’s doubles head coach). Moving forward, I hope to see more pairs in the elite squad.” – November 26, 2024