KUALA LUMPUR – While the Malaysia Masters last week proved to be a promising outing for the national doubles contingent, the same cannot be said for the singles players.
All five Malaysian singles representatives – across both men’s and women’s categories – failed to progress beyond the opening round of the Super 500 tournament at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil.
The players included former Asian junior champion Leong Jun Hao, Justin Hoh, K. Letshanaa, independent shuttler Goh Jin Wei, and Ng Tze Yong, who unfortunately suffered another setback in the form of a knee strain shortly after returning from a long injury layoff.
Although not dismissing the idea that most of the national singles players – apart from Jin Wei – are still adjusting to the coaching methods of Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) singles coaching director Kenneth Jonassen, former national great Datuk Rashid Sidek believes the players themselves must shoulder some of the responsibility.
“It’s difficult for me to comment in depth, but I don’t think the blame lies solely with Kenneth or the other singles coaches,” Rashid told Scoop when contacted.
“While I believe Kenneth needs more time to improve the singles department, the players must also realize that they need to raise their level.
“Take Leong Jun Hao, for example – he’s not new to the national set-up. He’s got the talent and ability to trouble top players, so to lose in the first round to someone like Nhat Nguyen of Ireland is disappointing.”
It is worth noting that Jun Hao was also returning from a hand injury, which saw him skip the Thailand Open two weeks earlier. Meanwhile, Justin fell to Japan’s fourth seed Kodai Naraoka in the first round.
In the women’s singles, Rashid admitted Malaysia is still years away from producing a genuine breakthrough on the world stage.
According to the 1992 Thomas Cup winner, unless local players develop greater physical and mental resilience, it will be difficult to match the elite women’s shuttlers globally.
“Unfortunately, our women’s standard is still far off the mark,” said Rashid.
“Until our players can match the physical and mental strength of top players like South Korea’s An Se Young or China’s Wang Zhi Yi, Han Yue, and Chen Yu Fei, we’re going to struggle to challenge for top honors.
“You could bring in the best coach in the world, and it still wouldn’t make much difference – not yet. In fact, I think this also applies to our men’s singles players. Right now, I don’t think our singles players possess the same confidence and mindset as our doubles players.”
Malaysia’s men’s doubles pair Man Wei Chong and Tee Kai Wun ended a 12-year title drought in the event when they beat world No. 3 and former world champions Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in an all-Malaysian final.
Top women’s pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah, fresh from winning the Thailand Open, also did reasonably well to reach the semi-finals.
Malaysia’s top players are currently in action at the Super 750 Singapore Open and will then head to Jakarta for the Super 1000 Indonesia Open. – May 27, 2025