KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 — National singles head coach Datuk Misbun Sidek believes Wong Choong Hann can perform his duties professionally as a director of coaching.

Misbun, who had trained Choong Hann in 2002, said that the situation now was different as he had to work with the former player in ensuring the training modules used could impact effectively on the players’ performance.

"I know Choong Hann’s personality as I trained him in 2002. I know his charisma, his stand and his discipline ... I hope he can interact professionally and do not feel there is a gap just because I used to train him.

"It is true that for now I have only one boss (Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president, Datuk Seri Mohamad Norza Zakaria), but it is not necessarily that I cannot cooperate with other parties, it’s a promise from the beginning. The important thing is that there need to be solid and effective input for the players.

"I am positive with the appointment of Choong Hann, to me the appointment was the decision of the BAM’s leadership. I have no problem (about the appointment) what is important is a collaboration to boost the national squad to a higher level, "he said when met at the Badminton Academy Malaysia (ABM), Bukit Kiara here.

Misbun said collaboration with Choong Hann particularly in the technical aspect could help the training modules given to players to be more effective and comparable with those of the growing nations in badminton.

Choong Hann has been appointed as director of coaching on Jan 1, 2019 for the preparation of the squad to face the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

Among Choong Hann’s success as a player was a silver medal in the 2003 World Championships in Birmingham, England; twice helping the squad to qualify for the Thomas Cup final (1998 and 2002) and becoming the world number one in August 2002 in the World Badminton Federation (BWF) ranking.

"I hope for blessings from him and from the management. (The ongoing training modules) are my plans. For example, new players come in this year and we can see their improvements after months of training, We’ve seen improvements, such as their confidence on the court during tournaments. Their improvement in performance is not sudden but there is progress through the training given.

"It is a preparation from my side, so my hope is to get the best possible collaboration from all quarters and get the approval and support from my superiors, this is very important,” he explained.

Misbun said he believed Choong Hann’s appointment would not only improve the players’ performance but would also help make the training modules more effective and efficient for the development of the sport of badminton.

"Right now I only see from the coaching point, when there is a coaching director (Choong Hann) he needs to see how to boost the training modules given to make them more effective in boosting the athletes’ performance,” he said. — Bernama