KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 24 — Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) deputy coaching director, Rexy Mainaky is expecting top national badminton men’s doubles pair, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, to reach the semifinal stage of every tournament they compete in.
He was of the opinion that reaching the semifinals was a reasonable benchmark for Aaron-Wooi Yik given their status as Olympic bronze medalists.
“Semifinals at the very least, quarterfinals would be considered a failure for players of their level,” he said when met recently.
Rexy, a former world champion and Olympic gold medallist, said the pair’s inconsistent performance, including several early eliminations in tournaments after their medal-winning achievement at the world’s biggest sporting event in Japan, was baffling.
As the world’s seventh-ranked pair, Aaron Chia-Wooi Yik possess outstanding qualities on the court, as displayed in their 22-20, 14-21, 21-16 victory over current world fourth-ranked pair, Japanese Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi in the Sudirman Cup group stage match in Vantaa, Finland, last September.
“We have to find out why they are inconsistent. At their level, they cannot afford to be like this, even when you’re in a rut, you can’t drop too low. For example, the inconsistent performance of Indonesian doubles players, Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan, is quite similar to Aaron Chia-Wooi Yik,” he said.
Of the seven tournaments they played in after the Tokyo Olympics, Aaron Chia-Wooi Yik only managed to get to the semifinals twice, at the 2021 French Open and the 2021 Indonesia Masters, besides helping the national squad qualify for the semi-finals of the 2021 Sudirman Cup.
Rexy also discovered that most of the players have yet to possess a winning mentality, that resulted in a loss of self-confidence during tournaments despite playing well during training sessions.
He said the badminton squad should emulate the Japanese, who seem to be always hungry for success in every tournament they participate in, which enabled them to dominate badminton internationally in the last five years.
To achieve this, Rexy, whose last stint at BAM was national doubles coach from 2005 to 2012, said players must train harder to become champions at the international level.
“The training must be tough. It is not meant to torture them but to make them champions besides shaping their mindset to understanding what to do on court….so far, I’ve seen the backup players giving positive feedback on what I want since my return to BAM,” he added.
The 53-year-old doubles expert, who started work in his new post in BAM on December 1, added that he will meet the main squad after their quarantine period ends following tournaments in Europe and Indonesia since last September. — Bernama
