The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) are on a hunt for a new national doubles coach, but Rexy Mainaky does not want simply anyone to walk through the stable door.
The national doubles director expressed his wish of finding a handler fulfilling several criterias, including being an excellent communicator to the current squad.
“We want to get a coach in as fast as we can, but that person needs to be of quality. What I mean by quality is first, someone who has experience as a player and has produced results at the highest stage.
“That is the quality from their experience. But we also need someone who is an excellent communicator. I say this because the current generation shuttlers need to be told a few times before they get the message.
“A player like Lee Chong Wei is someone who gets it the first time the message or instruction is conveyed. But nowadays us coaches have to repeat several times before it gets across. We need some who can get across to the younger generation and guide them,” Rexy told Stadium Astro.
The BAM would be hard pressed to get a new coach in the aftermath of several exits through the door in the past year.
After Chan Chong Ming, Flandy Limpele and Paulus Firman departed from the national body, Tan Bin Shen (men’s doubles), Hoon Thien How, Lee Meng Yean (women’s doubles) and Teo Kok Siang (mixed doubles) were roped in.
The national body were reportedly in talks with Indonesia’s two-time former world champion and Olympics gold medalist Tony Gunawan to join their ranks, but nothing was set in stone yet.
Despite some of the coaching departures, the national doubles contingent managed to cope well, with Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik winning the world championships and Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah clinching the French Open last month.
But Rexy would ideally like to confirm his appointment ahead of next year’s first big assignment at the Malaysia Open in January.
