Former national coach Wong Tat Meng has voiced his disappointment after Malaysia flopped at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships (BAJC) in Indonesia last week.

The national junior shuttlers had returned home empty handed without any medal, after crashing out in the quarter-finals.

Wong, who previously guided the likes of An Se-young and Lee Zii Jia to a measurable degree of success, was in Solo, Indonesia to witness the juniors in action.

He was clearly let down by what he saw.

“It’s quite sad to see that none of our Malaysian singles players, boys or girls, made it to the quarterfinals.

“Even though I’m no longer based in Malaysia, I still care deeply, especially having been part of the national coaching setup in the past. 

"It really makes me question what has been going wrong with our junior development system for the past how many years?.

“We have talent, no doubt, but something fundamental isn’t translating into results at the international level. It’s time for an honest review and a clear long-term direction, otherwise we risk an even more serious gap in our singles department moving forward,” he posted on his social media page.

Malaysia returning home empty handed is a huge downgrade from their outing in 2024, which saw the contingent return home with one silver medal and three bronze medals.

For the record, the last Malaysian singles shuttler to win the BAJC was Leong Jun Hao back in 2017.

The BAJC has proven a stepping stone for many shuttlers to go on and achieve international success.

They include Kento Momota, Shi Yu Qi, Chen Long and Kunlavut Vitidsarn.