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Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia reacts after losing a point during the men’s singles final match against Lin Dan of China during the Badminton World Championships at the Tianhe Gymnasium on August 11, 2013 in Guangzhou, China. (Getty Images)
Another Asian badminton power – faced with a bleak future – has revamped its structure.
Malaysia has been confronted by dwindling fortunes in all five categories. With world No.1 Lee Chong Wei the only world-beater at their disposal, Malaysia has initiated a reform of its organisation, with its new president using his corporate experience to address the situation.
The other Asian giant to embark on a revamp was Indonesia, which overhauled its coaching set-up a year ago and was rewarded in the form of two gold medals at the World Championships in August this year.
Malaysia faces as dire a situation as Indonesia did. There are no prominent Malaysians in women’s singles and women’s doubles, and only a couple of good pairs in men’s doubles and mixed doubles. The presence of Lee Chong Wei gives them an appearance of good health in men’s singles, but there is no back-up player good enough to replace him. This was conceded by coach Rashid Sidek, who told Malaysian media on his return from the Indian Badminton League that India, in fact, had greater depth than Malaysia.
Malaysian badminton’s revamp started with the assuming of office of new BAM president Tengku Tan Sri Mahaleel Tengku Ariff on July 27. The president first met various stakeholders, including the media, players, sponsors and coaches, before announcing his plans.Tengku Mahaleel, who was formerly CEO of automobile major Proton Holdings, has brought in his corporate experience to badminton.
Among his significant decisions was to announce a five-year strategic plan and the restructuring of Badminton Association of Malaysia into two main divisions – Talent Management Group (TMG) and Service Support Group (SSG). The BAM earlier had a more elaborate set-up consisting of an executive committee and seven sub-committees.
Tengku Mahaleel also brought in a popular name of yesteryear badminton – Tan Aik Mong, who, apart from his experience as a top international during the 1960s and 1970s, has had a career in IT.
Tan Aik Mong will be director of the Talent Management Group, while the Service Support Group will be headed by general manager Kenny Goh. Both the heads of the two groups will be monitored by a ‘steering committee’ under Tengku Mahaleel.
Tan Aik Mong, with his IT experience, is expected to usher in technological reform, such as the introduction of an audio-visual analytical system. The Star newspaper quoted Tengku Mahaleel as saying that the heads of the two groups would be held responsible for performance of national shuttlers.
“The steering committee will hold both Aik Mong and Kenny totally responsible,” the president was quoted as saying. “If their group fails, they will be chopped. It is how the corporate world does it. If they do well, their teams will be rewarded… In the past, we used to have too many leaders calling the shots but now, we have reduced it to only two.
“In the past, the development committee did not know what the competition committee wanted and vice versa. Now, they do not exist. We have de-layered all the units in BAM and we will not have people confused of their roles.”
Malaysia’s revamp is reminiscent of Indonesia’s a year ago under PBSI’s new chairman Gita Wirjawan. A crucial part of his approach was to get former greats on board, with doubles legend Rexy Mainaky heading the coaching committee.
The changes initiated seem to have worked, with Indonesian doubles pairs showing greater intensity on court, and winning two gold medals at the World Championships. The performance has lifted the spirits of the Indonesian badminton community, which has over the last five years or so struggled to come to terms with the eclipse of a once-great nation.
If Malaysia can replicate what Indonesia has done, it will signal the start of an exciting new phase in badminton.
