Kuala Lumpur: COVID-19 may have derailed the 2020 badminton season, but it hasn’t dampened spirits of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) and the new Malaysian men’s doubles coach – Flandy Limpele.
With Flandy Limpele’s arrival in Malaysia last Friday, BAM coaching director Wong Choong Hann believed the players should be striving for the next level of play.
The Indonesian coach has completed several coronavirus tests after arriving at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Friday and was asked to self-quarantine for 14 days at a hotel before joining BAM for the training.
Wong also expressed his gratitude to Malaysia’s Ministry of Youth and Sports, National Sports Council, and the Immigration Department of Malaysia for allowing Limpele to enter Malaysia in the time of COVID-19.
“Limpele finally arrived in Malaysia with the help of many government officials. He’ll meet with the team and formally perform his duties after 14 days,” said Wong.
“Limpele already started working right after he accepted our offer. He immediately reviewed and provided his feedbacks regarding videos of our players that we sent him. He also understood our expectations of him,” added Wong.
“BAM players are still adapting to high-intensity training after returning to the team for about a week. After all, they can only perform limited training during the coronavirus lockdown. They’ll need some time to get back to form,” explained Wong.
The 46-year-old Limpele has played a crucial role in developing the Indian men’s pair Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy to become the World No. 10 pair. He will coach the men’s doubles team with assistance from Rosman Razak and Hoon Thien How at BAM.
