Kuala Lumpur: Almost A week after president of Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) Tengku Mahaleel Tengku Ariff openly criticize men’s singles coach for Daren Liew and Chong Wei Feng’s disastrous performances at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, both players have decided to stand behind their coach over this finger-pointing saga.
“It’s unfair to blame Rashid. We were the ones who failed, the coach should not be blamed,” said Chong Wei Feng.
“Rashid is a great coach. If his training program is not working, we wouldn’t have won gold in the mixed team event and we wouldn’t have finished second in the Thomas Cup finals,” added Wei Feng.
Saddened by the fact that BAM has made a scapegoat of Rashid, Daren Liew said: “The coach already did his part, we have to take our fair share of responsibility for our poor form. We can’t just put all the blame on Rashid.”
Former national player Datuk James Selvaraj and former BAM high performance director also quoted :”If BAM felt Daren has been underperforming, then they should have rectified it. Why send Daren, and then blame Rashid when Daren did not perform well? The association which authorized the proposal must take the responsibility.”
The 1998 Commonwealth Games men’s doubles gold medalist, Lee Wan Wah was equally emphatic that BAM laid the blame on Rashid: “Everyone from BAM officials, coaches, to players must share the blame for their dismal performance.”
BadmintonPlanet.com’s Note: August 10, 2014
Loss of Daren Liew and Chong Wei Feng in Glasgow has led BAM to political finger-pointing instead of fully face or take responsibility for its own shortcomings.
Amidst the controversy, in reality, besides Lee Chong Wei, quality of Malaysia’s men’s singles are going downhill – from traditionally serious contender to someone who couldn’t even beat players from Japan or India.
While finding another Lee Chong Wei is nearly impossible, instead of publicly lashed out at the coaches, BAM should start to lead by example, help young shuttlers to realize their potential and bring back the glory days of badminton to Malaysia.
