KUALA LUMPUR – While the national badminton team celebrates the bronze medal win at the Paris Olympics by the men’s doubles pair, Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, much of the coaching staff awaits their fate regarding whether their services will be retained by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).
Among those whose contracts are set to expire by the end of this year are the coaching director, Rexy Mainaky, men’s singles coach Hendrawan, and mixed doubles coach Nova Widianto.
Rexy, who returned to serve BAM in 2021, stated that he still has big plans for the national squad and hopes his tenure will be extended.
He also mentioned that he has no intention of going anywhere, including returning to his home country, Indonesia, despite calls from fans there for him to help rebuild the Indonesian team, which only managed to secure a bronze medal through women’s singles player Gregoria Mariska Tunjung.
“Netizens can say whatever they want, but my principle is that I still have responsibilities. If my contract is indeed up and BAM wants to extend it, I will… Yes, because my home is also here (in Malaysia).
“On August 13, we will sit down with Michelle Chai (Head of Administration) and the entire team to discuss plans for Los Angeles 2028. We will review the positive aspects of our efforts during this period and continue to build on them to make them even stronger.
“For our shortcomings, we will use all the feedback from discussions with teams from China, Japan, and Korea to improve our own team,” said Rexy upon his arrival at KLIA this morning.
Earlier, Michelle told Scoop that due to the Olympics this year, the review process for the contracts would only start in August.
Since most of the coaches’ contracts run until the end of the year, the entire review process could take up to four months.
Under Rexy’s guidance, his three protégés achieved remarkable success, even though two of them were making their first Olympic appearances.
The women’s doubles pair, Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah surprised many by advancing from the “group of death” despite not being highly anticipated.
They made history by becoming the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair to reach the semifinals, before narrowly missing the final and losing the bronze medal match to Chiharu Shida and Nami Matsuyama of Japan.
The mixed doubles pair, Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei, also had reason to be proud despite returning empty-handed. They stunned the world’s number two pair, Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping, in the group stage, before falling in the quarterfinals to Kim Won Ho and Jeong Na Eun, who went on to win the silver medal. – August 7, 2024