Badminton Association of Malaysia faces dearth of players as Muhammad Hafiz Hashim leaves squad
The Badminton Association of Malaysia is quite worried about the vacuum produced by the departure of men’s singles shuttler Muhammad Hafiz Hashim from the national squad a couple of months back. Malaysia now has to rely on Lee Chong Wei, who is currently
the world number one, as there is no other player in the category of men’s singles who is capable of winning any major title for the country. Hafiz Hashim currently stands at the 24th position in the men’s singles world rankings.
The 28-year-old, Hafiz Hashim has left the national team, whereas Wong Choong Hann is in the final phase of his professional career, as he is expected to retire from the game next year. Apart from Chong Wei, Hafiz Hashim and Choong Hann, Malaysia does not
have another player in the men’s singles that has the ability to perform well at the international level. From other players of men’s singles, comes Yogendran Krishnan, who is currently the world number 62. However, he will take a few of years to grow, as
currently he does not possess the required skills that are essential to compete against the top athletes of China, Korea, Indonesia and Denmark.
Hafiz Hashim has put BAM in trouble, as it has no substitute to fill the spot of the former All England champion. He made his presence felt by winning the Commonwealth Games in 2002. In the following year he grabbed the most prestigious title of the All
England Open championships 2003 and also finished the Dutch Open as a runner up.
2005 proved to be the most successful year in his professional career, as he won three titles including, the Thailand Open, Swiss Open and Dutch Open championships. In the same year he also remained as runner up in the German Open and Denmark Open. In 2006,
Hafiz Hashim clinched the Philippine Open title.
However, Hafiz Hashim suffered from some injuries and was unable to win any major event for almost two years. In 2009, he lost the final match of the India Open to the former World and Olympic Champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia. Hafiz Hashim is generally
regarded as a great team player who remained the main men’s singles shuttler in the national team of Malaysia.
The early exit of this great shuttler from the national singles’ squad of Malaysia has produced a huge gap in the men’s singles of Malaysian badminton. BAM is worried at the moment, as there is no one to bridge the gap between the world number one Chong
Wei and the rest of the players. The most important aspect is that the 2011 Badminton World Federation World Championships and 2012 London Olympics are not far away.
According to the Coach, Wei Feng, the singles shuttlers including, Chun Seang and Chan Kwong Beng may be able to fill the place left by Hafiz Hashim. At the same time Rashid Sidek also expressed his expectation from these youngsters in the upcoming tournaments
before the World Championships. An extensive training program is designed by the coaches to produce better players in men’s singles category.
BAM is hopeful to see good players in a couple of years before the retirement of their hero, Lee Chong Wei who has recently won the All England Premier Super Series title for the second time in a row.
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