Rashid Sidek wants competent young shuttlers to avoid impending draught in Men’s Singles category
Malaysian Singles national coach, Rashid Sidek wants talented shuttlers in the back-up squad to fill the place of Lee Chong Wei and avoid the impending draught in the Men’s Singles category.
The coach emphasised on this factor with much intensity after knowing that China’s experienced shuttler, Bao Chunlai has announced his retirement from international badminton because of a prolonged ankle injury.
The coach said that China has many shuttlers to fill the gap of Chunlai, but Malaysia has no one to replace World Number One, Chong Wei, when he quits after the 2012 London Olympics. All Malaysian shuttlers in the Men’s Singles category are far behind the
top seed when it comes to his skill level and dedication for the game.
Rashid said that Chunlai will be replaced by younger Chinese shuttlers including Chen Long, Wang Zhengming and Du Pengyu, as all these players have proved their worth at the international stage.
However, the coach lamented that there is no dependable shuttler in the national Men’s Singles squad of Malaysia, who could even cross the quarter-final stage in major international events.
Speaking about the retirement of Chunlai, Rashid said, “His absence, however, has been immediately filled up by other youngsters. Their 22-year-old Chen Long is already in the top 10 in the world while they have Pengyu and Zhengming waiting to make their
breakthroughs.”
The coach is worried about the fact that besides Chong Wei, there is no Malaysian shuttler in the Men’s Singles category who could make his mark over top shuttlers in the world.
He further added, “But in Malaysia we have no one to immediately fill the shoes of Lee Chong Wei if he leaves one day. In fact, if he is not around, we do not have any player capable of even clearing the quarter-final stage of an Open tournament.”
The coach wants more competent and young shuttlers in the back-up squad. There are some back-up shuttlers in the national squad who have shown improvement during the last few months at international stage, but they are still far behind in the skill which
is required to become a world beater.
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