•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   
•    EYEWITNESS   

Kuala Lumpur. Army discipline, early nights and grassroots development are among the prescriptions being suggested to improve Malaysian badminton, which is still reeling after an embarrassing display at the recent Thomas and Uber cups.

Even with men’s world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei leading the charge, host Malaysia was drubbed 3-0 in the semifinals of the Thomas Cup by China, while the women exited in the Uber Cup quarterfinals after a similar thrashing from Indonesia.

The tournament was a huge disappointment for the badminton-crazy nation and prompted a great deal of soul-searching about what had gone wrong — not all of it focused on skill.

“Discipline is crucial for the development of a player, and as experienced internationals the shuttlers should know how to follow the rules. Keeping late nights is definitely not helping them,” National Sports Council boss Zolkples Embong told the New Straits Times. “If Chong Wei can make it a point to sleep at 10 p.m., I’m sure the others can, too. The onus is on the players to avoid nightlife as it will disrupt their training the following day.

“I can arrange for an army officer to take charge of the camp, if this is what the players want. They should follow the rules; it is the norm of a successful athlete without being coaxed to do so.”

Malaysia has plenty of young players to pick from, but turning raw talent into top singles players has been difficult, according to Al-Amin Majd of the Badminton Association of Malaysia.

“I agree that our junior stars have failed to make the grade when they join the senior ranks — especially the singles players,” he told the Star newspaper.

“This is not so much a problem with the doubles ... but we have not been that successful in the singles department.”

  Reuters