DESPITE the women's singles department being in dire straits, the BA of Malaysia did not even try to woo former national coach Wong Tat Meng back to their stable.
The 54-year-old, who left the South Korean team after guiding them to the Uber Cup title last month, was spotted at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara on Tuesday. However, he was with Hong Kong's men's singles squad.
It was Tat Meng's first day on the job with Hong Kong, whose players are preparing for next week's Malaysia Open and the Malaysia Masters on July 5-10. The Malaysian has signed a two-year deal with the Hong Kong BA (HKBA) and is tasked to prepare their men's team for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
While the HKBA did not set him any specific key performance index (KPI), Tat Meng has taken it upon himself to turn their two established stars – world No 13 Angus Ng Ka Long and No 15 Lee Cheuk Yiu – into genuine contenders.
"After guiding Korea to the Uber Cup, I felt like I had completed my mission with them. I wanted to seek a new challenge," said Tat Meng, who had groomed Korea's An Se Young into a world-beater during his stint of almost four years.
"I decided to accept Hong Kong's offer because the living environment there is more suitable for me. Contrary to my previous role, I will handle only the men's singles department.
"Ka Long was a top-10 player (career-best sixth) but has dropped a bit, while Cheuk Yiu is making inroads into the elite status. I want to help both shuttlers to take their game to greater heights and become top-10 regulars.
"I see tremendous potential in them, otherwise I wouldn't have joined Hong Kong."
So, why didn't he return to beef up BAM's coaching set-up instead, where the team are clearly in need of a quality coach following the departure of Indonesian Indra Wijaya, who left in February to join professional shuttler Lee Zii Jia.
The fact that there is no Malaysian representative in the women's singles event at the Super 750 Malaysia Open and Super 500 Malaysia Masters speaks volumes about how poor is the squad.
World No 54 S. Kisona is unlikely to make the cut even if there is late a withdrawal as she is only the fourth reserve.
Tat Meng revealed that the offer from HKBA was one of the two he had received, but there was no approach from BAM.
"The second offer I've got was also from an Asian country," said Tat Meng without disclosing.
"There was no offer from Malaysia."
Tat Meng had two stints with the BA of Malaysia from 2003-2011 and 2013-2016. He also spent two years in Scotland from 2016-2018.
His other stint abroad was with Indonesia in 2012.
Malaysia's women's singles department once soared under Tat Meng's tutelage, with the now-retired Wong Mew Choo being a world-beater in her heyday.
Mew Choo's biggest success was winning the 2007 China Open, where she defeated big names like Zhu Lin, Zhang Ning and Xie Xingfang for the title.
Mew Choo was also the last local player to reach the Malaysia Open women's singles final that year, finishing runner-up to Zhu Lin.