KUALA LUMPUR: Former international Lee Wan Wah believes that Malaysian coaches are increasingly making their mark in the badminton world.
The 47-year-old former doubles ace, currently a member of the coaching staff for the Japanese national team, expressed no surprise at the increasing demand for Malaysian coaches.
It seems that Malaysia's badminton expertise has been in high demand in recent years, with the latest focus being Wong Choong Hann and Hafiz Hashim.
Following his resignation as singles coaching director of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) last month, Choong Hann wasted no time in getting hired as men's singles coach by the Hong Kong BA and reunited with fellow Thomas Cupper Choong Tan Fook, who has been there since 2010.
Meanwhile, Hafiz, who's based in India since early this year, received a request from women's singles ace P.V. Sindhu to train her on a full-time basis and assist her in her pursuit of a gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
Wong Tat Meng, who returned to coach Lee Zii Jia, is one of the most successful Malaysian coaches when serving the national teams of Indonesia, Scotland, South Korea and Hong Kong.
Wan Wah himself was part of a Malaysian trio, along with Jeremy Gan and Tan Kim Her, who were recruited by the Nippon Badminton Association under the leadership of South Korean legend Park Joo Bong between 2018 and 2019.
Jeremy was the first to join in 2018 as the coach for mixed doubles, and a year later, Kim Her followed suit by taking charge of the men's doubles department.
Wan Wah initially assumed responsibility for the junior squad upon his move to Japan.
However, by 2020, Wan Wah's role expanded as he was entrusted with a more prominent position in the senior team's back-up squad, known as Team B.
"It's been a long time coming. Two decades ago, Indonesian and Chinese coaches were in high demand, but now Malaysian coaches are also sought after," Wan Wah said.
"This recognition is a result of Malaysia's consistent production of talented players, and it naturally follows that they can transition into capable coaches as well.
"Moreover, the remarkable track record of Malaysian coaches speaks volumes.
"Notably, coaches like Jeremy and Kim Her have established themselves and earned widespread recognition. Their success has instilled confidence in other national teams to seek out Malaysian coaching expertise.
"Additionally, it is important to acknowledge that many Malaysians possess fluency in multiple languages, making communication significantly smoother. Take England, for example — surely a Malaysian coach would be a more suitable candidate, given the language factor, compared to a Chinese coach."
Wan Wah also foresees that more Malaysians will continue to spread their coaching skills now that the badminton is being played worldwide and more countries are stepping up their effort to develop the sport.
It's worth pointing out that besides the top badminton nations, there are also several Malaysian coaches who are currently plying their trade or had served in countries where badminton isn't a prominent sport.
They are Loh Wei Sheng and Lim Pek Siah (Singapore), Chin Eei Hui (New Zealand), Vountus Indra Mawan (Australia) and Iskandar Zulkarnain
Zainuddin (Ireland).
K. Yogendran, now the national team men's singles coach, was once a head coach of the Mauritius national team, and Salim Samion was handling the Ukrainian side.
"Badminton is definitely becoming bigger than ever. More countries are taking badminton more seriously compared to when I was playing," said Wan Wah.
"In other words, a lot countries are putting in more effort to develop the sport too. They will want more insight of the game and that's when they need to bring foreign coaches on board.
"Back in the 80s, we had Chinese coaches like Fang Kai Xiang, Han Jian, Yang Yang laying the foundation for Malaysian badminton."
Having served Japan for almost four years now, Wan Wah believes Malaysian coaches should grab every opportunity to work that they can get and broaden their horizons.
"If the offer is good, why not?" said Wan Wah.
"There are only so many positions in the Malaysian national team, so if there's an offer from elsewhere, go for it. That's how you can improve by learning and adapting to a new environment and different system.
"What you will get in return is an invaluable life experience."