KUALA LUMPUR: Ong Beng Hee's decision to quit as national coach will leave a huge void in the national squash coaching set up, the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) acknowledged today.
Ong accepted a lucrative offer from the Qatar Tennis, Squash and Badminton Federation, whose president Nasser Al Khelaifi is also the chairman of French football club Paris Saint-Germain, just as his two-year contract with SRAM was coming to an end.
He joins fellow coaches Raymond Arnold and Mika Monto in leaving SRAM in recent months, though in Ong's case, it also stems from his frustration with not getting into the elite-level Podium Programme managed by the National Sports Institute.
SRAM president Huang Ying How confirmed that Ong, whose charges Ivan Yuen and national junior S. Sivasangari have shown tremendous improvement in the last 18 months, has submitted his resignation letter.
"We are unable to match the offer he has received from Qatar and we will soon begin searching for a replacement to fill the vacancy," said Huang, who had previously envisaged Ong becoming a national head coach in the future.
Both Yuen and Sivasangari are part of the Podium Programme but Ong's hopes of joining his players there was dashed after talks with the programme's officials in March came to nothing.
Deciding to then pack it in, two-time Asian Games singles gold medallist Ong said the Qatar national head coach position comes with bigger responsibilities, including overseeing the development of 60 players.
"Qatar have big ambitions and they are making a huge effort to develop squash in their country," said Ong after finishing fifth in the men's Premier Division of the Ohana National Championships at the Jalan Duta Squash Centre on Friday.
"It will be good to broaden my horizon and gain new experiences."
As a parting shot, Ong defeated 2015 Sea Games gold medallist Sanjay Singh Chal in four games to show he will be missed by Malaysian squash in more ways than one.