Misbun leaves his fate in BAM's hands

KUALA LUMPUR: National development director Misbun Sidek will accept any decision by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).

The 63-year-old will leave his future in the hands of the national governing body.

On Wednesday, a special task force led by BAM deputy president Datuk V. Subramaniam and secretary-general Datuk Kenny Goh met Misbun and other junior coaches and players to deliberate on the junior programmes.

This came following the poor performance of the national squad at the recent Asian Junior Championships (AJC) in Yogyakarta, in which the team returned home empty-handed.

Malaysia lost 3-0 to Thailand in the mixed team last eight and only had one representative in the quarter-finals of the AJC individual event.

Timesport had earlier reported that Misbun's time was possibly up.

When met by the press after a six-hour meeting at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara, Misbun did not deny nor confirm the speculation.

"Whether my time (with BAM) is up or if there is a suspension, I will accept any decision," Misbun said.

"I believe I have done everything to prepare the players.

"Sometimes, what happens on court is out of my control. Results can be a subjective matter."

The former international rejoined BAM for a second time in 2017 after first leaving in 2011 as men's singles head coach. He was made development director in 2020.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, junior tournaments were not organised for two years.

When the World Junior Championships made its return last year, Misbun's charges failed to reach the quarter-finals in Santander, Spain.

On whether he had any plans should he leave BAM, Misbun replied: "Badminton runs in my blood. As a former player who has reached the top, I want to give back.

"So far, I have not made any plans."

Subramaniam asked for a couple of days before making any announcement.

"We met today to find a solution to our national junior programme.

"This includes meeting Misbun, the other junior coaches and players to find out in detail what happened at the AJC.

"It's not about whether we want to give him a second chance or anything like that. We have not made any decision yet.

"Allow us a couple of days before we make any official statement."