KUALA LUMPUR: National doubles coach Rexy Mainaky (pic) has clarified that he was not responsible for the decision on not to include Gan Teik Chai-Tan Bin Shen in the team for the world championships, which will be held in London from Aug 8-14.
The Indonesian said that he felt quite uneasy over being seen as the “bad guy” who denied the former national doubles shuttlers the right to compete in the championships and allowed his pair, Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Hoon Thien How, to compete by default.
Rexy, who attended a meeting with back-up coach Tan Kim Her, high performance director Datuk James Selvaraj, Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) general manager Kenny Goh and secretary Ng Chin Chai last Wednesday, said that a decision was already made when he was asked to name his best pair, based on current form, for the world championships.
Teik Chai-Bin Shen had qualified on merit for the championships together with Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong as the top 24 ranked pairs in the world at the end of a one-year qualifying period. A country can have a maximum of three pairs if all of them are in that bracket.
But Chin Chai, who is also the coaching and training committee chairman, made a shocking announcement last week on the decision to drop Teik Chai-Bin Shen in favour of Zakry-Thien How.
It drew strong reactions from Teik Chai-Bin Shen and some of the BAM council members from Kedah and Selangor even questioned the rationale behind the decision during an emergency annual general meeting last Saturday.
Some were concerned that the decision was not endorsed by the coaching and training committee and it was done in a haste by a select few.
“The doubles coaches were asked to attend a meeting,” said Rexy yesterday before leaving with the team for the Sudirman Cup mixed team championships, which will begin in Qingdao on Sunday.
“I want to make clear that we, the coaches, did not have the right to drop Teik Chai-Bin Shen because they were not players under our charge.
“The BAM had already decided and we were merely asked to find the replacements. Of course I named Zakry-Teik Chai when asked who were the next best pair to go based on current form and results. They had beaten several higher ranked pairs. And my comparison was only based on the players under my care.”
Rexy said that he wanted to set the record straight on the matter before shifting his focus on the Sudirman Cup in which Malaysia will bid to retain their position among the top four in Division One.
He hopes that his top charges, Kien Keat-Boon Heong, will be able to deliver a point in every tie.
“They are looking more confident after winning the Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold (in Alor Setar last week),” he said.
“I hope that Koo and Tan will win every match. Their contribution to the team will strengthen our hopes to remain as the top four in this world mixed team event.”
The others in the team are Lee Chong Wei, Chong Wei Feng, Thien How, Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying, Tee Jing Yi, Lydia Cheah, Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui and Vivian Hoo.
Malaysia have been drawn in Group B of a 12-team Division One competition with Indonesia and Russia.
The top two teams from the four groups advance to the elimination round in which a fresh draw will be made.
Courtesy of The Star
