Kuala Lumpur: The men’s singles chief coach of Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), Hendrawan, his eyes welled with tears, and became choked up in an interview published on Astro Nadi Arena’s website on Tuesday, feeling overwhelmed after poor performances from his department in the 3 back-to-back tournaments in Bangkok in Jan of 2021.
“I was appointed as the chief men’s singles coach last year, but there were no tournaments of any kind held due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After I came back from Thailand early this year, I gave up immediately. I tendered my resignation letter to BAM, but BAM refused to approve my resignation and asked me to try again. I know being a head coach in Malaysian isn’t easy,” said Hendrawan.
When asked how did he feel when submitting the resignation letter to BAM, Hendrawan was moved to tears, collecting himself for roughly 15 seconds before fielding questions from the interviewer.
“Yes, in singles… It was the first time I led the team as a chief men’s singles coach, but the result was not good. I’m sorry… sir, I’m sorry… (lowered and turned his head to wipe off the tears). Yes, I have been coaching in Malaysia for 10 years, but the head coach position is a new task for me and I also need to learn. Honestly, being the head coach of the Malaysian men’s singles is very tough,” explained Hendrawan.
The interviewer also wanted to know how Hendrawan felt after getting criticized.
“Since I came to Malaysia 10 years ago, I have never asked for any positions. This position was offered by BAM. In my contract, it specified that I must accept any positions offered by BAM. I really do not worry if someone takes my place, because, I know that I have tried my best. That’s it,” added Hendrawan.
After Lee Zii Jia won 2021 All England men’s singles title last Sunday, Hendrawan took to Instagram with the following message:
“Silent…Just Prove It”
And the text in the picture he posted read:
“When I am finally done, I will just leave.
No fright, no argument, and no goodbye.
”
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Looking at the history of BAM, it has a reputation of letting good coaches go. The current Japan badminton head coach Park Joo-Bong from South Korea used to be BAM’s head coach from 2000 to 2003. He left in 2003 blaming the lack of authority given him to carry out some of his plans. He then went to Japan and has successfully transformed Japan into the badminton powerhouse.
The 1996 Atlanta Olympic men’s doubles gold medalist, Rexy Mainaky spent 7 years with BAM, and coached Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong, the finest Malaysian men’s pair in the 2000’s. Koo/Tan went on to win Malaysia’s first Asian Games gold medal in 36 years at Doha in 2006.
Mainaky joined Philippines for a short stint before returning to his home country to serve as head coach for the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI). He managed to guide Liliyana Natsir/ Tontowi Ahmad to win the mixed doubles gold at the Rio Olympics.
After PBSI, Mainaky then successfully took Thailand to the world stage as the head coach of Badminton Association of Thailand (BAT).
An the list goes on, with BAM giving up on other great coaches such as Li Mao (current men’s singles chief coach for the badminton powerhouse, China), Jeremy Gan (current mixed doubles coach for Japan), Tan Kim Her (current men’s doubles coach for Japan), and recently, Chin Eei Hui, who led Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying to silver medal at the Rio Olympics.
