KUALA LUMPUR: National men's singles head coach, Misbun Sidek, stressed he will not compromise on any national shuttlers who are not performing, especially when they are sent overseas for tournaments.
This was clearly evident when the 58-year-old dropped national No 3 Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin for the ongoing Taiwan Open that started today (Tuesday).
Misbun clarified that the decision to withdraw the 27-year-old from the competition was made after Iskandar did not seem prepared mentally, especially when he failed to even get past the qualifying round of the Korea Open last week.
"When we were in Korea, I could sense that Iskandar was not himself. He seemed disturbed and this affected his performance. I then made the decision to pull him out of the Taiwan Open.
"I want him to stay back and prepare for the upcoming tournament. This is my approach. I am not willing to compromise when it comes to under-performing players.
"If a player is registered for a particular tournament, he or she must show the willingness to play," added Misbun.
On Monday, NSTP Sport reported that Iskandar was barred from competing due to his poor performance in the past couple of tournaments, in line with the BA of Malaysia’s (BAM) ruling in suspending under-performing players from competing in tournaments.
In Iskandar’s absence, Malaysia's charge in the men's singles event will be led by national No 2 Lee Zii Jia, 2017 Asian junior champion Leong Jun Hao, and independent shuttlers Liew Daren and Chong Wei Feng.
Meanwhile, in the first round of the mixed doubles, national duo Chen Tang Jie-Peck Yen Wei, were made to slog before carving out a 13-21, 21-15, 21-16 win over Hong Kong's Tam Chun Hei-Ng Shiu Yee. The Malaysian pair who are seeded third will play another Hong Kong duo in Yonny Chung-Wu Yi Ting on Thursday.
It was however the end of the road for Hoo Pang Ron-Cheah Yee See, who lost 21-16, 21-17 to seventh seeds Kohei Gondo-Ayane Kurihara of Japan.
The first round of the remaining disciplines will start today (Tuesday).