National men’s singles coach Hendrawan will remain with the BA of Malaysia (BAM) until he serves out his contract.
Yesterday, the BAM council decided to let the former world champion see through his contract until next year’s Tokyo Olympics and have tasked him with the training programme of four shuttlers — Lee Zii Jia, Soong Joo Ven, Cheam June Wei and Lim Chong King.
National men’s singles head coach Misbun Sidek will be assisted by another Indonesian Indra Wijaya, and they will oversee players like Tan Jia Wei, Ng Tze Yong, Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin and Leong Jun Hao.
BAM president Datuk Seri Norza Zakaria, who chaired the council meeting at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara yesterday, said the decision was made following discussions with coaching director Wong Choong Hann.
“Misbun has accepted our offer to continue as men’s singles head coach and will be responsible for polishing our next batch of players namely Jun Hao, Tze Yong, Aidil, Jia Wei and other youngsters.
“He will also look at unearthing other talents who we have brought into our setup.
“Hendrawan will be responsible for Zii Jia, Joo Ven, June Wei and Chong King.
“In the mixed doubles, Chin Eei Hui is now the head coach and she will be assisted by Teo Kok Siang, while Pang Cheh Chang will handle the men's doubles squad at the Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS),” he said.
Norza also reiterated that Hendrawan will not be heading to Indonesia, despite being courted by the Indonesian BA.
“At the moment, Hendrawan loves working here and his expertise and knowledge are valuable as far as we are concerned, given the Malaysian context.
“Misbun and Hendrawan have agreed to the terms of their duties.
“We need to prepare our players for the Olympics next year and these four players (Zii Jia, Joo Ven, June Wei and Chong King) who we mentioned earlier are very much part of that.
“Misbun is very good with the young players, so he will continue with what he’s doing and help bring these young players to a level where someone like Hendrawan can guide them to improve further,” Norza added.
Meanwhile, Datuk Kenny Goh has been appointed as general secretary of the BAM.
He will officially start on Sept 1.
It will be his second stint with BAM after serving them as general manager about four years ago.