KUALA LUMPUR: National junior director Misbun Sidek has got his work cut out for him as he aims to toughen up the current crop of young Malaysian shuttlers.
Despite winning two silver medals and one bronze at the just-concluded Dutch Junior International, the former national men's singles head coach is not satisfied.
Haikal Nazri first bagged the silver in the boys’ doubles event with Wan Arif Wan Junaidin. The duo fought tooth-and-nail but still succumbed to a 25-23, 24-22 defeat to Indonesia's Rayhan Fadillah-Rahmat Hidayat.
Haikal then secured his second silver with mixed doubles partner Low Yee Yuan in the 21-17, 21-10 defeat to Indonesia’s Tegas Hutomo-Indah Sari Jamil.
Boys’ singles Jacky Kok, who only made it to the last 32 last year, reached the semi-finals for a bronze.
The Dutch Junior International is considered as one of the most prestigious junior events, but there were no players from China at this year’s edition due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
“Overall, from the Dutch International, I can see that there is still a gap in three aspects — resilience, strength and technical ability — between our juniors and those from Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, India and some European countries.
“When we go back to Malaysia, I’ll be looking to increase the intensity of the training module for our junior team,” said Misbun.
The team will compete in the German Junior Open that starts on Wednesday. Unlike the senior event that got cancelled because of Covid-19, the junior event will go on as planned in Berlin.