AS Malaysian badminton laments its massive failures at the Thomas/Uber Cup Finals in Bangkok, a made-in-Malaysia coach was basking in glory with another country in Bangkok over the weekend.
While our national men's and women's teams flew back to Kuala Lumpur under a cloud of despair, Wong Tat Meng returned to Seoul in triumph with the South Korean team as Uber Cup champions.
Comparatively, the Malaysian women failed to reach the Uber Cup quarter-finals after losing 3-2 to Denmark and 4-1 to Thailand.
In the Thomas Cup, Malaysia crashed 3-2 to India in the last eight.
Malaysian fans can't help but marvel at Tat Meng's profound role in the Korean success.
At the Impact Arena, Tat Meng made his impact as his player, Sim Yu Jin gave South Korea the winning point in the decider against China.
With the two countries deadlocked at 2-2, world No 46 Yu Jin was up against China's world No 15 Wang Zhiyi in the cliffhanger third singles.
Much to the delight of the 54-year-old Tat Meng and his Korean teammates, Yu Jin delivered. Defending champions China crumbled 3-2 and South Korea won their first Uber Cup crown in 12 years.
After nearly three years with South Korea, Tat Meng will be leaving them amid a great sense of satisfaction — after playing his part in making them the best women's team in the world.
With the impending departure of Tat Meng, the Korean women's singles department will be managed by coach Sung Ji Hyun who came in only a couple of months ago.
Where will Tat Meng be heading to? He has not revealed his plans yet.
But the BA of Malaysia should take note. Last December, they rehired Rexy Mainaky to be in charge of the doubles department. But there are other areas of concern.
Malaysia's singles line-up in team events is glaringly weak, as brutally exposed by India in the Thomas Cup.
In fact, Lee Chong Wei said
that until and unless Malaysia have two strong singles,
Malaysia won't be able to win
the Thomas Cup.
Tat Meng used to be a good singles player and he has now made his mark as a coach. Plus he was a BAM coach from 2003-2011 and 2013-2016.
In his playing days in the 1980s, Tat Meng was ranked No 3 in men's singles in Malaysia, behind Rashid Sidek and Foo Kok Keong while Kwan Yoke Meng was No 4.
Indeed Tat Meng, who was known for his attacking game, can be an asset to Malaysian badminton — both in men's and women's singles — if he is on our court.