04/04/2026

SPORTS SATURDAY | APR 4, 2026

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Rexy’s challenge Time for national players to move up the ranks, says BAM coaching boss

THE Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) has sent a clear message that fitness remains the priority for the upcoming Thomas Cup 2026, asserting that the national squad will not include any player who is not 100% fit including Paris Olympic bronze medallist Lee Zii Jia. BAM Performance Committee chair man Datuk Seri Lee Chong Wei empha sised that while Zii Jia is a vital asset to the team’s strength, the association will not risk taking an injured player to the prestig ious tournament in Denmark. He shared if the injury persists, the team is prepared to field a “fresh” and fully fit player to ensure Malaysia remains com petitive throughout the grueling team championship. “We will not bring a player who is not in 100% condition to the Thomas Cup because this Thomas Cup is very impor tant, same in football World Cup, this is badminton World Cup. “We will bring one fresh player to the Thomas Cup, but coach Kenneth will con tinue to update Daren on Zii Jia’s progress because it’s hard to say anything right now as we don’t know Zii Jia’s condition,” he told reporters yesterday. He noted that national singles coach ing director Kenneth Jonassen is currently monitoring the situation and is in commu nication with Zii Jia’s coach, Liew Daren to receive the latest updates on the shuttler’s reported ankle injury. He shared that the deadline for the submission of the final squad list is next Saturday (April 11), leaving the coaching staff with time to evaluate whether the for mer All England champion can regain full fitness. “Before this Zii Jia didn’t come for training because of an injury and the latest information I know is (he said) Zii Jia will come to ABM tomorrow, but it’s not con firmed yet. So we don’t know his condition yet,“ he said. Despite the uncertainty, Chong Wei expressed satisfaction with the progress of other singles players including Leong Jun Hao and Justin Hoh whom he described as being in good condition and training well. Chong Wei concluded by wishing Zii Jia a speedy recovery, noting that a strong performance at the Thomas Cup would be a significant boost for both the national team and the player’s own individual comeback. Thomas and Uber Cup 2026 will be held at Horsens, Denmark from April 24 to May 3. – Bernama Not 100% fit, no Thomas Cup: Chong Wei

Chance to restore reputation of M’sian football: Mohammed Taufiq HA R IMAU MALAYA’ S drop to No. 138 in the world ranking must be seen as a starting point for comprehensive reforms to restore the image and repu tation of Malaysian football, said Youth and Sports Minister Dr Mohammed Taufiq Johari. He said major reforms would be implemented at the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) level to improve Harimau Malaya’s ranking. He said the decline in the squad’s world ranking is also related to several issues and controversies at the associa tion level, which must be promptly and prudently addressed. “We will carry out major reforms at the association level itself to ensure the team’s ranking improves. We, at the Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS), will always monitor FAM to make sure changes and reforms take place for us to progress,” he said when met at Wisma Bernama on Friday. The national football team dropped from 121st to 138th place in the latest Fifa world ranking on Thursday. Mohammed Taufiq stressed that this should not be viewed as a mere failure, but rather followed by a clear recovery plan, including strengthen ing grassroots development. “We have an exit plan and now our main focus is to ensure we unearth more talent at the grassroots level,” he said. Commenting on Malaysia’s failure to qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup Finals, he called on all parties to learn from this. “We look at this as something that we not only can learn from, but also as a challenge to improve by taking the necessary measures,” he said. Malaysia’s hopes of featuring in the Asian Cup Finals on merit for the sec ond consecutive time were dashed after being docked points by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Recently, the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee found that FAM had breached Article 56 of the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Code for field ing ineligible players in two Asian Cup 2027 qualifying matches against Nepal and Vietnam. Based on Thursday’s update, Harimau Malaya, who have accumu lated a total of 1,086.22 points, slipped 17 places following a 1-3 defeat to Vietnam in their final Group F match of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers yester day. The drop in ranking was also influ enced by a decision by AFC not to count two of Harimau Malaya’s previ ous qualifying matches against Nepal and Vietnam. Based on the original results of the two matches, Malaysia defeated Nepal 2-0 at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium on March 25 last year and thrashed Vietnam 4-0 at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on June 10 last year. However, on March 17, the AFC declared Malaysia had lost both matches by 0-3 scorelines after the national team was found to have fielded ineligible players. The decision was made following a document falsification issue involving seven Harimau Malaya players, namely Gabriel Palmero, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel. – Bernama

B ADMINTON ACADEMY MALAYSIA (ABM) coaching director Rexy Mainaky stressed that it is time for national players to move up the ranks in the team to com plement the leading members such as men’s dou bles Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, the women’s dou bles Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah and the mixed doubles Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei, especially ahead of the 2026 Badminton Asia Championships (BAC). According to Rexy, the situation at the national camp should not be likened to sending a large team to the battlefield but only expecting victory from a few individuals. He wants other players, including the men’s doubles pair Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun and Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King, to enhance their mental strength with the mission of contributing results for the team. “Other players also have

ments feeling less confident or just satisfied if they lose because they think there are still senior players who can be relied on. “We can see that in training, they are not differ ent from Aaron-Wooi Yik, Pearly-Thinaah and Tang Jie-Ee Wei. “But this is a mental factor and you have to believe in yourself,” he said. Asked about the benchmarks he wants for play ers at the BAC, the Indonesian badminton legend wants them to set a target to have a champion men tality because they have proven their ability to defeat players in the world’s top 10 before. “On benchmarks for Wei Chong-Kai Wun, Arif Roy King, of course we will talk about them, I want them to be champions. But do they have the same mentality or think the same way?

“This is what we have to unite, right? Only when we get to coach,we really see their capability to defeat top ten players,” he said. After the end of the assignment at the BAC, which will take place in China from April 7 to 12, the national squad is scheduled to return home temporarily before departing for Denmark on April 14 to undergo a central training camp as final preparation for the Thomas and Uber Cup competition from April 24 to May 3. – Bernama Coaching director of the Badminton Academy Malaysia Rexy Mainaky speaking to the media during the national squad training session at Bukit Kiara yesterday. – BERNAMAPIC

potential but why do we only rely on Aaron-Wooi Yik, Pearly-Thinaah or Tang Jie-Ee Wei? “It doesn’t mean we don’t want to rely on them, because they have proven so far in the tournament that they can translate into good results. “So seeing that this is also like send ing soldiers to war, we send a hundred but we rely on only two or three people, so this is not right either,” he told reporters after a training ses sion at ABM in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Commenting further, Rexy said the difference between main players and backup players does not lie in the quality of training but rather in the way of thinking and mental strength when on the court. He said, backup play ers can no longer enter tourna

Ee Wei ready for BAC battle despite abdomen strain N ATIO N AL women’s mixed doubles ace Toh Ee Wei isn’t too worried about the injury she has sus tained, saying it’s part and parcel of being a profes sional athlete, as she gears up for next week’s Badminton Asia Championships (BAC). own performance rather than on their opponents. “Yes, must focus on ourselves so that we can give our best on the court,” she said. Asked about their target, she said they are tak ing a realistic approach by focusing on their first round opponents, Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi of China, and not looking too far ahead.

“I can only evaluate their performance when the tournament gets underway, because for now, everything looks to be going well. We are making a thorough preparation, and hopefully they will do well,” he said. On their first-round clash against Hong Kong’s Fan Ka Yan-Yau Mau Ying, Rosman stressed that Pearly and Thinaah need to take a cautious approach and not underestimate their opponents. “I think the draw is fair to everyone, and our girls should get past their Hong Kong opponents, but they must be wary. Pearly-Thinaah only need to focus on their own game,” he said. Among the elite pairs that Pearly and Thinaah could come up against in the latter rounds are Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning and Zhang Shu Xian-Jia Yi Fan (China), Baek Ha Na-Lee So Hee (South Korea) and Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto (Japan). – Bernama

“Our training intensity has been quite high for the two to three weeks. So, I felt a bit of strain in my abdomen. I think I’m about 70% recovered. “It’s quite common for athletes to have injuries. So, it’s how I overcome it that is most important. I’m used to injuries,” she said after a training session at Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) yesterday. Ee Wei, who partners with Chen Tang Jie in mixed doubles, intends to take it one game at a time at the BAC, which will be held at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium, Ningbo, China, from April 7-12. Commenting on the draw for the champion ships, Ee Wei said they are more focused on their

Meanwhile, top national women’s doubles pair – Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah – can expect a torrid time if they were to come up against any of the pairs from China, South Korea or Japan. National women’s doubles head coach Rosman Razak said Pearly-Thinaah are aware of the pressure they will face. “Yes, as I said earlier, there is always pressure, and they are aware of it, but they intend to give it their best shot. They are motivated… every tourna ment they play in, they will face different kinds of challenges.