KUALA LUMPUR: A disappointed BAM Coaching Director Rexy Mainaky has challenged his shuttlers to redeem themselves at the India Open and Indonesia Masters over the next two weeks.
He gave his players an overall rating of six or seven out of 10 after their failures at the Petronas Malaysia Open last week.
After highlighting what went wrong, especially with Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and mixed doubles Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei, Rexy raised another major point: players should have expectations.
"Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun (men's doubles) were way below the standard. Their desire and hunger to win were not there.
"Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani had to play against Aaron- Wooi Yik in the second round. That's unfortunate because one pair had to lose.
"Against Kang Min Hyuk-Seo Seung Jae, Aaron-Wooi Yik did well in the first game. But when the Koreans switched it up in the second, they couldn't keep up.
"We've discussed this before, but again we found ourselves on the receiving end."
On Ng Tze Yong, who retired in the first round with a lower back injury, and women's doubles Anna Cheong and Pearly Tan who are still in the recovery phase, Rexy said nothing much can be done.
However, he wants all the players to understand that the expectation to do well is not his alone, it must be a collective effort.
"I don't want the players to think it's my expectation alone. We all have to be on the same page.
"It's not fair because they must understand that we all want to achieve the same goal.
"Having said that, we have to improve, especially with what we can see.
"Leave the Malaysia Open in the past, it was the first tournament of the year, and many of the players were still edgy and nervous.
"Let's step up at the India Open and Indonesia Masters," added Rexy.
