Chong Wei confident Rexy can bring Malaysian badminton to greater heights

KOTA KINABALU, Oct 27 ― National badminton legend Datuk Lee Chong Wei is confident that the return of former world champion and Olympic gold medallist Rexy Mainaky to the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) can bring Malaysian badminton to greater heights.

Chong Wei said he sees BAM’s move to appoint Rexy as the national badminton governing body’s Deputy Director of Coaching as a step in the right direction because the Indonesian men’s doubles legend has extensive experience as he is one of the best coaches in the world.

He said this could be seen when Rexy managed to improve the achievements and performance of the Indonesian and Thai teams while serving with the two neighbouring countries.

“I think it is great for BAM to appoint and bring Rexy back as coach and it’s great for our badminton team because he was a world champion and an Olympic gold medallist.

I think he can work with all the coaches and that’s very important,” he said.

He told this to reporters at a luncheon with the Sabah Tourism Board after being appointed as the Sabah Tourism Ambassador here today.

On Monday (October 25), BAM announced that Rexy will report at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM), Bukit Kiara on December 1, and will work closely with its Coaching Director Wong Choong Hann.

The 53-year-old former men’s doubles specialist has been given the task of adding technical input to the performance index and will, in particular, keep the national squad doubles players in check and improve their performance.

Rexy, who has been the head coach of the Badminton Association of Thailand (BAT) since 2017, was previously a coach in the Malaysian doubles division from 2005 to 2012 where he managed to coach a strong men’s doubles team made up of ace pairs such as Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong.

During his heyday, Rexy and his partner Ricky Subagja won the 1995 World Championship and at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, in addition to winning three World Cup gold medals and four Thomas Cup titles between 1994 and 2000.