Hongyang shows nerves of steal to pip Prannoy to title

PETALING JAYA: Weng Hongyang of China avenged his defeat to H.S. Prannoy in the Malaysian Masters in May by overcoming the Indian in spectacular style to win the Australian Open in Sydney yesterday. Prannoy, 31, was just two points away from clinching his second Badminton World Federation (BWF) tour title when he led 19-14 in the...

Hendrawan keeps Tze Yong’s indomitable spirit up

PETALING JAYA: Accept the defeat, move on and use it as a motivation to work harder. This was the advice given by national men’s singles badminton coach Hendrawan to Ng Tze Yong after the latter crashed out in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. World No. 21 Tze Yong suffered a narrow 21-17, 24-26, 19-21 defeat to...

Zii Jia’s experience and bravery make the difference in laboured win over Tze Yong

PETALING JAYA: Independent shuttler Lee Zii Jia proved that he is still the country’s No. 1 men’s singles shuttler after storming into the semi-finals of the Australian Open. Despite his struggles, the world No. 17 Zii Jia rose to the occasion to narrowly triumph 17-21, 26-24, 21-19 over his much-improved former national teammate Ng Tze Yong...

BAM boss Norza says sorry to Misbun after offering olive branch, will step down in December

PETALING JAYA: Surprise, surprise! Datuk Misbun Sidek looks set to return as the national junior singles coaching director after the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria offered him an opportunity to end his contract that runs until end of the year. But there’s a twist to the saga. Yesterday, Norza dropped a bombshell by...

Keeping up with the Korean

PETALING JAYA: South Korean shuttler An Se-young is unstoppable right now. And that makes the women’s singles interesting and competitive but also adds immense pressure on all others in the fray to narrow the gap quickly, says Malaysia’s former All-England men’s singles champion Mohd Hafiz Hashim. Hafiz, who is now coaching India’s P.V. Sindhu, knows he has...

James says it’s fair to terminate Misbun if he had been forewarned

PETALING JAYA: Never take sides when you do not have a complete picture of the incident. This was the view expressed by former great Datuk James Selvaraj following the dismissal of Datuk Misbun Sidek from his position as the national junior singles coaching director. Even though Misbun has a contract that runs until the end of this...

Pearly-Thinaah fall in the first round

PETALING JAYA: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah suffered a blow ahead of the World Championships from Aug 21-27 in Copenhagen after crashing out in the first round of the Australian Open. The duo went down fighting 20-22, 21-17, 17-21 to China’s world No. 6 Zhang Shuxian-Zheng Yu in the women’s doubles event at Quaycentre in Sydney yesterday. Pearly-Thinaah held...

BAM defend decision to keep Rexy following Asian Junior flop

PETALING JAYA: National doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky’s (pic) job was spared as he had only taken over the junior squad five months ago. This is the response from Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) after recently ousted national junior development director Datuk Misbun Sidek said that he should not be the only one to be blamed...

Lee Yang-Chi-lin re-enact glorious Olympic feat to end two-year drought

PETALING JAYA: Taiwan men’s doubles pair Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin ended their two-year barren run on the Badminton World Federation (BWF) world tour when they captured the Japan Open in Tokyo yesterday – at the same venue where they were crowned Olympic champions in 2021. Lee Yang-Chi-lin’s success at the Yoyogi National Gimnasium 24 months ago was...