SHAH ALAM, Feb 20 -The country’s women’s singles players have been advised not to give up in their efforts to make a name for themselves at the international level.

Former top Malaysian shuttler Wong Tat Meng, who has been a coach for South Korea’s singles department for the past three years, admitted to hearing criticism from outsiders who said that they were not up to the mark.

"I am aware that women’s singles players in Malaysia are under pressure, the talk is not good but I hope they do not worry and do not give up… train hard, set one target and go for it,” he said when met by reporters after his team beat Malaysia 3-0 in the women’s team semi-finals at the 2022 Asian Team Badminton Championships (BATC) here, yesterday.

Yesterday, Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) Singles Coaching Director Wong Choong Hann admitted that the gap between the country’s women’s singles camp and other world powers was still huge, especially in terms of the mental and physical aspects.

However, Choong Hann is confident that they would be able to present more intense challenges in the future after the coaching staff increase the training intensity.

Tat Meng at the same time said it was quite difficult for him to measure the level of ability of the Malaysian players, who are on average still young at the moment, but held that it was all up to them to use their potential to become great players one day.

Tat Meng, who served as a coach at BAM from 2003-2011 and 2013-2016, is the individual responsible for honing the talents of South Korean women’s singles players currently, including An Seyoung, Sung Jihyun and Kim Gaeun.

Based on the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings, the trio are in the top 20 with Seyoung in fourth place followed by Jihyun (18) and Gaeun (20).

National top women’s singles player, S. Kisona is ranked 64th while Soniia Cheah, who is a professional player, is at 38th.

On the next target for the South Korean camp, Tat Meng, who is currently training eight of their women’s singles players, wants to focus on targeting four of his players to make it into the world’s top 16 after this.

Tat Meng, who also made a coaching foray to Scotland in 2016, also admitted that it was quite fun to serve in South Korea as the country’s badminton association has very clear targets and tasks for coaches and players.

Asked if he was interested in returning to Malaysia one day, Tat Meng jokingly replied: "The heart is always in Malaysia but the work is there (South Korea).” — Bernama