KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 — Former Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) junior development director (singles) Datuk Misbun Sidek claimed that he never reached a mutual agreement with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) to part ways as reported recently.

Misbun, recounting his side of the story, said he was really upset considering that it contradicted what BAM informed the media last Friday.

"(Since) All the decisions have been made, I only held this press conference to correct the (BAM) statement (BAM) that I accepted this decision when (in fact) I didn’t (agree to quit).

"This is because it was not reviewed and debated in an orderly manner ... at the meeting held that day, I only presented the post-mortem (the failure of the Asian Junior Badminton Championships in Yogyakarta, Indonesia) and (then I) was told to leave (the meeting) for a while but when I went back in, I was fired,” he told a press conference here today.

On Friday (July 28), a special committee led by BAM deputy president Datuk V. Subramaniam told a press conference that BAM and Misbun had mutually agreed to part ways.

Asked if he would take follow-up action against BAM, Misbun admitted that he did not have the authority to do so and would simply abide by the decision.

He is also disappointed in not being able to guide the national junior shuttlers in the 2023 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Junior Championships in Spokane, Washington from September 25-October 8.

"Shuttlers who featured in the Asian Junior are also prepared for the World Junior but what’s wrong if I continue to look after them because I know how to handle them,” he said.

He also raised the question of why he was the only scapegoat since the doubles players also flopped in Yogyakarta.

The national juniors showed a lacklustre performance in Yogyakarta when they lost 3-0 to defending champions Thailand in the quarter-finals of the mixed team event while not one of them qualified for the semi-finals of the individual events.

The last time Malaysia won a medal at the Asian Junior meet was in 2018 through Pearly Tan-Toh Ee Wei (women’s junior doubles) who took silver, besides helping the national squad to bronze in the mixed team event.

Last October, Malaysia failed to reach the quarter-finals of the World Junior Championships in Santander, Spain and finished the mixed team event in ninth place after defeating Denmark 4-1.

It was even more depressing when, for the first time, none of them qualified for the quarter-finals of the individual events in Spain.

Meanwhile, Misbun also claimed that there was management interference with the training programme that he formulated at ABM.

"I couldn’t get a concrete answer (the training module was interrupted), I just followed because what is important is to groom players until they become champions and to carry out this task sincerely.

"If they say my module is outdated but I have proven it by producing three former world number one players (Wong Choong Hann, Roslin Hashim and Datuk Lee Chong Wei). (So) I use the same module,” he said.

Previously, the former national men’s singles head coach was re-designated to be the national youth development director in 2020 before being made ABM junior development director (singles) last year. — Bernama