After Solo disaster, can Malaysia still save its singles future?

Former coaches sound alarm over a broken development pipeline and warn of a widening gap in Malaysia’s junior singles ranks Kwan Yoke Meng said Malaysia’s failure stems from the lack of a structured, standardised system to develop junior singles players nationwide.

The Badminton Asia Junior Championships is a tournament organized by the Badminton Asia governing body to crown the best junior badminton players U19 in Asia. Note that this is different than the World Junior Championship U19.

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s dismal showing at the 2024 Asian Junior Championships in Solo, Indonesia, has sparked serious concern among former internationals and national coaches, who believe the issue goes far beyond just a few players underperforming.

The national juniors returned home empty-handed, failing to reach the podium in both the mixed team and individual events. While disappointing, former junior head coach Kwan Yoke Meng said the results should not overshadow the real problem: a lack of structure and direction in grooming young singles talent.

“It was a little unfortunate for the squads to return empty-handed, especially after doing well at the Dutch Junior, German Junior and Malaysian Junior International Challenge earlier this year. Perhaps they faced powerhouse China early on,” Yoke Meng told Scoop. “But the bigger concern is the singles department. Junior coaches must know how to spot strong singles players and not simply let them switch to doubles just because the player requests it.

“At the moment, we can see a significant gap between the junior doubles and singles players.” He added that Malaysia lacks a uniform and standardised junior programme like those used in countries such as Thailand, Chinese Taipei and Indonesia — where state and club-level systems follow a national blueprint.

“In China, for example, every state or region works towards the same national goal, like a technical handbook of a standardised programme. Here, we are too fragmented. “Worse still, we do not have enough junior tournaments. I’d say less than 10 a year. That is simply not enough when compared to our neighbours,” said Yoke Meng.

Wong Tat Meng, who watched the action live in Solo, echoed those concerns. The former national coach, who more recently worked with top independent shuttler Lee Zii Jia, described the performance of Malaysian singles players as “disappointing and quite sad”. “None of our boys or girls made it to the quarter-finals,” Tat Meng said in a social media post. “We clearly have talent, but something fundamental is not translating into international results. This has been going on for years.” He called for an honest review and a clear long-term direction, warning of a serious talent gap if issues are not addressed soon. “If we don’t fix this now, the singles department will fall even further behind,” he added.

Both coaches pointed out that many players who enter the national junior squad from state teams often still lack basic technique and match-readiness — a sign that grassroots coaching and competitions are not delivering what is needed.

It is crucial to note that the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) will only absorb junior players into the national junior squad once they reach the age of 16. Prior to that, they fall under the guidance of their respective states.

Yoke Meng and Tat Meng’s sentiments were shared by former international Stephanie Ng, who questioned the lack of ready successors for the current generation of senior players. “Most of our current seniors can play for one more Olympic cycle. But we have yet to identify juniors who can replace them in five years. We cannot wait until it’s too late,” Stephanie posted first, which triggered Tat Meng’s response.

As attention turns to rebuilding, the takeaway from Solo is clear — Malaysia needs more than just short-term fixes. It needs a system-wide rethink to revive the far more concerning nationwide sporting woes.

As for junior badminton, the World Junior Championships in Guwahati, Assam, India, will be the next immediate yardstick for the national squad.

Last year, Malaysia won one gold medal through boys’ doubles Aaron Tai and Kang Khai Xing, a silver in the girls’ doubles through Low Zi Yu and Dania Sofea Zaidi, and a bronze medal in the mixed team event. — July 28, 2025