Kuala Lumpur: Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) doubles coaching director, Rexy Mainaky urged the men’s doubles players to shake off the ‘syndrome’ of losing in the semi-finals and finals of a tournament.
Puzzled at the peculiar streak, he noted that the national representatives, especially the number one doubles pair of Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik were capable of beating top players in the early stages of competition, but often bottomed out when they reached the semi-finals.
For example, in the semi-finals of the Malaysian Open on Saturday, Aaron-Wooi Yik already led 18-14 in the first set against the reigning 2021 World Champions, Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi but lost 23-21, 9-21.
Rexy said that working closely with the National Sports Institute (ISN), they had previously adopted an approach through psychologists to strengthen the players’ mental resilience, but did not understand why this tendency was still recurring.
“Our players seem susceptible to panic. For example, Aaron-Wooi Yik were already leading (18-14) but they allowed the opponents to catch up, and when they were trailing 1-5 in the second set, they seemed like not knowing how they should be playing.
“It should be thought about why they could play well in the first round, second and quarter-finals but once they got to the semi-finals..., I don’t know what was in their minds. I think this (problem) is more mental, not about game technique,” he said when met by reporters.
Saturday’s defeat saw Aaron-Wooi Yik, who were the Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medallists, still falling short of winning their first Badminton World Federation (BWF) Tour title.
Meanwhile, another national doubles pair, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, seemed clueless when they lost 14-21, 12-21 to the world’s seventh ranked Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia in another semi-final match.
Rexy said the pair should be more focused in reading the match and their opponent’s movements on court, besides quickly changing their style of play in order to overcome their opponents.
“The opponents were already playing at the net, they knew the Indonesians could return their smashes but they were still playing there, like they had no idea. They should be smart, like smashing in the other direction or catching them flat-footed with a dropshot,” he said.
