Paris 2024: road to gold or cul-de-sac?

 

Does anyone still believe that badminton can deliver Malaysia’s first Olympic gold in Paris 2024, and more alarmingly, will we even make it to the medal tally?

That’s a rhetorical question, by the way. And in the true spirit of questions of such nature, the aim of this one, is no different – it’s to make a point, rather than fathom an answer.

But the question that actually begs one is, will the badminton team win any medal at all in Paris?

Will they return empty handed as they did 20 years ago, in Athens 2004, when Azalina Othman Said was the sports minister, Tunku Imran Tuanku Ja’afar was OCM president, Dr Mani Jegathesan was the chef de mission, corporate figure Mohamed Nadzmi Salleh was Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president, and Misbun Sidek was the chief coach?

Athens was the second and last Olympics that I covered as a sports editor, and Malaysia didn’t even make it to the medal tally then. In my review of Malaysia’s performance, I described it as “Our Big Fat Greek Tragedy”.

You don’t have to be Nostradamus to foresee Malaysia’s fortunes, or rather misfortunes, in Paris this summer. The ominous signs in badminton, aquatics and cycling these opening two months of the year alone, are enough to send alarm bells pealing furiously of an imminent danger of a deja vu of Athens 2004.

Three-time Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei, who was an international badminton fledgling in Athens, has seen those portentous signs in badminton and has alerted BAM to an ostensibly looming collapse in Paris.

Chong Wei, who may have adeptly veered from other possible sinister signs that have been visible to former players, had with the ferocity of a provoked Rottweiler, gone for the jugular. Fearing for the future of Malaysian badminton, Chong Wei questioned the discipline and commitment of its key players.

Since he used tennis legend Rafael Nadal, and football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo as paragons of discipline and commitment, perhaps I should draw reference to former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson who had the sublime skill and the scrotal gumption to keep all his star players exactly where he wanted them to be – in the centre of his Scottish palm.

And all the gaffer needed to do was to ensure he had great depth on the bench, and that his substitutes were knocking on the doors of his first team players. Besides that, he built a strong back-up team and wasn’t afraid to give his fringe players some playing time in the EPL.

Needless to say, the prospect of losing first team places and monetary perks kept the stars on their toes, and well within the constellation. Still, there were several stars who wandered out of the constellation for personal glory, and Ferguson didn’t hesitate to give them, including David Beckham, the boot when they started behaving like they were bigger than the club.

Coaching director Rexy Mainaky, showing weaknesses in this area, ought to take a whole section from Ferguson’s book on player management. If he has no control over his players, and is unable to instil discipline in them, then the Indonesian should resign or be removed by BAM.

One of the true strengths of a coach or manager is to make those tough and unpopular decisions, like Ferguson did at Old Trafford. What the national team needs right now is a taskmaster, and Rexy, known for his court craft, should confine it to being that man with the whip, and leave the politicking to the politicians.

What we don’t want to see is a situation such as the one I was reliably told, where a national association had rushed to the rescue of a key player who had run up a huge online gambling debt of about RM200,000. This is what happens when sports administrators, craving for glory, are prepared to give up the honour of the sport to these system-enabled indispensable players.

Many would be tempted to believe that Rexy, a decorated doubles player in his playing days for Indonesia, is probably wary of that familiar Malaysian culture where key players who are considered national treasures, hold sway over coaches who brook no nonsense from their players.

Ask the reputed task masters Tan Yee Khan, Morten Frost Hansen and Park Joo Bong, who were “victims” of this culture, under previous BAM presidents. The current president, Norza Zakaria, may be a lot of things, but a meddler, he is not. I believe he empowers his coaches to impose their professional will on players.

In aquatics we have nothing now, with former Olympic silver medallist Pandelela Rinong and company not making the cut for Paris. She has served the nation and the sport admirably, giving diving its current elite stature in Malaysian sport.

Every sport needs an idol, and aquatics has Pandelela, just as squash had Nicol David. And judicious thinking would dictate that one quits while one is ahead, just as Ferguson did. He didn’t wait until he overstayed his success at Manchester United, to be unceremoniously sacked like the others.

Which brings us to our last hope for a medal in Paris – the sensational 2017 world track cycling champion, and 2020 Tokyo Olympics keirin silver medallist, Azizulhasni Awang.

I can’t remember any Malaysian sportsman with a built-in fighting spirit like the one that saw Azizulhasni pick himself up from a crash at the Manchester Velodrome track with a shard of Siberian pine skewered in his calf, to finish third in the men’s keirin track world cup in 2011.

Nor do I know of any athlete who fought off the effects of a heart surgery in April last year, to win the keirin in the Adelaide leg early this month. That win put him in a comfortable position to make the cut for Paris 2024.

I am no expert on cycling, but former sportswriter Arnaz Khairul, who has been passionately following proceedings in the sport and Azizul for decades now, said even without the heart condition, he is already 36, and it will be a huge bonus for him to just win a medal.

“Dutchmen (Harrie) Lavreysen and (Jeffrey) Hoogland are still the two best sprinters, and are too fast for anyone to catch. Keirin is the best bet as they don’t specialise in the strategy. But at 36, it may be too much to ask of Azizul,” said Arnaz.

If there were two riders in the final, then there would be a chance of a medal. But the other Malaysian rider, Shah Firdaus Sahrom, said Arnaz, is not of Azizul’s standard and is inconsistent.

Which begs the more relevant question in badminton, aquatics and cycling – where are the second-liners who should be ready to step up to the challenge now?

I suppose we could direct that question to all the other sports as well, except for squash, whose parent body, the Squash Rackets Association of Malaysia, has a succession plan that is already in play.

As much as I believe in miracles, especially from the man who turned water into wine two thousand years ago, I doubt our authorities can turn our wooden spoons in Paris 2024 into gold, or any other medal for that matter.

The Road to Gold, which has negotiated a few tricky bends, is now sadly facing a cul-de-sac. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.