Former national doubles coach Rexy Mainaky is tipped to make a comeback to the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) – this time as the technical director – but some are not excited about the prospect.
It is learnt the former Indonesian star, who left BAM in 2012, was approached to take up the post which was last occupied by Morten Frost who resigned last September.
However, there are those who are not too happy with Rexy’s possible return, stressing he is not suitable for the administrative position.
Some even questioned why BAM often rehires – just like they did with Datuk Misbun Sidek and Frost.
Misbun quit as the national singles coach in 2011 but returned last year.
Frost was the head coach between 1997 and 1999 before returning in 2014 as technical director.
BAM president Datuk Seri Mohamad Norza Zakaria, however, downplayed Rexy’s return.
“We have not spoken to anyone yet. We will only consider opening the position if the budget allows us to do so,” said Norza.
“There was a suggestion to get Rexy back. The other name suggested was (former national shuttler) Wong Choong Hann,” said Norza.
“These names were merely proposed.”
A former Olympic gold medallist, Rexy started working for BAM in July 2005. He teamed up Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong who took the world by storm by winning the Asian Games gold medal in 2006 before winning the All-England title a year later.
However, Kien Keat and Boon Heong’s inconsistent performances rattled Rexy’s position and he was later made the women’s doubles coach instead.
During his stint in Malaysia, Rexy threatened to quit several times. He resigned in 2012 and took up a job with the Philippines BA. After a year, he returned to Indonesia to take up the high performance director’s post.
He was appointed Thailand’s head coach in 2016 and was with the Thai team during the recent Thomas and Uber Cup in Bangkok.