The Sidek Brothers Were The ‘Masterminds’ Behind Denmark’s Thomas Cup Victory!
Denmark made history on Sunday, 22 May, by becoming the first European country to win the Thomas Cup since the tournament's inception in 1949.
By Tang Ruxyn — 24 May 2016, 05:22 PM
Denmark's historic Thomas Cup victory on Sunday, 22 May, has been linked to the 'secret touch' of Malaysian badminton legends Datuk Misbun Sidek and Jalani Sidek
Denmark won a 3-2 thriller against Malaysia in the semi-final at Kunshan Sports Centre, China on Saturday, 21 May. The Danish shuttlers eventually secured the nation's first world badminton team championship after claiming eight second-place finishes over the decades with a 3-2 win over Indonesia in the finals.
Following the historic win, photos of Denmark's national shuttlers pictured with Misbun and Jalani have been circulating on social media channels.
It was said that they were training at Kelab Badminton Nusa Mahsuri under the guidance of Misbun and Jalani.
After the photos went viral on social media, Jalani has come out to confirm that the Danish players had indeed trained with Misbun and that it "was no secret"
From left: Kim Astrup, Hans-Kristian Vittinghus, Jalani Sidek, Jan O Jorgensen, Misbun Sidek and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.
Image via Facebook"They had trained with Misbun for about two weeks before the Malaysian Open in April and their target and focus was to win the Thomas Cup and prepare for the Olympics," he was quoted as saying by Bernama.
"They sought Misbun's advice to find out how Datuk Lee Chong Wei remained competitive and skilful and how he can maintain his performance until now. Misbun also knows the Danish players well as he had been with Chong Wei in the past," he added.
Misbun was responsible for grooming Malaysia's top shuttler Datuk Lee Chong Wei who has an illustrious career in the sport, being the first ever men's singles shuttler to have won all Super Series titles and winning prestigious titles including two silver Olympics medals and three All-England titles.
Misbun unexpectedly quit as the national singles coach at the end of 2010 and turned down the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM)’s offer to be the Chief Director for its national team three years later in 2013 due to "personal reasons".
Jalani said that it is not unusual for teams to engage with foreign coaches as such preparations are a common practice in the industry
He explained that Danish players are free to choose where they wished to train because they are attached to clubs and it does not involve the national badminton association.
Jalani, who is part of the men's doubles pair that won the Thomas Cup in 1992, said that his brother, Misbun, and himself are always ready to offer their expertise and services to any player who seeks their assistance.
"In fact even before we won the Thomas Cup in 1992, we had trained under three Chinese coaches to prepare for the competition. Such preparations are a common practice among teams," he told Bernama.
Many would remember a similar incident in 2014 when a young Japanese shuttler named Kento Momota dashed Malaysia's dream in the Thomas Cup final
Momota scored a crucial point against Malaysia during the 2014 Thomas Cup by defeating Chong Wei Feng in straight sets. His victory secured a 2-1 lead over Malaysia in the finals, and Japan went on to win the nation's first-ever Thomas Cup title in 2014.
What most didn't know at that time was the man behind the rise of the Japanese shuttler. Kelantan-born Izuan, who was then the youth coach of Japan’s national team under the banner of Nihong Badminton Association and the RS Hamanaka, used to coach Momota when the shuttler was a member of the Japanese back-up squad.
Malay daily Berita Harian reported that Izuan recently returned to Malaysia after five years in Japan to serve as the head coach for Kelantan Badminton Association after signing a two-year contract last October.