Malaysia: All England Double Champion 2007

Congratulations to Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong for winning back the All England Double Championship.

After 25 years of wait, Malaysia, or should we say, Badminton Association of Malaysia, finally had someone who had the grit, determination and calibre to win at the All England.

Since Razif and Jailani's triumph in 1982, Malaysian badminton had been a spent-force, more like bedminton players and the management were more interested in politics and power and rubbing shoulders with those along the corridors of power.

At the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, doubles chief coach Rexy Mainaky was so disappointed with his players' performance that he threatened to quit.

Rexy was unable to swallow the defeat and he felt that the players did not have faith in him to handle the team.

“The Asian Games for me is a failure if our players continue to dish out these type of performances. There was no fighting spirit,”Rexy said. “The players did not follow my instructions. They already think they are good enough. If this is the case, what is the point in having me as their coach. I might as well go back after the Asian Games and coach kids without any pressure at all. I have faith in the players 200% but I have to ask them whether they feel the same about me.”

At the team competition in Doha, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong crashed to a 14-21, 21-23 defeat by Hwang Ji-man-Lee Jae-jin.

An emotional Rexy said that he had never felt so let down in his career as a player and a coach. “I spent a lot of time with them because I want them to come up and win Olympic and World Championships titles,” he said. “We spent a lot on analysis and studying players. But when it comes to the real match, what is taught is not adhered to. “I have been in Malaysia for one year and three months and it's no use for me to stay on if the players do not believe in me.”

The emotional outburst by Rexy works wonders. Koo and Tan finally won the badminton in the men’s doubles final beating Indonesia’s Luluk Hadiyanto and Alven Yulianto.

I believed Rexy Maniaky should be given the full credit for grooming this pair of All England champion and a possible world champion. Nobody since 1982 had been able to drill a player to such great height. The fundamentals is the fact that Rexy was so dedicated to winning and totally focused on his mission. He doesn't care about power and politics; he doesn't care about what he earns; he wants results and nothing short of a championship medal at the All England and the World Championship.

Did Malaysia win? Ya; but it was the Indonesian that had given us the win. Thanks Rexy and congrats Koo and Tan, for without a combined and sustained effort, there can be no winners. Will all the other players and coaches learned a lesson? Will other sports learned from this?