* Doubles ace Boon Heong quits BAM stable
* Six national players have quit since November
Just when the mess was being cleared up and things were looking good with Morten Frost reporting for duty as the new technical director and the signing of a new six-year sponsorship deal with Victor worth RM60 million the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) were served with the news that doubles ace Tan Boon Heong has walked out of the national team.
Boon Heong’s resignation did not come as a surprise as he had given broad hints that he “should have quit” the national team for greener pastures while representing Malaysia in last year’s Axiata Cup team championships held in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur in November-December.
Many would have thought that there would be no more resignations following the arrival of Morten Frost. The Dane is not new to the Malaysian badminton set up as he had served as the national coaching director from 1997 to 1999.
However, Boon Heong has been a frustrated man after his partner Koo Kien Keat left the team earlier last year. Boon Heong and Kien Keat formed a formidable partnership and won the men’s doubles gold medal at the 2006 Doha Asian Games and the prestigious All-England in 2007.
Others who have left the BAM are the Ng sisters – Hui Ern (who quit in November 2014) and Hui Lin (December), Ong Jian Guo, Yang Li Lian, Hoon Thien How and Lim Khim Wah.
It is certainly a big blow to Malaysian badminton as the Sudirman Cup is scheduled to be held in China (May) and the SEA Games in Singapore from June 5-16.
