FROST SIGNS CONTRACT WITH BADMINTON MALAYSIA

January 29, 1997 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - Danish badminton great Morten Frost tonight signed a four-year contract with Persatuan Badminton Malaysia (Badminton Association of Malaysia) to serve as Malaysia's national badminton coach.

Frost, winner of many men's singles titles including several prestigious All-England championships and now a top badminton coach, was the guiding hand behind Denmark's great 1996 badminton season that saw Denmark win an Olympic Games gold medal in men's singles and reach the finals of the Thomas Cup world men's team championships.

Despite the Danish success, Frost did not see eye-to-eye with many of the veteran Danish players and this, among other reasons, led Frost to resign his post with the Danish badminton association at the end of December.

Present at the contract signing were Datuk Abdullah Fadzil Che Wan, the president of Persatuan Badminton Malaysia as well as other executives of the association such as Datuk Roland Wong, Datuk Punch Gunalan, Datuk Al-Amin Majid, and Datuk Phua Tai Neng.

Frost will be guiding the Malaysian badminton team thru a redevelopment program targeting the year 2000 Thomas Cup championships and the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

The executives of the Malaysian badminton association, realizing that some of the key Malaysian players like Olympic men's singles bronze medalist Rashid Sidek and Olympic men's doubles silver medalist Cheah Soon Kit are in their late 20's and are slowing down and that Frost has to develop a new crop of national players, have been downplaying any expectations of immediate successes from the hiring of the Danish great.

Frost will start work as Malaysian coach in mid-February at the national team trials. However, he will not be moving to the Kuala Lumpur area until after the All-England championships in mid-March, when he will have tied up several loose ends in Denmark.

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