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.
COPYRIGHT 1997 by NEW SHUTTLENWS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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