Kuala Lumpur, May 19: There is set to be a shake-up in the Malaysian badminton coaching panel after their dismal performance and failure to make the semifinals of the ongoing Thomas Cup.

Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Datuk Dr Abdullah Fadzil Che Wan said the association has decided to engage a chief coach to beef up the quality of the singles shuttlers, who gave below par performances in the Thomas Cup.

"We want a chief coach. It could be from Malaysia, Indonesia or even China," said Fadzil.

The position was left vacant after a mutual divorce between the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) and Morten Frost Hansen early this year.
 
Fadzil said BAM was not able to find a replacement for Frost because it was already close to the Thomas Cup and having a new coach will not help at that point of time.

"We are looking at one coach only because we don't have much financial resources to hire more than one," he said.

He also said that BAM will review the performances of the current
coaches in its set-up.

When asked if there is a possibility that BAM would wield the axe
on non-performing coaches, Fadzil said: "Yes, if there is a need. There's going to  be a detailed review of the coaches' performances and then we'll decide who shall go and who shall stay."

Currently there are two singles coaches under the BAM payroll, Malaysian veteran Kwan Yoke Meng and China's Sung Cheng Hua. While in the doubles they have Korean legend Park Joo-bong, Tan Kim Her and Koay Kar Lin.

There are also other coaches involved in the training of the women's team and the academy boys and girls.

Malaysia's singles shuttlers gave rookie-like performances in the
ongoing Thomas Cup losing to Denmark, South Korea and struggling
against India.