Former men’s singles coach Rashid Sidek conceded that the shortfall of potential winners from the national team may be attributed to the lack of passion displayed by the players themselves.
The junior squad is said to be far behind in following the footsteps of national ace Datuk Lee Chong Wei and Rashid criticised that the lackadaisical attitude shown could be a product of players being too engrossed in their gadgets.
“The present era and the previous one is very different. One of the main differences is the disturbance of gadgets, especially mobile phones. The attention given to the sport is less compared to before where everyone committed 100 per cent to the sport,” said Rashid as quoted from Harian Metro.
Rashid also commented on the players’ mindset of not wanting to strive for more and admits that the current young players are less self-assertive compared to the previous squad.
“We have a lot of potential players but when you put them in the national squad, they lack of confidence,”
“These days, when asked if they want to be called a champion, the answer given is ‘hold on’. This is because they know to their limit how well they can play.”
Previously, Chong Wei too had urged that young players should be disciplined due to the vast difference in class between the senior players.
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