Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) technical director Morten Frost wants not just Lee Chong Wei but also other five shuttlers - Iskandar Zulkarnain, Chong Yee Han, Soong Joo Ven, Soo Teck Zhi and Lim Chi Wing - who are part of "Special Project" under coach Hendrawan and Tey Seu Bock to benefit from the arrangement.
The BAM has come up with the project to help the players gear up for international tournaments and special focus will be given to Chong Wei to help him prepare for the World Championships, starting 21 August.
Notably, the world number one shuttler was not happy about working with Frost after the former suffered an injury recently, that has put his All England participation in jeopardy. Chong Wei fell on a slippery mat on BAM's new training centre in Bukit Kiara and later accused the Dane for not paying heed when he had earlier requested to change the mats.
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The three-time Olympic silver medallist also threatened to quit the BAM and said that he had issues with Frost in the past as well. Notably, Chong Wei was irked when the technical director had reportedly enquired about his retirement to Hendrawan after the shuttler's recent injury.
While the BAM was trying to address the issue, Chong Wei kept reiterating that he was in no mood to reconcile with Frost. Eventually, the badminton governing body had to come up with the special project to help both the parties move on. Hendrawan will now lead the squad until the World Championships and will report directly to the coaching and training committee (C&T).
Frost confirmed that he will have no say in the project and that he had no problems in letting Chong Wei train with his coach ahead of the world event, after which the shuttler is likely to assess his future.
"This decision is made to help Chong Wei win the world title and I wish him all the best. But I also hope the others in the project will benefit from it. I will not have any say in this project ... it is not a problem. It is only fair that Hendrawan takes charge and he will be accountable to the C&T directly," Frost said, as quoted by The Star.
C&T chairman Datuk Seri Norza Zakaria added that the idea of such a special arrangement was proposed by Frost and that it will only be in place until the World Championships, after which an assessment will decide its future.
"It was a proposal by Frost ... but we have made some adjustments to it. This project will tentatively last until the world meet ... after that it will be up for a review," Norza added.
