Nova says Aidil's steady rise in form is good but he must improve stamina
With national No. 1 Lee Zii Jia still missing from the scene due to an ankle injury and No. 2 Leong Jun Hao searching for consistency, the country badly need someone to step up in the event.
Aidil, who reached a career high No. 48 in the world rankings recently, showed good improvement in the Thailand Open where he made it into the second round before going down fighting 21-18, 16-21, 14-21 to China's world No. 14 Lu Guangzu in Bangkok on Thursday.
Despite missing out on the biggest win in his career, it was the 25-year-old's best finish in a World Tour Super 500 tourney.
Good outing: Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin gave an impressive display despite losing in the second round of the Thailand Open.
Aidil's progress is remarkable considering that he was ranked as low as No. 135 when he was dropped by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in 2023.
The Selangor player has found a new lease of life under Indonesian coach Nova Armada, who also guides national No. 1 women's singles shuttler Goh Jin Wei and two-time Paralympic champion Cheah Liek Hou.
Nova was happy with Aidil's performance in Bangkok and wants his charge to keep pushing himself to reach a higher level.
'Aidil's performance was quite good in Thailand. My target was for him to get past the qualifying rounds first and he surpassed that,' said Nova.
'His fitness is getting better and he has gained in confidence. He is very hardworking and is adapting well to my training programme.
'He still has areas to improve though like his stamina which needs to be even better and he needs to add more variety in his game.
'Against Guangzu, I just told him to not overthink and give him a tough fight. In the second game, he could have won if he pushed himself a bit more.
'He needs to keep working hard and try to break into the world's top 32 rankings by the end of this year,' added Nova.
Aidil was the only Malaysian in the men's singles to reach the second round in Bangkok.
He is now close to overtaking current national No. 3 Justin Hoh in the rankings with the latter lying at 45.
Aidil has another opportunity to prove himself when he competes in the Malaysian Masters starting on Tuesday at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil.
He will open his campaign against Taiwan's world No. 65 Huang Yu-kai in the first qualifying round.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
Rookie with the master's touch
Looking like a pin-up: Gillian Lim posing with her Rookie of the Year award. — PWBA PETALING JAYA: Malaysian bowler Gillian Lim's debut season in the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) has already delivered a major highlight - the 2025 Rookie of the Year award. The Sarawakian, who led all first-year bowlers in points (37,230 points), earnings US$22,060 (RM93,402.04) ) and top-12 finishes, received the honour from the PWBA in New York on Sunday.
The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
Nova: Chen-Toh must be mentally tougher to go far in Paris
Giving their all: Mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei training at the Academy Badminton Malaysia in Bukit Kiara ahead of the World Championships in Paris. — ART CHEN/The Star PETALING JAYA: Shuttlers Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei need to adopt the champions' mentality to win the biggest titles. Mixed doubles coach Nova Widianto believes his charges are lacking mental toughness and grit needed to overcome obstacles and win matches in the big tournaments. World No. 4 Tang Jie-Ee Wei have been stopped five times in the semi-finals this year and have yet to reach a final since finishing runners-up in the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou last December. The pair's best result in their careers so far was the second place finish in the Tour Finals while their biggest title was the World Tour Super 500 Korean Open last August. With the World Championships fast approaching from Aug 25-31 in Paris, Nova wants Tang Jie-Ee Wei to toughen up and find ways to win even when they are not in their best form. 'The top pairs are not always at their best but they still find ways to win and Tang Jie-Ee Wei need to learn to overcome challenges in matches too,' said Nova, after overseeing a training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara yesterday. 'Currently, they are not tough enough to overcome the obstacles. They are lacking the champions' mentality and this is holding them back in the big tournaments. 'This is reflected in their results this year. Their performances have dropped compared to the last two years. 'We are trying to find ways to help them overcome this issue by giving them a challenging environment in training. If they can come up with solutions during training, then surely they can do better in tournaments.' Nova has called on Tang Jie-Ee Wei to re-ignite their season by winning a medal in the world meet. It has been 19 years since Malaysia last won a medal in the mixed doubles in the tournament and the Indonesian wants the pair to end the country's long wait. Koo Kien Keat-Wong Pei Tty, who won bronze in the 2006 edition in Madrid, are still Malaysia's sole medallists in the mixed doubles in the world meet so far. Nova feels Tang Jie-Ee Wei have a genuine chance this time as they will be seeded fourth in the tourney and will avoid the likes of China's top two seeds Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping and Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin as well as Thailand's third seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran at least until the semi-finals. 'Looking at Tang Jie-Ee Wei's seeding, they should at least reach the semi-finals and win a medal,' said Nova. 'Luck has not been good for Malaysia in the mixed doubles in the World Championships for so long and hopefully this time we can deliver better results.' The much anticipated draw for the prestigious event will be released today.
The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
Jun Hao out to raise a few eyebrows in world debut
PETALING JAYA: Expectations may not be high on men's singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao in the World Championships from Aug 25-31 in Paris but the debutant is out to punch above his weight. Despite going through a difficult year so far, Jun Hao has still managed to topple the likes of China's world No. 4 Li Shifeng, Indonesia's world No. 5 Jonatan Christie and Japan's Kodai Naraoka (No. 8). The world No. 25 though has not managed to remain consistent throughout a tournament and is keen to improve his record in the world meet. 'I'm excited to get to play in the World Championships for the first time. I'm hoping to get a positive result by pulling off a few upsets,' said Jun Hao after a training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara yesterday. 'In a major tournament, everyone has chances to do well. I'm taking it one match at a time as always. 'Every match is a challenge that I need to overcome and I want to play my best. 'In training, I have been focusing on improving my strategies and consistency during matches,' added Jun Hao. As part of his preparations for the prestigious meet, Jun Hao will head to Copenhagen for a training camp with the Denmark national team from Aug 18-22. Singles coaching director Kenneth Jonassen, who was head coach of Denmark before joining the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in January, was instrumental in arranging the training camp in an effort to provide Jun Hao and women's singles player K. Letshanaa with some quality sparring sessions before the Paris showpiece. 'Although there is not a lot of time to learn new things, this is a chance to have some quality sparring in a different environment,' said Jun Hao. 'This is the first time I will be experiencing something like this before a big tournament. 'Kenneth has connections as he was the head coach there, so this is a good initiative from him.' Jun Hao's best performance in his career so far came in the World Tour Super 500 Japan Masters last November where he finished runners-up to Shifeng. The 26-year-old though has struggled to replicate the form he showed in the tourney, with his best showing this year coming in the Singapore Open in May where he made it to the quarter-finals. In the World Championships, Liew Daren was the last Malaysian to win a medal in the men's singles when he claimed bronze in the 2018 edition in Nanjing.
