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Denied as a player, Munna finds success as coach in Malaysia
ANISUR RAHMAN
Mohammad Moynul Islam Munna, a Bangladeshi coach who has carved out a career in Malaysia, hardly had a moment to spare as he shuffled from court to court, giving instructions to his Malaysian students who are taking part in ongoing Yonex-Sunrise Bangladesh International Challenge at Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Indoor Stadium in Paltan.
Munna, a former junior level shuttler from Bangladesh, arrived in Dhaka as a coach of the seven-member Malaysian contingent taking part in the competition.
His arrival set a rare precedent in the country’s badminton, as a coach from Bangladesh, a nation very much in the backwaters of the sport, training a team from Malaysia, who are a leading force in badminton globally, is unusual to say the least.
Munna’s incredible journey from being a Bangladeshi shuttler to a coach in Malaysia began from a rejection he suffered around a decade ago. In 2014, he was denied participation in the National Badminton Championship held in Sylhet, a rejection that disillusioned him and made him search for opportunities overseas.
“I wasn’t allowed to take part in the 2014 national championship at the eleventh hour. After that, I broke down mentally and left the country the next year,” Munna told The Daily Star on Wednesday.
With the help of his coach at the Knit Concern Club Ohiduzzaman Raju, who is also a former national badminton team player, Munna left for Malaysia in 2015 to try his luck as a coach.
The going was not easy for Munna at first, he had to toil hard to establish himself as a coach in Malaysia.
But his hard-work paid off as he became the head coach of the Mauritius badminton team in 2022, a post he held till this year’s June before returning to Malaysia to join a prominent academy.
“They [Malaysians] did not accept me initially because I was a coach from Bangladesh. I had to prepare myself over one-and-half years. I am now the senior assistant coach of New Vision Badminton Academy after working there as a junior team coach,” said the Level-1 badminton coach.
Even though he is no longer involved in the local badminton scene, Munna felt sad at seeing Bangladeshi shuttlers, one after another, crashing out of the competition, knowing very well from personal experience the many difficulties and challenges faced by the badminton players from Bangladesh.
“As a professional coach, I must support my players. But of course, it feels bad when you see the Bangladeshi players getting eliminated one after another.
“Bangladeshi players like [Khandokar Abdus] Soad, [Abdul Hamid] Lukman, Gourab [Singha] and [Abdul Jahir] Tanvir are talented but they don’t get proper training round the year, neither from the federation nor the government. But, if you look at other countries, they have proper training facilities, dormitories and even provide salaries.
“The Bangladeshi players bear their own costs. They play for hire in localities but don’t get to play in international tournaments. Everyone just wants to play for hire. It is impossible to progress if you don’t have a big aim and don’t play in international tournaments.”
The lad from Sylhet’s Baraikandi area, who once represented Bangladesh at junior international level, said, “Bangladeshi players are not just lagging behind in training, they are also lagging behind in technique, fitness and speed.
“There are good local coaches in Bangladesh and they need to be utilised. You will never get any result on the back of only one or two months’ training ahead of international events.”
Comparing the badminton scene in Malaysia and Bangladesh, Munna said, “Malaysians start playing badminton from childhood with their family investing a lot on them before the sponsors come in to support the players.
“Our players in Malaysia practice six days a week except Sunday. How can you expect something good from the Bangladeshi players on the back of only one month’s training,” said Munna, expressing desire to work in Bangladesh subject to getting a suitable offer.