KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s preparations for 15-point badminton are already taking shape on court, with national men’s doubles head coach Herry Iman Pierngadi placing greater emphasis on attack ahead of next season.
From Jan 4 next year, the Badminton World Federation will switch from 21-point games to 15-point games, retaining the best-of-three format.
Herry said the clearest sign of that work is in how his world No. 4 pair, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, now play their matches.
“You can see it in their game plan. They are attacking more than they are defending,” said Herry.
“That is what we have been preparing for.”
Herry said he had already drawn up Aaron-Wooi Yik’s programme for the January switch, giving the former world champions the rest of the 21-point season to put that approach into practice.
The shorter format is also shaping Herry’s partner choices elsewhere in the squad, particularly his decision to give Arif Junaidi and Haikal Nazri another run together.
Herry believes the two left-handers have a style that could suit 15-point badminton because, in his view, power will count for less over a shorter game.
“They are both left-handed, and I think the way they play could suit 15 points,” he said.
“The games are shorter and I don’t think you need quite as much power as you do when playing to 21.”
The idea of reuniting Arif-Haikal came up after Herry tried Haikal with Bryan Goonting and Arif with Faiq Masawi, with the players themselves keen to try other combinations after disappointing results.
Herry suggested the two senior players pair up again, and both agreed to a trial over three tournaments in India before the end of the year.
“I see both of them as senior players now. They are more than just there to make up the numbers,” he said.
For Herry, the question in India is how well Arif-Haikal can put a game plan into practice together, something he said was difficult to judge even after watching them train.
“You can already see some things in training, but the real test is in tournaments,” he said.