Ramdan And Fazriq Hope To Revive The Sidek Legacy - Can Misbun Ramdan Misbun (pic) and Muhd Fazriq Razif revive the legacy of the Sidek family in the local badminton arena?
The 26-year-old Ramdan has been entered for the men’s singles event of the RM270,000 National Badminton Championships in Ulu Kinta, Perak, from Feb 19-25.
Ramdan, the son of former great Datuk Misbun Sidek, is one of the 113 men’s singles shuttlers competing in the national meet. Except for the top 16 players, the rest have to go through a qualifying tournament.
This is Ramdan’s first tournament since taking an indefinite leave from competitions due to an Achilles heel rupture in 2015.
Ramdan had showcased his immense potential before the injury, bagging the national title in 2012.
He then left the national team to train under his father Misbun in 2013. He went on to win the 2014 Romanian International as an independent player before the injury halted his progress.
Ramdan, though, is trying to play down expectations.
“I want to give my best to clear the opening round. I’ve not played for a long time ... I’m not setting high targets,” said Ramdan.
“I’ve undergone rehabilitation for my injury. I’ve started training, but I’ve only pushed myself as much as my body allows.
“I’m making this comeback with one purpose in mind ... to keep the Sidek family tradition going.”
His nephew and the youngest son of another former great Razif Sidek – Fazriq – has joined the Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) this year as a Form 1 student.
The duo will have big shoes to fill as the Sidek brothers – Misbun, Razif, Jalani, Rashid and Rahman – dominated Malaysian badminton scene during the 1980s and 1990s.
Olympic bronze medal winner Rashid said: “It’s good to see the return of my nephew Ramdan, but I don’t expect immediate result. It’ll take time.
“Ramdan can use the national meet to see where he stands and gauge how far he can go on after the injury.
“My other nephew, Fazriq, has won the National Schools (MSSM) Under-12 doubles title. He is good for his age. It’s nice to see the Sidek name back in competition.”
Former Olympian Razif is also looking forward to the emergence of Ramdan and Fazriq to keep the Sidek tradition going.
“I hope that Misbun’s son and mine will do well and carve a name for themselves in badminton,” said Razif, who won a bronze medal with Jalani at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
“I’m happy to see the return of Ramdan. We hope his appearance at the national meet will be the start of greater things.
“He is coming back to a tournament he has won before. It’s never easy to come back from an injury ... let’s hope Ramdan will pick up from where he left off.
“All of us – Misbun, Rashid, Rahman, Jalani and I – are into coaching now. It’ll be great to see the Sidek family’s name in the world badminton map once again.”
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