Coach Rexy: Beat My Record.

Malaysian National doubles coach Rexy Mainaky has challenged Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong to better everything he did with Ricky Subagja. If the Koreans ruled the early 1990s, Ricky-Rexy ruled the second half of the decade and this is what he wants the Malaysian pair to do.

"I want them to do better than me as that will be my ultimate satisfaction as a coach. This is the same thing which was told to me by my mentor Christian (Hadinata), and it became my driving force. They have started winning but they must keep learning all the time. They have been on the podium and they must always have the desire to get on to podium again and again.The current 21-point system is not so much about physical strain but the mental exhaustion is great and this is where the motivation and support from every quarter comes into place," said Coach Rexy

Ricky-Rexy won the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, 1995 World Championships, All England (1995,96), Asian Games (1994, 98) and were the World No 1 between 1994 and 1996. They also won 30 international grand prix titles. The only pair who can claim to have done better than Ricky-Rexy were Joo Bong-Moon Soo, who won the 1992 Barcelona Olympics gold, World Championships (1985 and 1991), the All England four times and more than 30 grand prix titles.

"We are still a long way from what Rexy achieved but what the back-to-back riumphs have done is boost my confidence. When we won the All England, I was satisfied but I never expected to win the Swiss Open as well. This has boosted my confidence and my target it to continue working hard and winning honours," said Tan BH, 19

While the Asian Championships in Johor Baru next month will be their next assignment, the major one this year is the World Championships in Kuala Lumpur in August 2007.