Misbun Sidek

Misbun Sidek
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Bun
Birth name	Mohmed Misbun bin Mohd Sidek
Country	Malaysia
Born	(1960-02-17) 17 February 1960 Banting, Selangor, Malaysia
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Years active	1978 - 1989
Handedness	Right
Event	Men's singles
Medal record Representing  Malaysia Men's badminton World Championships 1980 Jakarta Men's doubles World Cup 1982 Kuala Lumpur Men's singles All England Championships 1986 London Men's singles World Grand Prix Finals 1983 Jakarta Men's singles Thomas Cup 1988 Kuala Lumpur Team 1986 Jakarta Team Southeast Asian Games 1981 Manila Men's team 1987 Jakarta Men's team 1981 Manila Men's singles 1987 Jakarta Men's singles Asian Championships 1985 Kuala Lumpur Men's singles
BWF profile

Dato' Misbun Sidek (born 17 February 1960) was a Malaysian professional badminton player and coach. He is the eldest of the famous five Sidek brothers, all of whom were actively involved in international badminton scene.

Childhood

Misbun received his early education in primary schools in Banting and then furthered his studies at Victoria Institution, Kuala Lumpur.

Datuk Sidek, his father, imagined his children becoming badminton aces starting with his first son, Misbun. By the age of seven in 1967, Misbun had begun to be seriously trained by his father at the badminton court in front of their house in Kampung Kanchong Darat, Banting, Selangor.

The same routine was later passed on to his brothers, Razif, Jalani, Rahman and Rashid. In this early stage of their training, Razif was the most disciplined, with Misbun the most mischievous, often relying on his talent.

Early life

At age 9 Misbun represented his school in badminton and by 15 he was the national champion. At the age of 16, he was selected to represent Malaysia at the Asian Invitational Championships in Hong Kong and at the Australian Open (Silver Bowl), following his victory in the national champions under 18. A year later Misbun was selected for Malaysia's Thomas Cup training squad. He dominated national competitions for younger players, with a hat-trick (victories in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles) in the 18-and-under category in 1978 followed by another in the 21-and-under category a year later.

Career

Misbun won his first international title at the 1981 German Open. Then, he helped Malaysia's national squad to win the silver medal at the SEA Games. In the team event, he beat Indonesia’s leading player and reigning All England champion Liem Swie King. Misbun was named 1981 Malaysia's Sportsman of the Year,^[1] a feat he repeated two years later.

After defeating Lius Pongoh,^[2] Morten Frost,^[3] and Prakash Padukone on his way to the final, Misbun suffered a disappointment at the Badminton World Cup by failing to clinch the title from a 10-1 third-set lead over Liem Swie King.^[4]

With his talent, looks and charisma, Misbun drew the attention of the international sports community. In October 1983, Misbun turned professional and signed a contract to be represented by the International Management Group (IMG), which then represented such sports stars as Björn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Sebastian Coe and Alberto Salazar.^[5]

In January 1985, the Sidek family made history when they became the largest sibling group ever to represent the country abroad in the same sports event. Misbun, Razif, Jalani, Rahman and Rashid were all selected to compete at the Hong Kong Open.^[6] Misbun reached the final of the All-England Championships for the only time in his career but was beaten by Morten Frost in 1986.

Misbun's last full year at the top level of badminton, 1988, was rather special to him because he played on a Malaysia Thomas Cup team which defeated their arch-rival Indonesia^[7] for the first time in 21 years before losing the final to China.^[8] A year later, Misbun decided to retire at the age of 29.

Coaching

On retirement, Misbun acted as an assistant coach of the Malaysian national team before venturing into the car business. Misbun was on the coaching staff, and his brother Rashid Sidek played first singles, for the 1992 Malaysia team which captured the Thomas Cup after a 25-year drought.

He has coached Malaysia's leading singles players from the 1990s onwards, including his brother, Rashid, the Hashim brothers, Roslin and Muhammad Hafiz, and Lee Chong Wei. He was the Malaysian National Team coach from 2003 to 2010.

Achievements

Titles (8)

Year	Tournament	Opponent in final	Score
1981	German Open (1)	Syed Modi	18-17, 15-10
1982	Swedish Open (1)	Icuk Sugiarto	9-15, 18-14, 15-13
1983	Swedish Open (2)	Morten Frost Hansen	9-15, 15-10, 15-13
1983	German Open (2)	Steen Fladberg	18-13, 15-6
1983	Canadian Open	Jens Peter Nierhoff	15-6, 11-15, 15-12
1985	Malaysia Open	Michael Kjeldsen	18-16, 15-3
1987	Chinese Taipei Open	Park Joo Bong	5-15, 15-9, 15-3
1987	Singapore Open	Eddy Kurniawan	15-13, 15-8

Runners-up (3)

Year	Tournament	Opponent in final	Score
1985	Malaysia Masters	Morten Frost Hansen	4-15, 7-15
1986	Malaysia Open	Zhao Jianhua	10-15, 13-15
1986	China Open	Icuk Sugiarto	11-15, 13-15

Personal life

Misbun is the eldest son of Dato' Haji Sidek and the brother of Razif , Jalani, Rahman, Rashid, Shahrizan and Zamaliah. In 1987, Misbun married his sweetheart, Latifah. The couple had eight children but two have died. The six surviving children are Misbun Syawal, twins, Lia Murni and Misbun Ramdan, Lia Alifah, Lia Dewi Rubita and Misbun Awalauddin.

See also

• Razif Sidek
• Jalani Sidek
• Rashid Sidek
• Rahman Sidek

References