KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 (Bernama) -- National men's singles shuttler Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin has gone from being dropped by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) last year to breaking into the top 50 ranking of the world's top players.
The 25-year-old, who is now ranked 48th in the world, attributed his rise to the guidance provided by his coach from Indonesia, Nova Armada, who continued to train him despite him (Aidil Sholeh) not being a BAM player.
"It's been a year since I left BAM. I am more confident and now my ranking is on the up as is my performance.
"Before I quit (BAM), he (Nova) contacted me and said he wanted to train me. He felt that I could go far. That was the best opportunity (for me to raise my performance level),” he told reporters at the 2025 Malaysia Masters here today.
In March, Aidil Sholeh bagged his maiden title as a professional shuttler when he captured the Sri Lanka International Challenge after defeating India's Pranay Katta 21-19, 21-15.
He is also grateful to have had the opportunity to spar with some of the world's top players, including world number nine Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan and world number 30 Brian Yang of Canada, whenever they came to Malaysia.
Aidil Sholeh added that he is targeting to be among the world's top 32 players by the end of this year, thus paving the way for him to compete in more world-class championships.
Earlier, his third Malaysia Masters appearance, however, did not go to plan as he crashed out in the qualifying round, losing 21-8, 17-21, 18-21 to Taiwan's Huang Yu Kai at the Axiata Arena here.
He admitted to being disappointed with his performance at the Super 500 tournament, especially after failing to capitalise on his first-game win.
"I am not satisfied. In the second game, I admit (my game) went haywire and it affected me mentally,” he said.
-- BERNAMA
