Shuttler hits coach; coach blasts back

A badminton player who was recently dropped from the national pool has questioned the Philippine Badminton Association’s policy on selecting and dropping its players who receive monthly allowances from the Philippine Sports Commission.

Owen Lopez, a member of the national pool for the last six years, also questioned the ability of RP team head coach Butch Oreta who, he said, "failed" in the coaching course recently conducted by the Asian Badminton Confederation in Malaysia.

"The PBA just keeps it a secret," said Lopez.

Lopez added that he and two others were dropped from the national pool after they wrote the badminton association requesting for a change of head coach.

"But we who signed the request were the ones kicked out of the pool," he said.

Lopez said the PBA has cut down on the number of players in the national pool from 10 each in the men’s and women’s side to eight and five, respectively, leading to his exit. The field of eight in the men’s side includes three junior players.

Melvin Llanes, the RP team assistant coach, came to Oreta’s rescue, saying Lopez and the two others were actually sacked for lack of discipline.

"We don’t keep players who lack in discipline," said Llanes, who explained that Lopez is notorious for being absent in training.

"We have 23 days of training in a month. Can you imagine a player being absent 19 times?" What kind of a player does that?" said Llanes.

Llanes said Lopez, at times, would skip training, saying he was to undergo physical therapy at the Philippine Center for Sports Medicine at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex. A check of the PCSM logbook, however, would show otherwise.

"So, where was he going then," said Llanes. "When I was still playing for the country, you miss training three times a month and you’re out. And here’s a player, absent 19 times, complaining?"