Rashid Sidek

Rashid Sidek
Mural of Sidek Brothers in Muzium Negara
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Adul
Birth name	Abdul Rashid Mohamed Sidek
Born	July 8, 1968 (1968-07-08) Banting, Selangor
Country	Malaysia
Handedness	Right
Men's singles
Highest Ranking	1
BWF Profile

Olympic medal record
Men's Badminton
Bronze	1996 Atlanta	Singles

Rashid Sidek (Nickname: Adul) (born July 8, 1968 in Kanchong Darat, Banting, Selangor) was a Malaysian national badminton player, and a prominent world-class singles player during the 1990s. He is the youngest of the six Sidek brothers. He and his siblings were all actively involved in the international badminton scene. His brothers Razif Sidek and Jalani Sidek won the Olympic Games bronze medal in the men's doubles in 1992.

Childhood

Growing up with a support system that revolved around Badminton, Rashid Sidek became a walking proof for one of the most uplifting sportsmen in his era. As the youngest among the famous Sidek brothers, Rashid Sidek became a sought after badminton player, winning numbers of titles during his commitment. Born on July 8, 1968, in Banting, Selangor, Rashid became the youngest player to win the National Junior Badminton Championship in 1980 at the age of 12. Under the guidance of his father, Rashid and the rest of his siblings were trained to be champions.

Junior years

Rashid switched to singles player in Standard Five after starting out as a doubles player. He stamped his mark when he won the national Under 18 title in 1984 by defeating Kwan Yoke Meng during his year as a Form Three student of Victoria Institute in Kuala Lumpur. The young lad won every age group title in the country from the Under 12 to the Under 20 and had prominently become the newbie with a formidable recognition.

In 1985, he won the final of Asian Youth Championship by beating Allan Budi Kusuma of Indonesia. After the completion of his Sijil Penilaian Menengah (SPM) exam, he was injected into the Project 1988/90 squad set to regain the Thomas Cup. In the same year, he won the Selangor Open title and his first senior title at Sarawak Open against heavyweight champions like his own brother Misbun Sidek and Foo Kok Keong.

Breakthrough and dominance

Rashid Sidek won the Malaysian Open title three years consecutively during the year 1990, 1991, and 1992. The highlight of 1990 is when the youngest Sidek sibling won the gold medal for the Men’s Single during the Commonwealth Games held in Auckland. He was known by many as “jaguh kampung”,

He played first singles for Malaysia in the 1992 Thomas Cup series winning his championship round match against Indonesia's Ardy Wiranata to help Malaysia to its first Thomas Cup victory in 25 years. His other achievements include champions of the 1992 Grand Prix, ABC champion in 1991/92, gold medal winner of Men’s Single during the 1994 Victoria’s Commonwealth, Brunei Open champion in 1995, bronze medal holder for Single’s of Sea Games in 1995, 1996 Asia Cup and German Open champion.

He won the bronze medal in badminton for men's singles at the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta after beating the reigning World Champion from Indonesia, Heryanto Arbi. He became the world number one player for the first time in 1997.

Coaching

Upon his retirement, Rashid was appointed by the Badminton Association of Malaysia and became an instrument to the success of the new generation badminton players for instance Lee Chong Wei, Hafiz Hashim, Wong Choong Hann, and Wong Mew Choo. Apart from that he coached Nusa Mahsuri, a badminton club from 1996 to 2002. Currently, he acts as the advisor for the club which he has set up with his brother Jalani Sidek.

Achievements

Rank	Event	Date	Venue
Olympics
3	Singles	1996	Atlanta, USA
Asian Games
3	Singles	1990	Beijing, China
3	Team	1990	Beijing, China
Commonwealth Games
1	Singles	1990	Auckland, New Zealand
1	Singles	1994	Victoria, Canada
2	Doubles	1990	Auckland, New Zealand
Thomas Cup
1	Team	1992	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2	Team	1998	Hong Kong
2	Team	1994	Jakarta, Indonesia
2	Team	1990	Tokyo, Japan
2	Team	1988	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
World Tournaments
1	Singles	1990	Malaysia Open
1	Singles	1991	Asian Badminton Championships
1	Singles	1991	Malaysia Open
1	Singles	1992	World Grand Prix Finals
1	Singles	1992	Asian Badminton Championships
1	Singles	1992	Malaysia Open
1	Singles	1995	Brunei Open
1	Singles	1996	German Open
2	Singles	1994	Malaysia Open
2	Singles	1996	All England Open
2	Singles	1996	Chinese Taipei Open
2	Singles	2000	Korea Open

References

• European results
• tournamentsoftware.com
• internationalbadminton.org