Misbun Sidek

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

Mohd 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. The Sidek family, in the persons of Misbun, Razif, Jalani, Rahman and Rashid, would produce world class badminton players from the early 1980s to the early 2000s.[3]

He married Datin Latifah Sidek in 1987. They have six children together: Misbun Syawal Misbun, 29, twins, Lia Murni and Misbun Ramdan, 27, Lia Alifah, 23, Lia Dewi Rubita, 22 and Misbun Awalauddin, 18 (ages as of May 2018). His son Misbun Ramdan, is also a professional badminton player.

Misbun won his first title on the international circuit at the 1981 German Open. 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.[4] For his triumphs in badminton, Misbun was named Malaysia's Sportsman of the Year[5], a feat he repeated two years later.[6]

After defeating Morten Frost[7] and Prakash Padukone[8] on his way to the final, Misbun suffered a disappointment at the 1982 Badminton World Cup by failing to clinch the title from a 10-1 third-set lead over Liem Swie King.[9] He also known for the infamous “S” Service, which caused a deceptively erratic shuttle movement, which confounded their opponents and officials alike. The service caused much uproar and was eventually banned by the International Badminton Federation (IBF) in 1982.[10]

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.[11]

In January 1985, the Sidek family made history when they became the largest sibling group ever to represent the country abroad in the same sporting event. Misbun, Razif, Jalani, Rahman and Rashid were all selected to compete at the Hong Kong Open.[12]

In 1986, Misbun reached the final of the prestigious All England Open for the only time in his career but was beaten decisively there by Morten Frost.

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 traditional rival Indonesia[13] for the first time in 21 years before losing the final to China[14].

Misbun was on the coaching staff, as his brother Rashid Sidek played men singles, for the 1992 Malaysia team which captured the Thomas Cup after a 25-year drought. In 1996, he and his brothers established a badminton club to find new talented players, called Nusa Mahsuri.[15] He was a coach in Nusa Mahsuri, the first professional badminton club in Malaysia from 1996 to 2002.

He is Malaysia national team men's singles coach from 2003-2010. He has coached Malaysia's leading singles players from 1990s, including Rashid, the Hashim brothers, Roslin and Muhammad Hafiz, and Lee Chong Wei. Under his coaching, Lee reached the 2008 Olympics men's singles final. In July 2017, Misbun was reappointed as Malaysia national team men's singles head coach.[16]

He is portrayed by Rosyam Nor in the 2018 biopic film on Malaysian badminton player Lee Chong Wei—Lee Chong Wei: Rise of the Legend released on March 15, 2018.[17]

•  Malaysia:
  • Member of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (A.M.N., 1982)[18]
  • Herald of the Order of Loyalty to the Royal Family of Malaysia (B.S.D., 1988)[19]
•  Malacca:
  • Companion Class I of the Exalted Order of Malacca (D.M.S.M., 2008) – Datuk

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

• Misbun Sidek on Facebook