PETALING JAYA: Badminton Ireland have wasted no time in naming a replacement for Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin, turning to another former Malaysian player, Yeoh Seng Zoe, to take charge of their national singles squad.

Seng Zoe is already a familiar face in Ireland, having spent the past four years in the country. In fact, he won the Irish Open title in 2021. 

He initially joined as a sparring partner to assist Iskandar, who was then the national men’s singles coach, in preparing Nhat Nguyen for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

He was later absorbed into the national coaching set-up and eventually promoted to performance coach.

On Monday, Badminton Ireland confirmed that Seng Zoe will now assume the role of national singles coach, succeeding Iskandar.

The governing body is hoping the 27-year-old can build on the foundations laid by Iskandar in strengthening their singles department.

"Iskandar has been an incredible coach to work with. His passion for our purpose and values, coupled with the impressive results achieved by the players he coached, speaks volumes about his approach," said Daniel Magee, Badminton Ireland high performance director in a statement. 

"We wish him all the best as he takes up a new opportunity in Malaysia.

"Yeoh Seng Zoe will take on a role alongside Iskandar in the national singles programme, and Badminton Ireland will review its coaching structure in the coming months."

Last year was one of the best for Irish badminton, with two players, Nguyen and women’s singles player Rachael Darragh qualified for the Paris Olympics.

Nguyen’s Olympic debut was particularly encouraging despite falling short in the group stage.

Under Iskandar’s guidance, Nguyen also won the Irish Open for two consecutive years, starting in 2023.

Interestingly, Seng Zoe is not the only Malaysian contributing to Irish badminton. Mohd Izzuddin Shamsulmuzli, a former Nusa Mahsuri club player, is also serving in the set-up with a focus on junior development.

Iskandar was recently roped in by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) to fill the national women’s singles coaching post, which had been left vacant for five months following the resignation of Jeffer Rosobin in late February.