Hall of Fame

Abdul Rashid Sidek

Category: Athlete
Sport: Badminton
Year Inducted: 2002

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.

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 made the final of Asian Youth Championship but lost to 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. 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”,

The Malaysia International badminton player also won the bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympic in 1992. 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 and et cetera. Moreover, in the year of 1997, Rashid Sidek was named as the number one badminton player by International Badminton Federation (IBF).

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
1990 Commonwealth Games Auckland, New Zealand (Singles) - Gold
1990 Asian Games Beijing China (singles) - Bronze
1990 Thomas Cup Tokyo Japan (Team) - Silver
1992 Thomas Cup Kuala Lumpur (team) - Gold
1994 Asian Games Hiroshima Japan (team – Silver
1994 Commonwealth Games Victoria Canada (Singles) – Gold
1994 Thomas Cup Jakarta, Indonesia (Team) - Silver
1996 German Open (Singles) - Gold
1996 Olympic Atlanta USA – Bronze
1998 Thomas Cup Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Team) – Silver
2000 Korea Open (Singles) – Silver

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