Datuk Tey Seu Bock (born 21 February 1973) is a retired Malaysian professional badminton player. He is most well known for being the coach of three-time Olympic silver medalist and former world No. 1 badminton men's singles shuttler Lee Chong Wei between 2010 and 2016. Tey currently serves as coach of the men's singles department at the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).
As a player, he was active in both men's singles and doubles until his retirement.
Background Tey was born in Pengkalan Balak in the Malaysian state of Malacca. Following limited success in his playing career, he turned to coaching and remained as an assistant to Misbun Sidek for a large number of years acting as sparring partner to players such as Rashid Sidek, Muhammad Roslin Hashim and eventually Lee himself. He once ventured into the kopi tiam (traditional coffee shop) business in an attempt to strengthen his financial situation but the business failed after a year.
Career 1995 Men's Doubles YearTournamentRoundPartnerOpponentScore1995Brunei OpenRound of 32 Rahman Sidek Dodi Hermono Yuwono14-17 9-15
1994 Men's Singles YearTournamentRoundOpponentScore1994German OpenQualification Holger Kampen15-7 15-4Qualification Franz Josef Mueller15-9 15-3Round of 64 Volker Renzelmann15-8 15-12Round of 32 Tomas Johansson8-15 9-151994Dutch OpenRound of 64 Budi Santoso4-15 7-151994Indonesia OpenRound of 64 Hendrawan11-15 10-151994Brunei OpenRound of 64 Wilfred Albo15-2 15-4Round of 32 Jeffer Rosobin5-15 2-151994Singapore OpenQualification Noor Izwan Paini15-0 15-2Qualification Kok Keong Desmond Tan15-1 15-14Qualification Saman Ismail9-15 15-4 15-11Round of 64 Jeroen Van Dijk5-15 15-12 9-151994Malaysia OpenRound of 64 Ardy Wiranata2-15 3-15
1993 Men's Singles YearTournamentRoundOpponentScore1993Brunei OpenRound of 32 Antonio Jr Mance15-7 11-15 15-4Round of 16 Kitipon Kitikul15-5 15-13Quarterfinal Kantharoopan Ponniah6-15 15-11 9-151993Malaysia OpenRound of 64 Takuya Katayama15-10 15-6Round of 32 Pontus Jäntti6-15 10-15
Men's Doubles YearTournamentRoundPartnerOpponentScore1993Brunei OpenRound of 32 Ah Heng Lo Wahab Moksin Hj Yusof15-4 15-5Round of 16 Gunawan Al-Muhtadee Billah18-17 1-15 15-4Quarterfinal Kitipon Kitikul Prapon Prapaitrakul6-15 2-151993Malaysia OpenRound of 32 Ah Heng Lo Rexy Mainaky Ricky Subagja2-15 3-15
1992 Men's Singles YearTournamentRoundOpponentScore1992Malaysia OpenRound of 128 Yifeng Shen8-15 15-11 14-17
1991 Men's Singles YearTournamentRoundOpponentScore1991Singapore OpenQualificationQualification Yuzo Kubota15-7 10-15 15-13Qualification Bhawin Gala12-15 9-151991Malaysia OpenQualification Ibrahim SadruWalkoverQualification Luis LopezlleraWalkoverQualification Dipankar Bhattacharjee7-15 8-15
Men's Doubles YearTournamentRoundPartnerOpponentScore1991Malaysia OpenQualification D. JivehenthiranByeQualification Liwen Lin Jianjun Liu6-15 8-15 BWF International Series tournament
Coaching Tey joined the BAM in 2002 and became an understudy to Misbun Sidek. Following Misbun's resignation from the BAM in 2010, Tey was chosen to take over coaching responsibilities of the men's singles department and take world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei under his wing. Under his watch, Lee would go on to clinch, among many, two more Olympic silver medals, four world championships silver medals and three All England Open Badminton Championships men's singles titles.
Following the coaching reshuffle at BAM in 2017, Tey was re-assigned and has since served as head coach of Malaysia's national women's singles department.
In May 2020, the BAM once again restructured their national coaching setup which saw Tey returning to the men's singles squad as assistant to head coach, Hendrawan. Another Indonesian, Indra Wijaya, succeeded Tey as women's singles head coach.
Honours Companion Class II of the Order of Malacca (DPSM) - Datuk (2017).
References