Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has approved the appointment of ace Malaysian badminton coach, Tan Kim Her, as India’s Doubles Coach till the Asian Games in 2026. The 50-year-old’s return to India will raise the stock of the double’s combinations in the country.

The 24-year-old Chirag Shetty, who is ranked World No. 8 with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy in men’s doubles, welcomed the announcement. “Satwik and I are happy that Tan coach will be back with us. We always look up to him as he paired us together despite our early hesitation because while we were similar, neither of us was confident of playing the front court,” he said.

“Tan coach’s conviction helped us reach the level we did. He got us from nowhere to the top 16 by the time he left India. We are thankful to the Badminton Association of India and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for getting him onboard," Chirag said.

“Coach Tan Kim Her is well aware of the Indian Badminton ecosystem and his inclusion will strengthen the doubles contingent even more. I am glad that BAI and SAI could come together to execute his appointment which will not only help our leading doubles pairs, Chirag (Shetty) and Satwik (Rankireddy) but also help to groom the next in line doubles bench strength." said Ajay K Singhania, General Secretary, BAI

In his first stint (2015-2019) as Doubles Coach in India, Tan trained Satwiksairak Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty to the top 10 in the Badminton World Federation men’s doubles ranking and Ashwini Ponappa and Sikki Reddy to a top 20 spot in the women’s doubles ranking. Besides, six pairs were ranked among the top 50 across different pairs.

Tan, who coached the Japanese men’s doubles team to victory in the 2021 World Championships and the mixed doubles team to a silver medal in the World Championships and bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympic Games, will also be responsible for putting in place an overall coaching system and plan besides oversee coach education.

Among other things, he will identify Indian coaches with potential and assist in their skill development by holding four workshops each year. This will ensure that the nation will have a number of doubles coaches with the skill sets to take the Indian teams to greater heights in the future.

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NB/OA