Badminton Association searches for coaches

In a bid for medals at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) is on the hunt for coaches to guide its top stars to further heights.

Casting its net wide, the association has been in touch with coaches who have produced champions on the international level and have taken charge of players who are ranked in the world’s top 10, said SBA chief executive Alan Ow in an interview with The Straits Times on Oct 21.

The 43-year-old, who said they are not “dead set” on the candidates being foreigners, added that the plan is to get separate coaches for both their men and women’s singles players.

He added: “This goes to show the level of ambition that SBA has because we’ve never done that before. But we want to give them (the players) a very good platform where we can have certain coaches who come in with a different view, training style that can push them to a different level.”

The search for new national singles coaches comes on the back of an overhaul in SBA’s coaching structure, which includes having a new technical director and with current national singles coach Kelvin Ho taking over from Taufiq Hidayat as coach of the national training squad (NTS) in early 2025.

Under Ho’s guidance, Singapore’s top singles players Loh Kean Yew and Yeo Jia Min, ranked world No. 11 and 17 respectively, have notched several milestones.

Loh became the Republic’s first badminton world champion in 2021, before climbing to third in the world rankings a year later, a record high for a local player.

Yeo, who reached a career-high 16th in the world rankings, has also made it to the prestigious Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals, just as Loh did.

While a spot on the podium at the past two Olympics has eluded them, Ow believes it is not out of reach, especially after their showings at the recent Paris Games.

Loh reached the quarter-finals, where he was eliminated by eventual gold medallist Viktor Axelsen, while Yeo was narrowly defeated by Japan’s Aya Ohori in the round of 16.

Ho’s redeployment was “bittersweet” for Loh, who said the former has been a “fantastic mentor and coach”.

But the 27-year-old supports the association’s long-term vision, saying: “He has a proven track record of developing successful athletes, not just in terms of skills, but also in character and discipline.

“While I’ll miss having him by my side, I know he’s the perfect person to inspire the next generation of players.”

Ho, meanwhile, is looking forward to his new role as he works with up-and-coming players with an eye on the next two Olympic cycles.

He acknowledged that it would be a different experience, with most players in the NTS either studying or in national service.

The 34-year-old said he will be looking to get a better sense of the NTS players’ schedules before consulting the SBA, Singapore Sport Institute and National Youth Sports Institute to come up with a training programme that fits their timetable.

He highlighted character-building as another important aspect that he is looking to develop, pointing out that attributes such as hunger for success and mental resilience are traits that have shaped Loh and Yeo into top players.

Ho said: “I’m quite excited because I want to impart my knowledge to the younger players. I’m lucky to have worked with them (Loh and Yeo).

“I hope I can share with the young ones this is what made them special, my experience going overseas, seeing different styles of play and training.

“It’s about making a system that can support them.”

His familiarity with the local set-up made him an obvious choice, said Ow. After being released as a national player in 2011, Ho became one of the national intermediate squad’s coaches.

He was appointed assistant national singles coach in 2018, before taking over from Indonesian Mulyo Handoyo as the national singles coach in April 2022.

Apart from coaching changes, Ow will also be stepping down from his post at the end of 2024 after nearly 3½ years to spend more time with his family.

He said: “The 3½ years took a lot out of me... I’ve spent more of my time in the office, with players, with different stakeholders...

“The other question is that I need to continue to have that level of energy and drive, so if the energy level dips at a certain point, it may not be fair to the association and my family.

“But badminton will always remain a special part of me.”