Need to achieve more in the last three years of my tenure: Tan Kim Her

All the credit for the Indian doubles should be given to Tan Kim Her, the Malaysian coach, who is working for Indian doubles badminton since past two years.

The decision by Badminton Association of India (BAI) to appoint the experienced coach is perceptible as Indian doubles players marking themselves at the international level.

Kim after helping England, South Korea, and Malaysia with his service earlier had witnessed the doubles playing at the Senior Nationals Badminton Championship tournament to spot new talents.

“I am happy with the progress our doubles players have made ever since I joined in September 2015. There were several encouraging results, particularly this year the performance was brilliant. But I am not satisfied yet. I want to achieve more in the last three years of my tenure,” said Kim.

It was only Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa who were the famous faces from Indian badminton doubles previously. Later, for the first time in the Indian badminton history, men’s doubles pair Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics, and this year, young Satwik Sai Raj and Chirag Shetty has been making bestrides and made it to the quarterfinals of Korea Open and French Open Super Series.

He added, “The doubles desperately need role model in India. Indians have been doing exceptionally well in singles because of the success of Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth. It is a matter of time the doubles will also get the same following in India. This year Satwik-Chirag pair made a breakthrough by reaching quarters. Next year they should play semifinals and in 2019 they should play finals. If there is no injury, Satwik-Chirag will win a medal in 2020 Olympics.”

The doubles specialist and men’s doubles semifinalist at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Kim, is satisfied with the combination of Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwik Sai Raj but little upset with the women’s doubles standard in India. Howbeit, the 44-year-old is looking towards the bright side of men’s and mixed doubles in India.

“At the start of the year Satwik and Chirag were ranked 69th in the world. Now they are 27th in the world. Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Sikki Reddy are now ranked 16th in the world after reaching 13th early this month. Sikki and Ashwini had reached 22nd. New pair of Satwik and Ashwini are ranked 87th in the world and has the potential of breaking into top-20 within a year. There is certainly a hope for the future,” said Kim.