India badminton doubles coach Tan Kim Her steps down citing personal reasons

Malaysia’s Tan Kim Her has stepped down from his post as India’s doubles badminton coach, citing personal reasons. The 47-year-old, appointed as the national team’s doubles coach, put down his papers one-and-a-half years before his contract with the Badminton Association of India (BAI) to end after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. “Yes, Tan Kim Her has resigned as doubles coach. He had put down his papers about a month back. He had some family problems, so he left India during the Senior Nationals,” BAI secretary (events) Omar Rashid told PTI.

Tan Kim Her has earlier coached England, South Korea, and Malaysia, and there are speculations that he might have received some lucrative offer from another country. Asked about it, Rashid said: “No, there is no truth in such speculations. There was no problem; he left purely due to personal reasons.” Under Tan Kim Her, India saw the rise of men’s doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, who won the silver medal at the Commonwealth Games and helped the country win the mixed team gold for the first time.

The Indian duo won the Hyderabad Open Super 100 event, reached the finals at Syed Modi Super 300 tournament, and is currently ranked 20th globally. The women’s pair of N Sikki Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa also has done well under the Malaysian’s guidance, claiming the bronze medal at the Gold Coast event. In early 2018, India’s singles coach Mulyo Handoyo of Indonesia also didn’t complete his contract and left abruptly, citing personal reasons. BAI has recently roped in two Korean coaches, Kim Ji Hyun and Park Tae Sang, and the Indian team is awaiting their arrival. The onus of guiding the Indian doubles pairs will now rest on the two new doubles coaches, Flandy Limpele and Namrih Suroto from Indonesia, who BAI also hired.