Badminton Association of India quashes rumors of appointing coaches Tan Kim Her, Irwansyah Adi Pratama 

The Badminton Association of India (BAI) released an official statement on Friday, November 15, where it dismissed the rumors of appointing Tan Kim Her and Irwansyah Adi Pratama in their coaching staff. Earlier, it was learned that Tan Kim would coach the duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty until the Asian Games in 2026.

Recently, Satwik and Chirag parted ways with Mathias Boe, whose contract was not extended after the Paris Olympics. Moreover, reports previously suggested that Irwansyah joined as the men’s and women’s singles coach. But BAI was clear cut in saying that neither Tan Kim nor Irwansyah have signed an official contract thus far.

“The news of Indonesian coach Irwansyah and Malaysian coach, Tan Kim joining the Indian setup is too premature,” BAI wrote.

“They are yet to accept any offer from the Badminton Association of India. We are very interested in hiring these coaches for our top players. BAI has interviewed a few other foreign coaches also.”

“Nothing is final yet and no contract has been signed between BAI and any foreign coach at the moment,” BAI added.

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Tan Kim Her’s past with Indian badminton

Between Tan Kim and Irwansyah, it is the former who has coached India before. Tan Kim was the doubles coach from 2015 to 2019 before resigning from his position due to personal reasons. He has also received accolades for the rise of the pair of Chirag and Satwik who became the World No. 1 last year. Kim Her was popularly called the ‘father of Satwik and Chirag’.

As far as Irwansyah is concerned, it will be the first time he will coach the Indian team if he signs a contract with BAI. He has also coached the Indonesian men’s team in badminton singles. If he joins the Indian coaching setup, he will replace Agus Dwi Santoso.

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