Kuala Lumpur: In Feb of 2022, it was reported that India’s Sports Ministry has approved Tan Kim Her’s appointment as India’s men’s doubles coach for five years till the 2026 Asian Games and India’s World No. 7 men’s pair – Chirag Shetty/Satwiksairaj Rankireddy was excited about the news.
However, Badminton Association of India (BAI) secretary-general Sanjay Mishra told Indian media last Sunday that Tan has declined the offer from BAI due to personal reasons.
“We were very keen to get Tan Kim Her and also had got the approval of SAI and ministry but then he refused to accept the offer. So he is not coming as of now,” said Mishra.
After Tan Kim Her reportedly declined the offer to become India’s doubles coach, BAI is now trying to invite Danish legend Mathias Boe to return for a second stint as India’s doubles coach.
“We are currently in discussion with Mathias Boe. He has the experience of training our players and had done well with Satwik and Chirag. Nothing is finalized yet but we are trying to get his services at least till the Asian Games if not beyond,” added Mishra.
Boe guided Rankireddy and Shetty to win two of the three matches in the group stage at the Tokyo Olympics, including beating the eventual men’s doubles gold medalists Lee Yang/Wang Chi-lin. However, they missed out on the quarterfinals as three teams finished with two wins each in their group. With the other two teams having a superior game difference, the Indian duo finished third in the group.
After the Tokyo Olympics, Boe wanted to continue coaching the Indian doubles players but not on a full-time basis, which was not acceptable to BAI.
