Kuala Lumpur: Tan Bin Shen, aged 40, joined the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) on December 17, 2020. Initially, he served as the assistant coach to Indonesian coach Flandy Limpele and later assisted Rexy Mainaky.
In September 2023, Indonesian legend Rexy Mainaky became BAM’s coaching director, and Chen was promoted to head coach of the men’s doubles team.
BAM officially announced on Friday that Malaysia’s men’s doubles coach Tan Bin Shen will step down on January 13, 2025, ending his coaching tenure with the organization.
As a player, Tan’s achievements in the BWF Grand Prix include one title and two runner-up finishes with partner Gan Teik Chai. The pair won the 2009 Australian Open, were runners-up at the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix Gold, and secured another runner-up finish at the 2010 India Grand Prix.
During his coaching tenure from 2020 to 2024, Tan’s most significant accomplishment was guiding the men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik to two Olympic bronze medals and the 2022 World Championships title. The current World No. 3 men’s pair Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin also achieved success under his guidance.
In another development late Friday, Hong Kong’s head coach Wong Choong Hann confirmed in a phone interview that Malaysian coaches Tan Bin Shen, Loh Wei Sheng, and Jeremy Gan will join the Hong Kong Badminton Team.
Wong stated that Loh Wei Sheng will coach the men’s singles team, while Jeremy Gan and Tan Bin Shen will focus on doubles.
He explained:
“We also have Wen Kai, who will coach the women’s singles. The Hong Kong Badminton Team operates differently, adopting a medium-scale model emphasizing collaboration and mutual support. Jeremy Gan and Tan Bin Shen will lead the doubles group, with Goh mainly handling mixed doubles and assisting with other doubles training.”
“Similarly, Tan Bin Shen will oversee other doubles categories while also assisting with mixed doubles. In Hong Kong, there are no ‘head coaches’ for specific categories, only one head coach overseeing all coaches, who work together to handle the three doubles groups.”
Background of New Coaches
Loh Wei Sheng: A former Malaysian assistant coach who joined the Singapore national team in 2022 as a singles assistant coach and worked with Singapore’s top player Loh Kean Yew.
Jeremy Gan: A former Malaysian mixed doubles coach who moved to Japan in 2018 at the invitation of his mentor, Park Joo-bong, and coached top players Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino.
Tan Bin Shen: BAM announced on Friday that Tan will leave his role in January 2025. Following Wong Choong Hann’s confirmation, his next move to Hong Kong is now official.
Wen Kai: A 36-year-old former Chinese national player who will replace Wang Chen. Wen was a sparring partner for Lin Dan during the 2008 Beijing Olympics and reached the semifinals of the 2008 China Open. He won silver in the team and men’s singles categories at the 2011 World University Games and was a women’s singles assistant coach for Team China during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic cycle.
Here’s the complete Hong Kong Badminton Team Coaching Setup:
Head Coach: Wong Choong Hann (from Malaysia)
Doubles Coaches: Tan Bin Shen, and Jeremy Gan (both from Malaysia)
Men’s Singles Coach: Loh Wei Sheng (from Malaysia)
Women’s Singles Coach: Wen Kai (from China)
