Indonesian Mulyo Handoyo has been appointed as the singles head coach at the National Center of Excellence in Guwahati with the Badminton Association of India (BAI) also roping in two more foreign coaches for the newly-constructed facility.
Former All England champion Russian Ivan Sozonov will be the doubles coach, while Korea’s Park Tae-sang, who guided PV Sindhu to a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, will be the third foreign coach.
Besides, there will also be a big pool of Indian coaches who will be working closely with foreign coaches.
The NCE, a joint venture of the Assam Government and BAI, will be inaugurated on Friday in Guwahati. The state-of-the-art facility has a whopping 24 badminton courts with hostel facilities along with a seating capacity of around 3000 spectators, a gym and a yoga centre.
The coaches who will help unfold the dreams at the , , #WhereDreamsUnfold#1daytogo#IndiaontheRise#BadmintonTwitter#Badminton pic.twitter.com/gh0I8SYnBS— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) August 10, 2023
“BAI has big plans and this excellence center and the appointment of these three coaches — Mulyo, Sozonov and Park is the first step,” Sanjay Mishra, General Secretary, BAI told PTI.
“Hand-picked talents will be made part of this center and they will be given foreign exposure and every other necessary facility. We are grateful to our sponsors and partners for making this happen. I am confident in a year’s time you will be able to see the impact and changes.”
Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad and Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence in Bangalore have been the main hubs with most Indian players training in these two centers till now.
The presence of top foreign coaches at the NCE will be a major boost for Indian badminton as now the junior camps can and also some of the senior camps can be organised here.
The legendary Mulyo, who is credited for coaching 2004 Athens Olympic gold medallist Taufik Hidayat, made a huge impact during his one-year stint with the Indian national team.
During his tenure in 2017, Kidambi Srikanth emerged as champion in four Super Series tournaments, while B Sai Praneeth claimed one title. He joined the Singapore team after resigning from his position in early 2018.
The 34-year-old Ivan along with his partner Vladimir Ivanov had won the 2016 All England Championships and also competed at the Tokyo Olympics, while Park and Sindhu parted ways early this year.
The NCE will be launched on Friday in presence of the Thomas Cup-winning Indian team and other dignitaries such as chief coach Pullela Gopichand and Assam sports minister Nandita Garlosa.
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