PETALING JAYA: Former national men’s singles shuttler K. Yogendran (pic) is feeling the excitement all over again now that he will be back with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) after 13 years.
Armed with more experience, the 39-year-old is ready to begin a new career as a national coach with the men’s singles department helmed by head coach Hendrawan and assisted by Datuk Tey Seu Bock.
And Yogendran can’t wait to impart his knowledge to the future players.
“I’m thrilled to return to a place where my career as a national player started,” said Yogendran who spent a decade with the BAM without much success as a player before quitting in 2008.
He worked his way up to be a respectable coach and together with Yeoh Kay Bin and Manoj Kumar, they have professionally run their own academy – Petaling Jaya New Vision Badminton Academy (NVBA) for more than 10 years and had built competitive teams that featured in the Purple League.
In fact, Yogendran took up a bigger challenge by becoming the head coach in Mauritius for four years. Under his guidance, Mauritius qualified for the Uber Cup Finals in Bangkok, Thailand, by virtue of being the All Africa women’s team champions in 2018.
And under Yogendran, Julien Paul became the first shuttler from Mauritius to compete in the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
“Personally, being a head coach of a private academy and a national head coach is different. The goals and expectations are not the same,” said Yogendran.
“Every player has their own development path, different strengths, talents, and it is the responsibility of the coach to guide them to find their way in their own unique journey.
“I’m glad to say that this is one of my strong points, where I have excelled in both roles – with the NVBA and Mauritius.
One of his immediate tasks is to narrow the gap between players in BAM’s singles department.
“It’s an honour to contribute back to the country. No doubt, it will be a challenging experience but I would like to help the younger boys in the squad to be more confident and close the gap,” said Yogendran.
“I hope to create healthy competitions and raise the overall standard,” added Yogendran, who will report for duty at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara on Dec 1.
