It’s a big deal: Jeremy Gan with his prized mixed doubles pair Yuta Watanabe (left) and Arisa Higashino, the Tokyo Olympics bronze medal winners.
PETALING JAYA: Japan’s mixed doubles coach Jeremy Gan returns home today and the first thing he plans to do with his family here is to enjoy nasi lemak or roti canai.
“It’s either nasi lemak or roti canai. That’s what I normally try to eat first when I get back,” said Jeremy.
Jeremy arrives two days before the rest of the Japan team join him in Kuala Lumpur for the season opener Malaysian Open starting on Jan 9 at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil.
There were some anxious moments on the eve of his departure as a massive earthquake struck the Land of the Rising Sun that led to Tsunami on the west coast and the tremors could be even felt in the capital Tokyo on the opposite coast.
“I was at a mall when it happened. We could feel the tremors but all of us are fine here,” he said.
This new year begins Jeremy’s seventh year tenure as a coach with the Japan’s national team, and he is hoping it will be the best year.
“The mixed doubles department have grown since I first came here,” said Jeremy, who joined in 2018.
“They have some potential players too. For now, we are more focused on the Paris Olympic Games. We are in the midst of raising their level of performance as the Games gets closer.
Besides the Tokyo Olympics bronze medal winners and world No. 2 Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino, whom he had groomed from the start, there are three other pairs in the top 30 standings – Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito (13), Kyohei Yamashita-Naru Shinoya (17) and Yuki Kaneko-Misaki Matsutomo (21).
Midorikawa-Saito have shown their potential by winning the Canada Open and reaching the Australian Open final while Kaneko-Matsutomo reached the final of the Syed Modi International last month.
Watanabe-Higashino have been the most consistent and will be the medal prospect at the Paris Games.
“We had a tough schedule in 2023, it was hard for the players, coaches and staff too but all had put in good effort. There were ups and downs. I hope we will be better and more consistent thi s year,” he said.
Besides the upcoming Olympics, Jeremy is also hoping his players will make a mark at the Malaysian Open and All-England.
Japan have never won a mixed doubles title in the Malaysian Open since the inception in 1937 but they came very close last year when his prized pair Watanabe-Higashino lost to China’s Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong of China in the final.
“China are the favourites in the mixed doubles, we are still trying our best to close the gap,” he said.
“Other countries also have, at least one good pair, and so the quality of competition will be really high at the Olympic Games. I think, it’s the hardest department to compete right now.”
He is, however, happy to see the rise of Malaysian youngsters Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei.
“We can see that three Malaysian pairs are fighting for the Olympics spot (the others being Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie and Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing) but the younger pair have a good chance to qualify since their results are better in 2023,” he said.
Jeremy’s contract will end after the Olympic Games but based on his good track record, Japan may not let him go, and more so if his players put up another smashing show this year.
