KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's men's doubles head coach, Herry Iman Pierngadi has no plans to break up the existing pairings for now.
Herry, who officially started his role at Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara here on Saturday (Feb 1), said that he needed time to assess the performance of his players before making any changes to the men's doubles team.
"If the performance is not up to standard (of the men's doubles team), we will change it. However, for now, I haven't thought about changing the pairs.
"It could be the same during training, but not the same in competitions. So, I’ll observe the performances in the tournaments first. I can’t say for sure how long it will take,” he told reporters after a team training session.
The 62-year-old coach also has no plans to change the current training programme and acknowledged that he would need time before making any necessary transformations.
"So, I have to adapt first, then gradually, we will make small changes, but not total changes,” he said, reminding the players to always enjoy their training sessions.
The Indonesian coaching legend also expressed hopes of helping former world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik to become more consistent after their semi-final defeats in the Indian Open and Indonesian Masters.
He also praised the Indonesian Masters champions, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, and is optimistic that the 12th-ranked pair in the world will win more titles in the future based on their current form.
Asked whether he was interested in organising training sessions with other professional pairings, such as Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, Herry left that decision to national coaching director Rexy Mainaky, and the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).
Since leaving BAM last August, Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin have shown excellent form, winning the China Open, finishing as runners-up in the World Tour Finals, and claiming the Indian Open last month, making them the second-best men's doubles pair in the world.
Herry, who has been offered a four-year contract by BAM, is a high-profile coach known for his magic touch in forming world-class men’s doubles teams in Indonesia, including producing Olympic gold medallists Candra Wijaya-Tony Gunawan (Sydney 2000) and Hendra Setiawan-Markis Kido (Beijing 2008).
This is his first time expanding his career overseas after dedicating 31 years to coaching the Indonesian national badminton team. — Bernama
