PETALING JAYA: Could the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) be bringing in another coach from Indonesia as part of their ongoing coaching restructuring?
One of the names currently linked to that plan is Indonesian men’s singles assistant coach Harry Hartono (pic).
However, BAM secretary-general Datuk Kenny Goh, when contacted, did not reveal any specific names of foreign candidates under consideration. He did not rule out, though, that an Indonesian coach could be on the shortlist.
“There are candidates from Indonesia, there are candidates from Thailand. We will wait for the official announcement in a week or two,” said Kenny.
The addition of new coaches is also expected to benefit the junior squad, as BAM seek to place greater emphasis on developing young players.
“At the recent BAM council meeting, the president emphasised that BAM need to focus on development. The performance committee have also submitted their plans.
“When we focus on development, we will bring more players into our academies. This will naturally require additional coaches, and we are currently in the process of identifying them,” added Kenny.
Harry recently returned to the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) as an assistant coach for the men’s singles squad, replacing Marleve Mainaky.
Although in an assistant role, he has played a key part alongside Irwansyah in coaching top Indonesian players such as Anthony Ginting and Jonathan Christie.
If BAM secure Harry’s services, he would join the existing Indonesian coaches in Malaysia, including Rexy Mainaky (doubles coaching director), Herry Iman Pierngadi, Muhammad Miftakh (men’s doubles) and Nova Widianto (mixed doubles).
Previously, several local coaches, including Yeoh Kay Bin and Mohd Zakry Latif, were linked to BAM’s new coaching structure.
