PETALING JAYA: Herry Iman Pierngadi has been one of the successful Indonesian coaches who has churned out many All-England winners for his country.
This week, Herry will get a second shot at making his Midas touch work for the Malaysian squad in Birmingham.
His first All-England stint with Malaysia last year ended miserably when none of the top pairs cleared the early rounds.
Herry even dubbed it his worst All-England outing, but after more than a year working with the players and guiding several pairs to win a few titles along the way, the time is ripe for his charges to deliver in the oldest tournament, which starts tomorrow.
Herry made it clear that his ambitions remain high.
"My hope is to help a Malaysian pair emerge as champions," said Herry, who arrived in Birmingham yesterday.
Herry said he has many good memories with the Indonesian team at the All-England but highlighted three.
"The All-England is the oldest and most prestigious tournament. Everyone wants to win it. My best memories were seeing my players make it an all-Indonesian final in 2001, 2022 and 2023," said Herry.
In 2001, Tony Gunawan-Halim Heryanto powered past Sigit Budiarto-Candra Wijaya in a thrilling final in Seville, Spain.
Two decades later in 2022, Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana announced their arrival on the big stage by defeating seniors Mohd Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan and, a year later, Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto outlasted Fikri-Bagas in the final.
"But for me, a player is also a winner if he has both good talent and strong character," he said.
"I enjoy coaching players who show good attitude on and off court, and reflect those values in their lifestyle. Indonesian players like Hendra and Ahsan are good examples."
The veteran pair Hendra-Ahsan, who have retired from the sport, won the All-England titles in 2014 and 2019.
Can Malaysia make a clean sweep under Herry too? It looks quite impossible though based on the draw for this year’s edition.
Herry’s top two charges — former world champions and second seeds Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and sixth seeds Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun — are in the lower half of the draw.
In fact, if both pairs live up to their billing, they can take on each other as early as the quarter-finals.
His three other pairs, Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King, Kang Khai Xing-Aaron Tai, and Chong Hon Jian-Mohd Haikal Nazri, have tough opening draws.
Arif-Roy King face Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard of Denmark; world junior champions Khai Xing-Aaron face India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty; and Hon Jian-Haikal meet Denmark’s Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen first.
Out of them all, two-time All-England runners-up Aaron-Wooi Yik came close to ending the title wait that stretches back to 2007, when Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong last won it.
Can the wait end under Herry this year?
