Kim Her best choice to fill Japan’s vacant men’s doubles coach position

Is Tan Kim Her on his way to Japan?

The 47-year-old has emerged as the frontrunner to fill the vacant men’s doubles coach role at the Nippon Badminton Association after he stepped down abruptly as India’s doubles coach.

The Indian media reported that Kim Her handled his last training session on Friday and the Badminton Association of India (BAI) confirmed that Kim Her had resigned citing “personal reasons”.

Kim Her was the mixed doubles coach with Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) prior to joining India in September 2015 on a fiveyear deal.

He however did not see out the remaining one-and-a-half year contract which was supposed to end after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Kim Her has refused to elaborate on his decision and future.

“Will let you know when the time is right,” replied Kim Her when contacted via WeChat.

BAI secretary Omar Rashid reportedly denied that Kim Her left for bigger offers.

However, one of his players, Chirag Shetty, said Kim Her is going to Japan.

If what Chirag claimed is true, Kim Her will most likely take charge of the men’s doubles and become the third Malaysian after Jeremy Gan and Lee Wan Wah to head for Japan.

Jeremy joined early last year as the mixed doubles coach while Wan Wah will start his duty as the junior coach in April.

There is a vacancy in the men’s doubles coaching role after Reony Mainaky resigned to return to Indonesia.

Reony ended his tenure with a bang by guiding Hiroyuki EndoYuta Watanabe and Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda to a 1-2 finish at the German Open last Sunday.

Kim Her’s resignation is seen as a massive blow to India.

Since his arrival, Kim Her has turned India’s doubles department into a respectable force.

He plotted the rise of Chirag Shetty-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, currently the world No. 20 and the silver medallist at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast last year.

Mixed doubles pair N. Sikki Reddy-Ashwini Ponnappa also flourished under his tutelage.

They beat Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying for the opening point as India went on to defeat Malaysia 3-1 in the final for the nation’s first ever mixed team gold in Gold Coast.

Kim Her has had coaching stints in South Korea and England. Prior to that, he was with BAM for five and a half years as coach of the back-up squad.