KUALA LUMPUR: Star Indian shuttlers Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty will look to doubles specialist coach Tan Kim Her to help them regain their top ranking ahead of the 2026 Asian Games and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
This will be Malaysian Kim Her's second stint with the Indian players, having previously been responsible for pairing the world No. 9 duo. He began coaching Satwiksairaj-Chirag, and their teammates last month.
Kim Her replaced Denmark's Mathias Boe, who stepped down after the pair was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Paris Olympics. The Malaysian's immediate goal is to guide them to success at the All England (March 11-16) and the World Championships in Paris (August 25-31).
Kim Her's efforts are already yielding results, with a focus on fostering strong doubles partnerships.
After competing only at the China Masters Super 750 in November following the Olympics setback, Satwiksairaj-Chirag have reached the quarter-finals of the ongoing Malaysia Open Super 1000 at the Axiata Arena.
"Coach Tan has been really beneficial as he was the one who originally paired us in 2015, and working with him again will be very fruitful," said Chirag.
"We trained with him for three and a half years, during which he helped us reach a level where we can challenge the best in the world.
"When he first came, he had to build us from scratch, but now he will focus on rectifying specific areas of our game without altering our playing style, as we are now experienced and established. Our goal is to remain consistent on the World Tour this year, with winning the All England and the World Championships as our ultimate objectives."
Satwiksairaj added that their absence from the tour was not solely due to the lack of a medal but also his injury issues. "It's a mix of disappointment and injuries. I wanted to take a break, recover from the niggles, and return fresh," he said.
Asian Games champions and former world No. 1 Satwiksairaj-Chirag will rely on Kim Her's guidance in their quarter-final clash against Malaysian world No. 24 Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi later today.
Also in the quarter-finals, world No. 14 Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun will face Frenchmen Christo Popov-Toma Junior Popov (No. 29).
In mixed doubles, world No. 5 Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei will play 14th-ranked Hiroki Midorikawa -Natsu Saito, while world No. 6 Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai meet China's Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi (No. 11) today.