Badminton News: Indonesian coach Mulyo Handoyo has been appointed as sole head coach at Guwahati National Center of Excellence, with Badminton Association of India (BAI) also hiring two other foreign coaches for the newly constructed facility.

Former English champion Russia Ivan Sozonov will coach the doubles, while Korea’s Park Tae-sang, who led PV Sindhu to a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, will be the third foreign coach.

Apart from this, there will also be a large number of Indian coaches who will work closely with foreign coaches. NCE, a joint venture between the Government of Assam and BAI, will be inaugurated in Guwahati on Friday.

This state-of-the-art facility has 24 shared boarding badminton courts with a capacity of around 3000 spectators, a gym and a yoga center.

“BAI has big plans and this center of excellence and the appointment of these three coaches, namely Mulyo Handoyo, Sozonov and Park, is the first step,” BAI General Secretary Sanjay Mishra told PTI.

“The selected talents will be part of this center and they will get overseas exposure and all other necessary benefits. We thank our sponsors and partners for making this possible. I’m sure within a year , you will be able to see the impact and change.”

Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad and Padukone-Dravid Center of Sports Excellence in Bangalore have been the main centers with most Indian players training in these two centers so far.

The presence of top foreign coaches in the NCE will be a big boost for Indian badminton as now junior camps as well as senior camps can be held here.

The legendary Mulyo Handoyo, who is credited with coaching Athens 2004 Olympic gold medalist Taufik Hidayat, made a huge impact during his one-year stint with the Indian national team.

During his tenure in 2017, Kidambi Srikanth emerged victorious in four Super Series tournaments, while B Sai Praneeth won one title. He joined the Singapore team after leaving his post in early 2018.

Ivan, 34, and partner Vladimir Ivanov won the 2016 All England Championships and also competed at the Tokyo Olympics, while Park and Sindhu parted ways earlier this year.

The NCE will be launched on Friday in the presence of India’s Thomas Cup-winning team and other dignitaries such as head coach Pullela Gopichand and Assam Sports Minister Nandita Garlosa.

Article tags: Mulyo Handoyo, taufik hidayat, bai, Badminton India