The Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) has announced plans to hire India’s Arun Sridhar as the new singles coach for its national team. This move is pending the successful approval of Sridhar’s employment pass, according to a statement from the SBA on Monday, January 20.
Sridhar, who has coached top players like Lakshya Sen and PV Sindhu, will work under the guidance of South Korean coach Kim Ji-hyun. Kim, who will remain the head coach for both the men’s and women’s singles teams, will have Sridhar as additional support.
David Tan, SBA’s vice president of business development and communications, explained that the national team includes players at various stages of development and world rankings. As a result, their training and competition needs differ. To address this, the SBA decided to bring in more coaches with diverse skills.
Sridhar’s hiring follows an advertisement by the SBA for a coach with at least five years of experience within a national team, with a primary focus on singles. Tan praised Sridhar for his detailed analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of top players, adding that this expertise would be valuable to the national team.
A former singles player, Sridhar captained India’s Thomas Cup team in 2006 and 2008. He represented India at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was the country’s top-ranked men’s singles player between 2005 and 2008.
In October 2023, the SBA announced that Kelvin Ho would take over as the singles head coach of the national squad in 2025. Ho was instrumental in the success of world champion Loh Kean Yew. This transition created two vacancies: one for the men’s singles head coach and one for the women’s singles head coach.
Kim Ji-hyun, who has previously coached national teams from India, South Korea, and Thailand, was appointed as the women’s singles head coach in November. Initially, she also took on the role of interim men’s singles head coach. Kim is credited with playing a key role in PV Sindhu’s 2019 world championship win and mentoring world No. 7 Supanida Katethong.
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