Saturday January 5, 2013

Doubles chief coach Kim Her relishes training extra players

By KNG ZHENG GUAN

<B>No problem:</B> National doubles chief coach Tan Kim Her has 12 pairs training under him.

No problem: National doubles chief coach Tan Kim Her has 12 pairs training under him.

PETALING JAYA: Tan Kim Her never shirked from responsibility when he was a doubles player.

And now, as the national badminton doubles chief coach, he’s not going to shy away from the extra responsibility that has been heaped upon him – following Pang Cheh Chang’s transfer to the Bukit Jalil Sports School – either.

While the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) are still looking to bring in a replacement, possibly a foreigner, Kim Her has 12 pairs training under him and his assistant Chong Kien Ling.

Those training under Kim Her are world No. 2 Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, Hoon Thien How-Tan Wee Kiong, Chooi Kah Ming-Ow Yao Han, Goh V Shem-Lim Khim Wah, Nelson Heg-Teo Ee Yi, Low Juan Shen-Tan Yip Jiun, Mohd Lufti Zaim-Teo Kok Siang, Chan Peng Soon-Ong Jian Guo, Yew Hong Kheng-Goh Jian Hao and three junior pairs.

But Kim Her is not complaining. In fact, he feels that he’s doing just fine now that he has women’s doubles coach Rosman Razak and mixed doubles coach Jeremy Gan temporarily assisting him.

“There are indeed a lot of players ... but it’s not too big a problem,” said Kim Her.

“Most of the juniors are here on a three-month probation and will only be given a full-time offer if they show progress. If not, we will drop them.

“I’m also aware that BAM are planning to bring in another coach to help out ... we’ll discuss that later.

“For now, most of the seniors are aware of their targets, especially those like Kien Keat-Boon Heong, Thien How-Wee Kiong and the mixed pair of Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying.

“I want them to set good examples, starting with the push for the World Championships qualifying, which ends after the India Open (April), and in the All-England (March).

The World Championships will be held in Guangzhou in August.

Kim Her, who is pleased with the performances of Kien Keat-Boon Heong and world No. 10 Thien How-Wee Kiong, believes the biggest challenge will be to turn V Shem-Khim Wah into world beaters once more.

V Shem-Khim Wah enjoyed a good partnership before having a fallout last year. They split up for six months before reuniting last December. Their world ranking, however, has dropped to 36th.

“V Shem-Khim Wah still have the potential to play as a pair, but it’ll be up to them to improve on their ranking because only the top 24 will qualify for the World Championships,” said Kim Her.

“The world meet qualifying for doubles is a little tricky because there are professional pairs who are doing well too. But I’ve put V Shem-Khim Wah down for seven tournaments, starting with the Korean Open, and it’s up to them to help themselves.”

In the Korean Open, which starts on Tuesday, V Shem-Khim Wah will face a qualifier in the first round and team-mates Thien How-Wee Kiong next.

The other Malaysian pairs in the fray are second seeds Kien Keat-Boon Heong and the professional pairs of Gan Teik Chai-Ong Soon Hock and Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari.

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