Malaysian Tan Kim Her appointed Indian badminton's doubles coach

Tan Kim Her has been appointed as India's doubles coach in badminton till the Asian Games in 2026, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) confirmed on Friday. The 50-year-old’s return to India will raise the stock of the doubles combinations in the country. He has been credited with shaping the careers of doubles specialists Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy.

Both the players welcomed the announcement. “Satwik and I are happy that Tan coach will be back with us. We always look up to him as he paired us together despite our early hesitation because while we were similar, neither of us was confident of playing the front court,” Chirag said.

“Tan coach’s conviction helped us reach the level we did. He got us from nowhere to the top 16 by the time he left India. We are thankful to the Badminton Association of India and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for getting him onboard," he added.

“Coach Tan Kim Her is well aware of the Indian Badminton ecosystem and his inclusion will strengthen the doubles contingent even more. I am glad that BAI and SAI could come together to execute his appointment which will not only help our leading doubles pairs, Chirag (Shetty) and Satwik (Rankireddy) but also help to groom the next in line doubles bench strength." said Ajay K Singhania, General Secretary, BAI In his first stint (2015-2019) as doubles coach in India, Tan trained Satwiksairaj and Chirag to the top 10 in the Badminton World Federation men’s doubles ranking and Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy to a top 20 spot in the women’s doubles ranking. Besides, six pairs were ranked among the top 50 across different pairs.