SINGAPORE: Having been instrumental within the meteoric rise of former world champion Loh Kean Yew, nationwide singles’ head coach Kelvin Ho has now been handed a brand new remit – to assist groom the following era of badminton stars.
He will take over as singles head coach of the nationwide coaching squad from subsequent yr, stated Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) in a press launch on Monday (Oct 21).
“I am honoured by this new role to groom the next generation of Olympians and world champions. It is a heavy mandate, but at the same time, a much-welcomed challenge,” said the 34-year-old, who also coaches Singapore’s top women’s singles player Yeo Jia Min.
“The fact that I have a good runway to the 2032 Olympics helps tremendously. I would have more time to refine the present system and improve the scouting of young players to join the national training squad, and who will ultimately aspire to be on the national team.”
SBA will even look into the hiring of a males’s singles and in addition to girls’s singles coach. Under the present framework, Ho is dealing with each of those roles.
“Instead of having one singles head coach for the national team, a head coach each for men’s singles and women’s singles may be appointed to provide a more rigorous focus on each of these disciplines,” stated the affiliation.
“SBA is in the process of appointing the TD (technical director), and is studying the feasibility of establishing these two singles head coach positions to be filled by marquee names.”
Additionally, SBA will likely be hiring a brand new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) as present CEO Alan Ow will likely be stepping down from his place on the finish of the yr to “focus on being more present for his family”, stated the affiliation.
“FANTASTIC MENTOR AND COACH”
Much has modified for Ho over time.
A former nationwide participant, he made the leap to teaching and was appointed as assistant nationwide singles coach in 2018. Ho then took over as nationwide singles coach in April 2022.
“When I was an assistant, I didn’t have to set much direction. I just had to understand the players and support the head coach. But as a head coach, you set the direction,” he instructed CNA.
And whereas he could modestly brush off strategies that he has a eager eye for expertise, Ho had recognized for fairly a while that Loh and Yeo had what it took.
In an interview with this reporter in 2019, Ho stated that each Loh and Yeo had the potential to be “world-class”. Back then, Loh was ranked forty eighth on the planet, whereas Yeo was thirty second.
Today, the pair are at the moment ranked eleventh and twentieth respectively.
What units them other than their friends is their never-say-die angle and that is what Ho is most pleased with them for.
“Till today, they are still fighting for what they want, for the passion of the sport,” stated Ho. “Throughout their careers there were down patches. Some people would have given up, but they didn’t … They will find ways to climb back up instead of giving up.”
DEALING WITH BRICKBATS, MOVING FORWARD
Following Loh’s historic world championship win in 2021, he confronted elevated public scrutiny and strain to ship extra titles. His coach too was not spared.
But this was one thing which Ho took in his stride.
“I need to be very clear of my job. My job is to help him improve, it is to understand him,” stated Ho. “At the end of the day it is about how SBA and us work with him to improve him further.”
“(It’s) very typical when it comes to sports. When things are going well, all is well and good. But when you’re going through a rough patch, it’s always important that (national) sports associations realise that we must always be behind the players, behind the coaches,” stated Ow.
“Associations can be very fast to jumpon wanting to change a coach to then improve performance. But I think what is important is that we as a family must always be behind the coach. Because if we don’t support him, the players can feel it. And that is when things will not improve.”
Loh ended his title drought on the Spain Masters in March this yr.
“Kelvin’s redeployment is bittersweet. He’s been a fantastic mentor and coach since I was young, and I’ll miss his guidance. However, I understand and support the association’s long-term vision,” stated Loh.
“He has a proven track record of developing successful athletes, not just in terms of skills, but also in character and discipline. While I’ll miss having him by my side, I know he’s the perfect person to inspire the next generation of players. I have no doubt they’ll benefit immensely from his guidance.”
In his new function, Ho hopes to leverage the expansion within the native badminton ecosystem which he believes has occurred over the previous decade.
“More people are focused on badminton, there is more interest, and it is getting more competitive locally as well. It’s good for badminton in Singapore,” he stated.
Ho additionally hopes to have the ability to impart his data to these coming via the ranks, and with gamers comparable to Loh as function fashions, unearth gems for the long run.
The nationwide coaching squad includes badminton gamers drawn predominantly from the Junior Performance programme.
The programme is a devoted pathway for younger, proficient shuttlers aiming to achieve the highest echelons of the game. It focuses on figuring out and nurturing gamers aged 12-17 years outdated with the potential to excel on the senior worldwide degree.
There are at the moment 12 singles gamers within the nationwide coaching squad, inclusive of these in nationwide service, stated the affiliation.
“SBA’s imaginative and prescient is to ascertain Singapore as one of many prime badminton nations on the planet. This requires us to persistently produce prime gamers throughout all classes, and have a number of athletes ranked throughout the top-50 on the planet,” said SBA president Lawrence Leow.
“The teaching and organisational modifications are simply a few of the plans in movement to get us there. We belief that Kelvin’s invaluable expertise and experience will likely be an amazing asset to the following era of gamers.”