Coach Mulyo Handoyo returns to India, to be part of National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati
The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has hired two additional foreign coaches for the newly built facility, adding to the appointment of Indonesian Mulyo Handoyo as the singles head coach at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati.
The doubles coach will be former All England champion Russian Ivan Sozonov, while the third foreign coach will be Korea's Park Tae-sang, who helped PV Sindhu win a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Additionally, a sizable pool of Indian coaches who will collaborate closely with international coaches will be available.
On Friday in Guwahati, the Assam Government and BAI will officially launch the NCE. The cutting-edge facility boasts a staggering 24 badminton courts, dormitory accommodations, a gym, and a yoga studio, with space for almost 3000 spectators. "BAI has big plans and this excellence center and the appointment of these three coaches -- Mulyo, Sozonov and Park is the first step," Sanjay Mishra, General Secretary, BAI told PTI.
"Hand-picked talents will be made part of this center and they will be given foreign exposure and every other necessary facility. We are grateful to our sponsors and partners for making this happen. I am confident in a year's time you will be able to see the impact and changes." Most Indian players have trained at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad and the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence in Bangalore up to this point.
Indian badminton would benefit greatly from the presence of top international coaches at the NCE because junior camps and certain senior camps may now be held here.
During his one-year tenure with the Indian national squad, the famous Mulyo, who is credited with guiding 2004 Olympic gold medalist Taufik Hidayat, had a significant influence. Kidambi Srikanth won four Super Series competitions while B Sai Praneeth won one during his presidency in 2017. In early 2018, after leaving his role, he joined the Singapore team.
While Park and Sindhu split up early this year, Ivan, 34, and his partner Vladimir Ivanov won the 2016 All England Championships and participated in the Tokyo Olympics. The Thomas Cup-winning Indian team, as well as luminaries including Assam's sports minister Nandita Garlosa and head coach Pullela Gopichand, would be present for the NCE's Friday debut.