Kuala Lumpur: The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) has confirmed the appointment of former Malaysian national player, Tan Bin Shen as the men’s doubles assistant coach on Wednesday.
Tan, who partnered Ong Soon Hock to win bronze at the 2005 Asia Championships men’s doubles event, losing to Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia 13-15, 13-15, is tasked to assist head coach, Flandy Limpele in the men’s doubles department and is set to start his duty on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Hoon Thien How, who was previously with the men’s doubles squad, was transferred to assist the women’s doubles head coach, Chan Chong Ming.
“Bin Shen has a strong foundation in understanding the players’ skills. He’s also a good listener which would help understand what players are looking for and help improve them,” said BAM coaching director Wong Choong Hann.
“Flandy has strong expertise in coaching, and we believe Bin Shen and Flandy would complement each other very well,” added Wong.
Commenting about the role change for Hoon Thien How, Wong said: “Hoon has quality in terms of being a sparring partner and is familiar with women’s doubles as he started his coaching career in that department.”
“I don’t think there will be a big issue for him to adapt because he knows the national women’s doubles players very well through his previous duties,” explained Wong.
After BAM did not renew the contract of three coaches last week, including Rosman Razak (men’s doubles), Wong Pei Tty (women’s doubles), and Chin Eei Hui (women’s doubles), Malaysian media had speculated that Tan was on the list of BAM to fill the men’s doubles assistant coach position.
In addition to the bronze medal in the 2005 Asian Championships, Tan Bin Shen and Gan Teik Chai also won the 2009 Australian Open. Tan then paired up with Mak Hee Chun to win the 2014 Sabah Open and 2014 Malaysia National GP championships.
