The Badminton Association of India has denied a report claiming that Indonesian coach Mulyo Handoyo is likely to leave his post with the national team.
The Indian Express reported on Tuesday that Handoyo (pictured left) has to choose between continuing in his position or returning home to Indonesia to be with his family, who were finding it difficult to adjust to living in India for a long duration. The report said that Handoyo was likely to pick his family.
However, BAI secretary and official spokesperson Anup Narang rebutted the claims, saying that the national governing body had received no information in support of the report. “As far as we know, Handoyo has gone home for his Christmas vacation and is expected to return to India after that,” said Narang. “No information to the contrary as been received by us,” he added.
India’s chief national coach Pullela Gopichand, however, neither affirmed nor denied the report but just said he had “no confirmed information” on the matter. The Field has learnt that Handoyo is contemplating leaving his position to return home but the BAI is trying its best to make him stay.
Handoyo, who came on board in February this year, is credited for the change in fortunes of many Indian singles players. The Indonesian had brought in a new training regime with shorter training sessions, which helped the Indian players build their stamina.
While Singapore Open champion B Sai Praneeth was the first to credit Handoyo’s system for the change in his fortunes, even Kidambi Srikanth admitted that the Indonesian has played an important part in his resurgence. Srikanth won an unprecedented four Superseries titles this year.
Handoyo was also reported to be one of the major reasons behind Saina Nehwal’s decision to return to the Gopichand Academy after the world championships this year. HS Prannoy had also credited the Indonesian for his backhand smashes after winning the senior Nationals in November. Prannoy broke into the world’s top 10 for the first time in his career this year.
If Handoyo does end up leaving his position in the Indian camp, it will be a big blow ahead of the 2018 season which includes important events such as the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.