Singapore doubles head coach Paulus Firman returns to ABM for training, calling it a valuable experience for his squad.
KUALA LUMPUR: Four years after leaving the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), Singapore doubles head coach Paulus Firman was thrilled to step onto the courts at Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara here, which, he said, used to be “my second home”.
Paulus, who used to handle the Malaysian mixed doubles and men’s doubles squads, said he has brought seven of his charges, including Singapore’s top boys’ doubles pair Wesley Koh-Junsuke Kubo, for a week-long training stint at ABM.
He said the opportunity to train at ABM is part of their preparations for the Taiwan Open (July 28-Aug 2) and Korea Masters (Aug 4-9).
“I wish to thank BAM, particularly doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky and women’s doubles head coach Rosman Razak, for the opportunity for us to train here.
“Although some of my players have met Malaysian shuttlers at previous tournaments, the opportunity to train at ABM is a valuable learning experience for them to see how training is conducted here,” he told reporters here today.
Paulus first joined BAM as the men’s doubles coach in 2013 before quitting BAM a year later to become the Philippines head coach.
The Indonesia-born coach rejoined BAM in 2018 and played crucial role in guiding Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik to be among the world’s top 10 men’s doubles pairs.
Since coaching the Singapore doubles shuttlers in 2022, Paulus said his players have shown good progress, with the mixed doubles pair of Terry Hee-Jessica Tan even qualifying for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
As such, the 58-year-old coach hopes he can guide more shuttlers from Singapore to qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Commenting on Malaysia’s decision to reshuffle the men’s doubles partnerships, Paulus regards the move as something that needed to be done to find the best combinations.
He said the coaches would have carried out a proper evaluation before naming the new combinations, because the success of a pair not only depends on individual capabilities, but also the compatibility and character of the shuttlers.
BAM recently reshuffled the national men’s doubles department by pairing up Wooi Yik with Man Wei Chong, Aaron with Aaron Tai and Tee Kai Wun with Yap Roy King.
