Singapore badminton singles coach Kim Ji-hyun looking to polish raw diamonds

SINGAPORE – Hawk-eyed fans of Singapore badminton would have in recent months seen the animated presence of a South Korean “ajumma” in the players’ corner at Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour events.

The more fervent among them would also have observed that since Kim Ji-hyun was appointed national singles coach in January, some players have notched encouraging results on tour.

Yeo Jia Min and Jason Teh won titles at the German Open and Thailand Masters respectively, while former world champion Loh Kean Yew qualified for the German Open final.

Speaking to The Straits Times ahead of the April 8-13 Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, Kim said the challenge of turning “raw diamonds” into winners convinced her to join the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA). She takes over the helm from Kelvin Ho, who now heads the national training squad.

Originally hired as the national women’s singles coach, she said: “When I saw the top Singaporean players with tremendous potential losing most of the time in 2024, I thought they were raw diamonds waiting to be polished.

“When the SBA approached me for the job, I truly welcomed this challenge.”

As the association faced difficulties in hiring a men’s singles coach, Kim took on the expanded role of guiding the men’s players.

She said: “I have been helping them to analyse the gameplay of their opponents such as anticipating and neutralising their opponents’ favourite shots, and also maintaining a winner’s mindset and self-confidence, even when you are five game points down.

“I’m emboldened by the success that Kean Yew and Jason have achieved so far, but I’m still learning from the players and other international coaches.”

Noting that she meets with her peers from Malaysia, Japan and Indonesia to share information and best practices, she added: “I also drop in to see how the players from other countries train. I then integrate all the information together and develop the ‘Kim’s Way’!”

The bubbly 50-year-old was once ranked as high as world No. 6 in singles, and 14th in doubles in the 1990s.

She was also part of the South Korea women’s team who won gold at the 1994 Asian Games.

After retiring in 2001, she was keen to explore the world and improve her English. She married a New Zealander and found herself coaching the country’s juniors before she took over the senior team from 2004 to 2006.

From 2006 to 2008, she was a BWF coach at its training academy in Germany.

She was South Korea’s national women’s singles coach from 2008 to 2012, helping them win the Uber Cup in 2010 and the 2017 Sudirman Cup, the latter event when she was team manager.

A stint with India saw her guiding P. V. Sindhu to the world championship title in 2019, before she moved on to Thailand.

In her own words, she is not just the coach, but also a mother, cheerleader, doctor, and strategist.

She said: “A player thinks only about his or her own progress and victories. As a coach, I cannot focus only on one individual, I have to plan for the entire national team, manage training dynamics and strategise optimal participation in the right competitions.

“I know the TV commentators talk about my animated gestures at changeovers and I would describe my style as ‘funny’ because it can be entertaining to watch.

“But that’s really my way of giving the players the encouragement and positive energy that I hope they will bring into their game.”

Teh, who has climbed 13 spots to a career-high 22nd in the singles world rankings, has benefitted from Kim’s all-action and high-tempo methods.

The 24-year-old said: “She is very passionate and she asks and cares about my condition almost every day. Her vast experience has helped me in various areas on court.

“She also has very high demands of us in terms of our training and competition quality, and makes sure we are pushed to our limits each day.”

Noting that it is still early to talk about a medal tilt for the 2028 Olympics, Kim pointed to the limited talent pool and other challenges, adding that help is needed to build the next generation of players after Yeo, Teh and Loh.

She said: “National service is disruptive to the elite sporting career of male players, and Singapore does not have a strong grassroots or corporate club system like the ones supported by KB Kookmin Bank and Samsung in South Korea, where the pipeline of players is more structured and predictable.

“I’m still evaluating the Singapore system to see how best I can produce top players... On the individual level, each player must be hungry enough to make all the sacrifices to move up the ladder, from taking part in international series tournaments to finally being in a Super 1000 event. Having the right attitude is one of the critical keys to success.”