Singles head coach Kim Ji-hyun to leave Singapore Badminton Association

SINGAPORE – After a successful stint with the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) which resulted in four titles on the Badminton World Federation World Tour in 2025, national singles head coach Kim Ji-hyun is leaving her post prematurely after 15 months.

Her last day of employment is March 28, nine months ahead of the end of her two-year contract with the association.

While the SBA looks for a replacement, the national singles players will be guided by their former head coach Kelvin Ho, who is currently the National Training Squad (NTS) head coach, as well as sparring partner and coaching assistant Vega Nirwanda.

The surprise move comes as the national sports association makes changes to its pathways and performance structure, with a focus on the 2028 and 2032 Olympics.

The 51-year-old South Korean said: “I’m taking a short break to spend time with my family and friends in South Korea and New Zealand.

“I have been to so many countries for competitions last year, but never really had the chance to be a tourist to soak in all the beautiful sights. Now’s my chance to do so.”

Kim initially joined the SBA as its national women’s singles head coach on Jan 1, 2025, but added the men’s singles portfolio when a suitable candidate could not be found.

During Kim’s tenure, national women’s singles player Yeo Jia Min won her first Super 300 title at the 2025 German Open and reached a career-high ranking of 11th in May.

Men’s singles player Jason Teh also won his first two World Tour titles at the Thailand Masters and Korea Masters and reached a career-high ranking of 19th, while teammate Loh Kean Yew won the Taipei Open.

The results were an improvement from the previous three years, with Loh producing a solitary World Tour title at the 2024 Spain Masters.

However, Kim’s animated presence has been missing from the players’ corners during World Tour events since the start of 2026, with SBA coaching assistant Nirwanda taking her place.

While she did not elaborate on her reasons for leaving, she hopes to see Singapore players winning big tournaments and gold medals at major Games.

She said: “We must always aim higher. Once you are in the top 30, you should be focusing on victories in the Super 750 and Super 1000 tournaments.

“Singapore shuttlers have the potential to challenge the very best in the world and even be up there among the elites of this sport... I have done significant preparations for the next coach to take the athletes to the next phase of their journey as they work towards the 2028 Olympics.

“My parting advice to them is: Don’t ever settle for second-best or third-best, push yourself and go for gold!”

SBA chief executive officer Woo Kaiwei thanked Kim for her “indefatigable contribution, energy and enthusiasm”, while Teh also expressed his gratitude to her.

The Straits Times understands that the SBA plans to hire a national singles head coach, who will oversee the coaches and players in its singles department, and this individual will be directly responsible for the training and care of Yeo, Loh and Teh in their bid to qualify for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

Ho will continue to head the NTS and take on the role of men’s singles coach, as the SBA hunts for a women’s singles coach.

Nirwanda and Iqbal Syahputra will be the men’s and women’s singles sparring coaches respectively and there are plans to beef up the department with two more sparring coaches.

Likewise, national doubles head coach Paulus Firman will continue to oversee the doubles department, while Pribadi Setia Atmaja and Shinta Sari will be designated men’s doubles and women’s doubles coaches, with two sparring coaches to be added.

There are also changes in the SBA’s Junior Performance Programme (JPP), which serves as a pipeline for the NTS. Liu Qingdong, who was the national badminton chief coach in 2014 and 2015, returns to the fold as JPP head coach.

The 56-year-old Chengdu native, who became a Singapore citizen in 2005, also had a stint as National Intermediate Squad coach.

Divided into Under-13, U-15 and U-17 categories, the JPP programme is overseen by SBA head of pathways and performance Vanessa Neo, while their coaches go under the purview of JPP director Joanne Quay and Liu.

With over 60 athletes in the national team and NTS, the SBA aims to strengthen its talent pipeline to ensure more can follow in the footsteps of their top players, or even surpass them.

Woo said: “Our goal is to field more singles and doubles players in the top-tier tournaments on the BWF World Tour at the Super 750 and Super 1000 levels.

“If a country of comparable population size like Denmark can do it, so can Singapore.

“In the longer term, SBA would like to see our Singaporean players competing in all the five categories at the All England Open, the BWF World Championships and eventually the 2032 Olympics.”