Fire Dragon demands title No. 4 from Aaron-Wooi Yik
The Indonesian tactician, nicknamed the Fire Dragon, said preparations for both tournaments - the Japan Open (July 15-20 in Tokyo) and China Open (July 22-27 in Changzhou) - are going smoothly.
"I have a personal target and hope one of my men's pairs can win either in Japan or China," said Herry after a training session in Bukit Kiara on Tuesday.
The Japan Open, a Super 750 event, offers a total prize pool of US$950,000 (RM4.04 million), while the Super 1000 China Open carries a bumper purse of US$2 million.
Since taking over in February, Herry has made an immediate impact.
He guided 2022 world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik to the Badminton Asia Championships title in April, followed by back-to-back wins at the Thailand Open and Singapore Open last month.
He also masterminded world No. 7 Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun's title win at the Malaysia Masters, continuing his reputation as a top tactician.
However, Herry admitted that other Malaysian combinations, including Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King and Choong Hon Jian-Haikal Nazri, still need time to catch up with the top two pairs.
"Each pair is different. Aaron-Wooi Yik only needed three months to adapt to my training style due to their maturity. So I need to give time to the others to catch up," he said.
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