Herry's hopefuls
PETALING JAYA: Men's doubles coach Herry Iman Pierngadi's experience could prove crucial to Malaysia's hopes of clinching gold in the World Championships which starts next Monday in Paris.
In just seven months, Herry has superbly turned around the fortunes of the men's doubles shuttlers under him.
Overall, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun and Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi have won five titles among them since the Indonesian replaced Tan Bin Shen as the men's doubles coach in the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in February.
World No. 2 Aaron-Wooi Yik have been the biggest winners after triumphing in the Asian Championships, Singapore Open and Thailand Open and also finished runners-up in the Malaysian Masters and China Open.
World No. 7 Wei Chong-Kai Wun impressively beat Aaron-Wooi Yik in the final in the home event while world No. 22 Roy King-Arif captured their maiden World Tour title in the Macau Open earlier this month.
Can Herry guide one of the pairs to the coveted world title next?
The Indonesian has produced world champions before when he was coaching in his homeland, most famously guiding Mohd Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan to three titles in 2013, 2015 and 2019.
Herry is now looking to use his experience to guide one of Aaron-Wooi Yik, Wei Chong-Kai Wun or Roy King-Arif to the crown.
The 62-year-old said that small details could prove the difference between victory and defeat in Paris.
'In the world meet, there is very little separating the top men's pairs. Whichever pair is better prepared and take their opportunities well will win the title,' said Herry after overseeing a training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara yesterday.
'I've been using video analysis to see the strengths and weaknesses of our opponents.
'It's important to analyse all our opponents' latest matches as pairs always can train and come up with new strategies.
'I've also been having discussions with our pairs and tweaking their strategies to help them gain an edge over rivals.'
Malaysia have won the world title only once so far when Aaron-Wooi Yik memorably ended the country's long wait in 2022 in Tokyo.
The pair will again be Malaysia's best bet for the gold.
Aaron-Wooi Yik have received a bye in the first round and will open their campaign in the second round against either Scotland's Christopher Grimley-Mathew Grimley or Spain's Daniel Franco-Rodrigo Sanjurjo.
A win could see Aaron-Wooi Yik play Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi in the third round.
Roy King-Arif though need to overcome tricky pairs Kenya Mitsuhashi-Hiroki Okamura from Japan and Thailand's Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Kittinupong Kedren in the first and second rounds respectively if they hope to meet Aaron-Wooi Yik.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun will likely face Popov brothers Christo and Toma Junior from France in the second round.
Malaysia will also be represented by independent world No. 3 duo Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, who will will play the winners of the match between Thailand's Peeratchai Sukphun-Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Americans Chen Zhi-yi-Presley Smith in the second round.
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