India badminton star PV Sindhu will have former Malaysia shuttler and All England Open champion Hafiz Hashim for assistance after he joined the Suchitra Badminton Academy in Hyderabad. Sindhu visits the academy for strength and conditioning, and now can seek Hashim’s advise as part of her preparation for the All England campaign next month.
Hashim, known for his elegant strokeplay, won the prestigious tournament in 2003 and stepped down from his role of junior coach with the Badminton Association of Malaysia last year. He will now be coaching the trainees at the Suchitra academy.
Pradeep Raju, head of the academy has confirmed the development.
“We wanted to make sure our athletes at Suchitra had a great coach. He’s a former All England champ who has played at the highest level and has the knowledge. Anyone who’s played at that level knows how to face challenges and adapt and win," Raju was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
“Not just our trainees. Others are open to seek his coaching at our base,” he added.
The 40-year-old Hashim revealed he received an offer from Raju last year as well but then had to turn it down due to prior commitments.
“I received an offer from the director of the academy, Pradeep Raju last year but I turned it down as I was still under contract with BAM,” Hashim told The Star.
“When my contract ended at the end of last year, he approached me again and I accepted it. Initially, my plan was to focus on developing my academy (Hashim Badminton Academy) further but this offer was too good to turn down. The director also asked me to provide some assistance to Sindhu for the All-England," he added.
Hashim clarified that he won’t Sindhu’s coach but will sharing his experience with the former world champion. “I will not be her coach but will share my experience and help her in any way I can," he said.
He continued, “I’m looking forward to this new chapter which will be my first coaching stint overseas. This will be a good challenge as I need to learn how to handle different types of players in another country. I hope to become a better coach with this new assignment."
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