Jakarta. Agung Firman Sampurna, the chair of the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI), is hoping that his successor will set up an academy dedicated to training the coaches.

The 2020-2024 PBSI board’s term is about to end this August. According to Agung, the upcoming board should not only focus on the athletes but also on how to nurture quality coaches.

“Perhaps a strategic agenda that I have not been able to do and can be something that the next board does would be to prepare a coaching academy,” Agung said during a media visit to B-Universe Media Holdings’ headquarters in PIK 2 on Tuesday.

Indonesia does not have that many coaches, and some of them are getting recruited by other countries.

As a case in point, Nova Widianto is now taking care of the Malaysian mixed doubles team. 

Flandy Limpele became the tactician for India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty until they became the top doubles pair. Flandy also trained in Hong Kong.

Muamar Qadafi also made headlines when the Indonesian coach succeeded in guiding Guatemalan badminton player Kevin Cordon to the semifinals of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“On the bright side, it is great to see that our coaches’ skills are getting recognized. But at the same time, there are our national interests, we have to be demanding and we have to look [for these skillful coaches]. It is not easy to find a coach and build great chemistry,” Agung said.