Singapore badminton coach Kim Ji hyun looking to polish raw diamonds

SINGAPORE – Hawk-eyed fans of Singapore badminton would have in recent months seen the animated presence of a South Korean “ajumma” in the players’ corner at Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour events.

The more fervent among them would also have observed that since Kim Ji-hyun was appointed national singles coach in January, some players have notched encouraging results on tour.

Yeo Jia Min and Jason Teh won titles at the German Open and Thailand Masters respectively, while former world champion Loh Kean Yew qualified for the German Open final.

Speaking to The Straits Times ahead of the April 8-13 Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, Kim said the challenge of turning “raw diamonds” into winners convinced her to join the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA). She takes over the helm from Kelvin Ho, who now heads the national training squad.

Originally hired as the national women’s singles coach, she said: “When I saw the top Singaporean players with tremendous potential losing most of the time in 2024, I thought they were raw diamonds waiting to be polished.

“When the SBA approached me for the job, I truly welcomed this challenge.”

As the association faced difficulties in hiring a men’s singles coach, Kim took on the expanded role of guiding the men’s players.

She said: “I have been helping them to analyse the gameplay of their opponents such as anticipating and neutralising their opponents’ favourite shots, and also maintaining a winner’s mindset and self-confidence, even when you are five game points down.

“I’m emboldened by the success that Kean Yew and Jason have achieved so far, but I’m still learning from the players and other international coaches.”

Noting that she meets with her peers from Malaysia, Japan and Indonesia to share information and best practices, she added: “I also drop in