HUNT FOR NATIONAL SINGLES COACHES

Ho moves to handle developmental squad as part of major SBA coaching shake-up

- David Lee

The winds of change are sweeping through the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA), which is making key coaching and organisational tweaks in a bid for success at the Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 Olympics.

The Straits Times understands that national singles coach Kelvin Ho, who has played a key role in the rise of badminton stars Loh Kean Yew and Yeo Jia Min, will take over from Taufiq Hidayat as coach of the national training squad (NTS) in early 2025.

His task is to develop the next generation of national players with an eye on the 2032 Games.

After being released as a national player in 2011, Ho switched to coaching and joined the national intermediate squad. In 2018, he was appointed assistant national singles coach, before taking over from Mulyo Handoyo as the national singles coach in April 2022.

Notably, the 34-year-old was in Loh's corner when he became the first Singaporean to be crowned world champion in 2021. Loh also rose to world No. 3 - a record high for a local player - won the Spain Masters and made the Olympic quarter-finals in 2024.