Mulyo Handoyo roared in laughter the moment he was asked about Taufik Hidayat. “It’s been so long now but people still ask me about him,” said Handoyo.
Hidayat and Handoyo formed one of the greatest player-coach pairings the sport has ever seen, so famous that despite them teaming up almost two decades ago, badminton aficionados can still relate to it. Under Handoyo, Hidayat clinched the 2004 Athens Olympics gold and followed it up with the 2005 World Championships crown.
The Indonesian great also clinched three more medals at the World Championships apart from two Asian Games gold and the top prize three times at the Asian Championships apart from a host of other trophies on the World Tour.
While the partnership made Hidayat one of the greatest shuttlers ever, it also made Handoyo one of the most revered coaches on the circuit, wanted by most federations. “Taufik is a big man now. He is now the deputy minister for sports in Indonesia,” said Handoyo.
After Hidayat retired, Handoyo had multiple coaching stints in top badminton nations before deciding to return to his home country where he is currently the singles head coach. But in the middle, he also had a year-long stint in India from 2017-2018 when he coached the likes of Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, B Sai Praneeth, Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy among others.
But it was particularly Srikanth who excelled under the Indonesian, reaching five Superseries finals and winning four. Under Handoyo, Srikanth also became the third Indian after Prakash Padukone and Saina Nehwal to be ranked No.1 in the world. But Srikanth is now above 30 and in the twilight of his career. The focus has shifted to the newer generation.
“At the moment if I see the Indian players, Lakshya Sen and Priyanshu Rajawat are young, performing well and are the future but Srikanth and Prannoy are declining,” Handoyo said with the help of a translator.
“I don’t know about the future but there is a lot of hope in Indian badminton with a lot of talented players. There are many good, young players now who are emerging. I can’t mention them one by one.”
Though Sindhu’s peak came after Handoyo left Indian shores in 2018, the famous Indonesian coach spent enough time with the former world champion, helping her win multiple titles on the BWF World Tour, including a silver at the 2017 World Championships.
“Sindhu is 29. She can play for four more years. Her career now all depends on her. If she still wants then there is hope (of her returning to the top) but as people get older, their physical condition declines. But I think for one or two years, she can still do it,” added Handoyo.
The Indonesian coach is now the men’s singles head coach of Indonesia, replacing Irwansyah Adi Pratama, who left the position in December to coach Indian women’s singles shuttlers. Asked how Irwansyah can help Sindhu raise her level, Mulyo said, “Everyone has their own style. If Sindhu is still really motivated, Irwansyah can really help her reach the top again.”
Mulyo was also in talks with the Badminton Association of India (BAI) about returning to India last year when he was being considered for the role of the head coach of the newly-built National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati. But the Indonesian never arrived, choosing to move back to Indonesia from Singapore.
“My family was the reason. They live in Solo in Central Java, so I needed to be close to them. Singapore and Malaysia are also not far from home but India is,” concluded Handoyo.