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Coach Rionny Mainaky joins national badminton team after stint with Japan
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Indonesian badminton coach Rionny Mainaky. (PBSI/PBSI)
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peculation about who will take charge of the country’s women’s singles squad was finally put to rest on Friday, with the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) announcing that it had appointed Rionny Mainaky to coach Gregoria Mariska Tunjung and her teammates.
Rionny will be accompanied by assistant coach Minarti Timur, who has been with the team since 2017, and Herli Djaenudin, who will coach the junior squad. Rionny will officially take charge of the national squad at the Cipayung training camp on April 1.
In a statement released by the association, PBSI claimed it had chosen Rionny earlier this year but decided to delay the announcement until this month as he was still under contract with the Japanese national team.
PBSI head of development and achievement Susy Susanti said she had been very selective in choosing the coach of the women’s singles squad, as it was considered a weak point in Indonesian badminton.
“We had been searching [for the right coach] since last year. We had drawn up a long list of names, some of them even proposed themselves, while others we had been watching,” she said.
“We couldn’t close our eyes to the strength of the Japanese women’s singles squad and we want our players to be like them,” she added.
The new appointment will see another Mainaky brother join the national team. Richard Mainaky is currently in charge of the mixed doubles squad. Previously, the development and achievement department was led by Rexy Mainaky.
