By V. Ashok

TWO decades ago, Hafiz Hashim was in the limelight as our new national badminton hero, winning the most coveted cup – the All-England championship.

The former men single’s player who hails from Kelantan also stood tall as the gold medalist, a year earlier at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

Now, looks like Hafiz, 40, might achieve another milestone in his career – but this time on a different role as a coach.

And the player under his tutelage will be India’s current No.1 women singles player, PV Sindhu – a five-time world championship medallist, including a gold medal at the 2019 edition.

If things go well, the former Thomas Cup player will be entrusted to guide her to win the elusive gold medal for the nation at the 2024 Olympics Games in Paris.

Sindhu wants Hafiz guide for her Olympic dream in Paris

Asked about the new challenges ahead of him, Hafiz said he is excited and looking forward for his new assignment. But, admit it would be mammoth task to guide a player who already has a big reputation at global stage.

“Of course I’m very excited. But I don’t deny this will be my biggest challenge in badminton as a coach.

“My job is clear – to train and motivate Sindhu for a gold medal hunt in the coming Olympics. She is disciplined and committed and that will make it easier to start working with her,” Hafiz told Apakhabar TV when contacted.

Hafiz also mentioned, so far nothing has been endorsed yet and added his status will be decided by the Sports Authority of India (SAI), this week.

His big mission here might only last until the Olympics as nothing is heard so far regarding a long term programme to be with her.

“Until Olympics only so far,” said the Kota Baru born coach who is also the younger brother of another former national champion, Roslin Hashim.

When asked why he was the preferred choice by Sindhu, Hafiz explained she was part of the Suchitra Badminton Academy player and he had trained her for two weeks together with her other colleagues.

“I had a few training sessions with Sindhu and maybe she feels comfortable with my way,” he added and stressed that he will still be the coach of the academy.

Hafiz was a junior coach at the Badminton Association Malaysia before he joined the Suchitra Academy in Hyderabad in February on a three-year contract.

Earlier, in a written letter to SAI, Sindhu, 27, has sought their approval to train under him.

It is learnt that the 2020 Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist request would likely be accepted for being the elite player for India and only women singles player to qualify for the Paris Games.

As for Hafiz, he is back in the news again in his own country. He made big headlines couple of days ago and the badminton fans too were excited about his new mission in India.

He did notice it and thanked them all for the support.

“It’s good to hear about that and I’m so happy too. Hope all Malaysian badminton fans pray for me to do the best here.”

He is also getting acclimatised with his new place and feeling much comfortable with the working environment over there.

“I’m grateful too for having a nice boss. He is very understanding and I also have a group of good young academy players who are showing progress.

For Hafiz it will be a new journey to venture and also an opportunity to prove that former Malaysian badminton stars too can be a reliable coach abroad. We wish him good luck.

Majulah sukan untuk negara!

Hafiz and Sindhu during training