NEW DELHI: Credited with the rapid rise of
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy
and
Chirag Shetty
as a formidable pair in the
badminton
world, Danish legend and current India coach
Mathias Boe
may no longer be seen guiding from the coaching corner his two most valuable and brilliant students after the
Paris Olympics
.
It’s been learnt that Boe could part ways with
Satwik-Chirag
after his coaching contract expires on August 15.
Boe, men’s doubles finalist at the 2012 London Olympics, was offered a contract extension for 9.5 months in November 2023 at a salary of Rs 770,000 per month. Sources confirmed that Boe won’t be offered extension by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) on conclusion of his ongoing stint, irrespective of results at the Paris Games.
Sources cited multiple reasons for it — from paying a substantial salary to Boe to the coach’s unreasonable demands during his personal travels and also when touring with the Indian duo.
The government has been pushing for the appointment of more homegrown coaches in the country’s sports ecosystem and wants Indian specialists to mentor and guide top athletes in different disciplines.
Presently, the government has engaged 47 foreign experts – four in badminton – across various sports disciplines to train the country’s athletes for the Paris Games.
The number of such experts associated with Indian sports is the highest-ever. This will come down substantially after the Games, as the month of September is the time when contracts of all such foreign experts will come up for renewal.
There’s a possibility that at least 10-15 foreign coaches will not be offered contract extension in athletics, hockey, shooting and badminton post Paris. The idea is to hire Indian coaches, which will save the huge cost incurred on paying hefty salaries to foreign specialists.
TOI understands that Boe and sports officials have had a conversation in this direction and the Badminton Association of India (BAI), too, has been told about it.
Under Boe, a former world No.1 doubles player, the duo of Satwik-Chirag not only rose to the top of the world rankings, but also won the Indonesia Open Super 1000, the Thomas Cup, a medal at the BWF World Championships and India’s maiden gold at the Asian Games in Hangzhou.
The duo is one of the favourites to finish on the podium in Paris.
Boe had previously trained the Indian duo ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 after the then doubles coach, Flandy Limpele, resigned due to personal reasons.
Boe has an illustrious doubles career, twice winning the All England Championships in 2011 and 2015 and finishing runner-up at the 2013 World Championships.
English (US) ·