By Justin Kor

Seated just a few metres away from the baseline, badminton coach Kelvin Ho emphatically pounded his chest while letting out a roar. Following a nail-biting rally that saw 30 exhausting shots exchanged, his player Loh Kean Yew had just secured a valuable point in a titanic tussle against Asian Games champion Jonatan Christie at the Tokyo Olympics.

Loh now just trailed by a single point, with the match delicately poised at 1-1. The winner would be guaranteed a place in the last 16 of the men’s singles event, and the sweat-drenched Singaporean was giving everything he had. Each strenuous point he earned was met with ferocious approval from Ho, who seemed to resemble an All Blacks rugby player performing the haka as he shook those fists of fury courtside.

Or in his own words, ‘a gorilla’, as he gave a hearty laugh.

But these unbridled actions actually served a precise purpose. With Loh an Olympic debutant, the coach was wary that the sheer thrill of being at the pinnacle of all sporting events could threaten to send emotions running wild, or focus awry. “I wanted to help him control his emotions, to help him know that we’re here together to fight – that’s why I was so agitated,” he said.

Although Ho’s courtside exertions ultimately could not prevent Loh from succumbing to Christie then, they have always been in his arsenal of coaching tools. “I’ll usually do that if I want to motivate him (Loh), especially during crunch time when he needs to be brave,” he said.

Lately though, it seems to be working extremely well, with the newly-minted world No. 20 having embarked on a remarkable run of form post Olympics. In fact, Ho has hit on his chest so much until it has recently cramped up.

He is passion personified, quitting school at the age of 17 to pursue his dreams of becoming a professional badminton player. After representing Singapore at the 2009 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, he headed into coaching. Now, as the Singapore Badminton Association’s (SBA) singles assistant coach, this former athlete has turned into strategist, cheerleader and motivator for the country’s best shuttlers like Loh and Yeo Jia Min.

Marking a decade at SBA this year, he is at his happiest when his players are training hard. “I like coaching because I’m able to share my experiences and motivate them,” said the 31-year-old. Besides the Olympics, he has overseen athletes at the 2015 and 2019 SEA Games, the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, and the 2018 Commonwealth Games. For him, the sport is simply life. “I love badminton.”

Plan, prepare, and psych

As coach, Ho balances raw passion with meticulous preparation. When devising a game plan, he would review the two latest matches of his players’ opponents, taking into account every serve, smash, and footwork.

Beyond the strokes, the planning consists of a psychological aspect too. At tournaments, he keeps his eyes peeled for the opposition. “I’ll spot the players’ character and emotions, and observe their body language – all these small details are very important.”

For his own players, the key is getting them to buy into his plans, which is sometimes one of his biggest coaching challenges.

“You have to talk to them and make them understand why you’re doing this. Not all the changes happen overnight – they must trust the process,” he said. “That’s when you have to get them to accept it.”

That is exactly what he and SBA has done for Loh this year, following the player’s first round exit at the Yonex Thailand Open in January, a Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 1000 event. “We came to a conclusion that his fitness was an issue,” said Ho, who aimed to sharpen Loh’s speed and power.

Along with head coach Mulyo Handoyo and the rest of the coaching team, they ramped up the intensity. This meant more runs, circuits, and gym work. Fast forward nine months later and Loh had made the final of the similarly ranked Indonesian Open. “It took almost 10 months to build him up,” said Ho. “It has paid off on all his performances.”

Following her own stellar run of form, Yeo also recently became the first Singaporean to qualify for prestigious BWF World Tour Finals in Indonesia under Ho’s watch.

But this coach remembers not only the successes, but the struggles too. “To see Kean Yew winning and breaking through is memorable. But to see the players who never give up, who fight so hard until they cry in training is also very memorable,” he said. “Respect.”

Building a world class team

As he rose up the ranks at SBA over the years, from a youth team coach to now masterminding ways to beat the world’s best, this chest beating, fist shaking mentor’s adoration for the sport has never dipped a notch.

“Kelvin has always been a dedicated and passionate coach,” said SBA’s technical manager and former national shuttler Jiang Yanmei, who has known Ho for more than a decade. “He’s cheerful, friendly, always welcoming and very much a team player.”

But for him, the recent successes are not enough.  “To be a good coach is to bring up a team, not just individuals,” he said. The ultimate target is to get the entire Singapore squad to be recognised as a powerhouse. “From junior to senior – that’s my goal.”

(Top pic: An exhausted and elated Loh Kean Yew celebrates his victory on court with his coach Kelvin Ho after beating former world number 1 and Olympic champion Lin Dan at the 2019 Thailand Masters. Photo: Loh Kean Yew)