Former world champion Nova Widianto appointed Malaysia mixed doubles coach

Former mixed doubles champion Nova Widianto has been appointed as the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) new mixed doubles coach, the national body announced on Wednesday.

The Indonesian, who will start next month and report to national doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky, signed on a two-year deal to handle the department, taking over from the departed Paulus Firman.

“Nova’s knowledge and experience will be valuable to the current players in the squad, especially with the qualifying competitions for the Paris Olympics which begins next year,” said Rexy.

As a player, the 45-year-old won the world championships twice with the decorated Liliyana Natsir in 2005 and 2007.

The pair also won a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Nova previously served the Badminton Association of Indonesia as the national team’s mixed doubles coach.

His appointment came after several other coaching candidates were linked with BAM over the last few months, including Chin Ee Hui, Lim Pek Siah and Tony Gunawan.

OFFICIAL: BAM APPOINTS COACH NOVA The national mixed doubles players are set to benefit extensively from the hiring of renowned two-time former mixed doubles world champion, Nova Widianto as the national coach. Read in FULL➡️ https://t.co/dkCYUuSeWJ#GemilangkanLagi pic.twitter.com/AlLWnwv82I

— BAM (@BA_Malaysia) December 21, 2022