The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) have lost another coach in their stable after mixed doubles handler Paulus Firman decided not to renew his contract and leave the national body on May 1.

Paulus’ departure comes on the back of a flurry of coaches departures since the turn of this year, beginning with Chan Cong Ming (women’s doubles), Indra Wijaya (women’s singles) and Flandy Limpele (men’s doubles).

Paulus made the decision to leave to spend more time with his family.

“For me, family has to be the most important thing. This is just about taking a break from the sport and spending more time with my parents, family and kids. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to serve BAM for the past four years,” he said in a statement.

Doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky said the BAM would be actively identifying candidates to continue the good work laid by Paulus.

Paulus first joined the national body as their men’s doubles coach back in 2013, but it was a short-lived stint as he went to join the Philippines BA as their chief coach.

The Indonesian rejoined the BAM in 2018, and was instrumental in the rise of Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, who reached the All-England final in 2019 under his guidance.

Paulus was reassigned as a mixed doubles coach in 2020 and has been doing a steady job to bring up the younger pairs such as Hoo Pang Ron-Cheah Yee See and Chen Tang Jie-Peck Yen Wei.

With Paulus gone, Teo Kok Siang is expected to manage the department for the time being.

The other former coaches all left due to various reasons.

Chan quit in late December after getting another offer elsewhere, Indra quit to become Lee Zii Jia’s full-time coach and Flandy went on to join the Indonesia Badminton Association.