Source: Visual China Group / VCG
[Saba Sports News] Recently, media reported that the Chinese men’s doubles team has been learning and exchanging with the Indonesian badminton grand slam champion Tony Gunawan in Sichuan. From the photos that have been released, main players such as Liang Weikeng and Ren Xiangyu were present. After the last Olympics, many national teams underwent major changes in their coaching staff. The Malaysian Badminton Association brought in Herry Iman Pierngadi, the coach of the Indonesian pair of Mohammad Ahsan / Hendra Aprida Gunawan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo / Marcus Fernaldi Gideon. South Korea’s Badminton Association also brought back Park Joo Bong, who had been with Japan for over a decade, as head coach. As a result, male doubles pairs such as Seo Seung Jae / Kim Won Ho (South Korea) and Chia Teng Fong Aaron / Soh Wooi Yik (Malaysia) made significant progress. In contrast, the Chinese men’s doubles pair Liang Weikeng / Wang Chang fell into a slump after winning silver at the Olympics, while He Jiting is currently being investigated internally due to allegations of gambling with his girlfriend. In the first half of 2025, the Chinese men’s doubles team won zero gold medals in top-tier events. With the World Championships in August this year and the Thomas Cup next year, the Chinese men’s doubles need to improve quickly. According to reports, the legendary male doubles player Tony Gunawan once won the men’s doubles title at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and the 2001 World Badminton Championships for Indonesia. After moving to the U.S., he won the men’s doubles title again at the 2005 World Championships, becoming the first player to win the World Badminton Championships men’s doubles title with two different associations. Many fans pointed out that the Chinese badminton team has a tradition of hiring foreign coaches. Before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the Chinese team invited Kang Kyung Jin, the former South Korean coach, to be the women’s doubles coach, hoping to bring in Tony Gunawan as the foreign coach for the men’s doubles.