KUALA LUMPUR: Former All England champion Hafiz Hashim will embark on a bold new challenge in Saudi Arabia — a country better known for football than feathered shuttles.
The 41-year-old has signed a one-year deal to become the kingdom’s national elite coach and will fly to Dammam, where he’ll be based, on Wednesday.
Despite Saudi Arabia’s modest badminton profile, Hafiz sees this as a long-term development project rather than a quick fix.
“I love player development, and I understand it takes time,” said Hafiz.
“Every place has its challenges, but I see this as a chance to help raise the level — improve the players’ style, results and world rankings.”
His task won’t be easy.
Hafiz will be responsible for all departments — juniors, seniors, men and women — and must design a full annual programme for the entire national squad.
“Technically, my contract started on Aug 1, but due to a visa issue, I’ll only be flying out on Wednesday,” he added.
“It’s a one-year deal with an option to renew.”
Hafiz recently wrapped up his stint at the Suchitra Badminton Academy in Hyderabad, where he coached from February 2023 until his contract ended in May 2025.
He also worked with India’s Olympic silver medallist and former world champion P.V. Sindhu from July to December last year.
Prior to that, he spent several years with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), focusing on youth development.
At present, Saudi Arabia’s top men’s singles player is world No. 225 Mahd Shaikh, while Khadijah Kawthar leads the women’s rankings at No. 256.
None of the country’s doubles pairs — men’s, women’s or mixed — are ranked inside the top 400.
“It’s too early to set ranking targets as I haven’t started working with them yet,” said Hafiz.
“But the goal is clear — to help them improve and achieve better results internationally.”
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
