Datuk Misbun Sidek: The coach who made Lee Chong Wei is now chasing his fourth World No. 1 — in India

The sport has changed since Misbun trained brothers Rashid Sidek (1997) and Roslin Hashim (2001) to their respective World No. 1 climbs. At Hatsun, he trains India’s reigning national champion Rithvik Sanjeevi Satish Kumar, hoping to level up his fitness for when he lands at the top tier of the international circuit. Misbun’s training focuses on high-intensity drills with fewer gaps — the same method that put together Lee Chong Wei’s explosive game.

“I am excited to produce my fourth World No. 1 — in India,” he says.

Hatsun chief R. Chandramogan, who had earlier invited Rudi Hartono for a short stint at his picturesque academy, had been keen to bring in Misbun Sidek for some time. It lit a flame within Misbun to renew his ambition, though it took some persuading. “Coach Rajnikant was very determined, and I had never coached outside Malaysia. But I really liked the academy and their vision after I visited just to try it out. The infrastructure is impressive — courts, swimming pool, gym, all on one campus. I hadn’t envisioned such an academy in India, and I knew I could start again to find my next No. 1,” says the 66-year-old.

Misbun recalls playing alongside Prakash Padukone, Sanjay Sharma, Partho Ganguly, the late Syed Modi, and Vimal Kumar.

His mop of recognisable curls is trimmed, but the eyes are alight with excitement. “The badminton style, education, coaching stays the same as Malaysia. But these are two different badminton cultures,” he explains. It started with him needing to communicate constantly in English, but another facet surprised him: Indians of stronger build.

“Those days too, Indians had very good technique. But this time I saw they have strong physiques. We need to work on speed and power. Indians are very humble and listen to coaches. I have started them on modules that will add to their skill,” he says.

Misbun reckons new-age badminton — even in the 15-point format — puts a lot of store on speed, power, and minimising mistakes, all turbocharged, while learning to monopolise the shuttle. “Whoever can hold fitness will win. And I have to make them understand and accept this, because Indians can lag behind in this. I know the regimen is tough but only if their fitness and tactical levels go up can they get mentally stronger,” he stresses.

He considers Rithvik a good aggressive player — hardworking and explosive. “I will give my heart to training them and raising their confidence. But to maintain consistency, workouts need to be intense. To make young players trust this is not easy. To cover the whole court and keep up with the Chinese and Indonesians, he needs to be determined and accept the difficult path,” says Misbun, a double bronze World Championships medallist.

The Sidek brothers were hugely entertaining for their flair, their personalities, and the way they innovated their serves. “It’s the starting point — and the most important thing is to learn to manipulate the game,” he says, smiling as he adds he will part with his bag of tricks as his Indian wards raise their fitness.

Misbun recalls playing alongside Prakash Padukone, Sanjay Sharma, Partho Ganguly, the late Syed Modi, and Vimal Kumar. “That was a totally different time, the rally scoring era. But we always expected top skill from Indians. Now we see powerful smashes — Satwik-Chirag are wonderful. Gopichand, Prannoy, Lakshya, all play the big power game. But to get more explosive, the new generation of Indians will need inputs from outside, which I intend to provide at Hatsun,” he says.

It’s a tough time to be away from home, in the month of Ramadan. “I’m not fussy about weather or food. Besides, I love tosai — and I can ask for anything and I’ll get it here, homely food with chapati and rice,” he says. The chefs at the cafeteria even surprised him with nasi goreng, complete with tempered tamarind. Misbun Sidek’s badminton appetite, though, will only be satiated when he finds his fourth World No. 1 material — right around the firecracker capital of India, Sivakasi.