Hendra Setiawan Plans Retirement, Now Starts Preparing To Become A Coach

Hendra Setiawan and Fajar Alfian were met in Jakarta (VOI/Cosmas Kopong Beda).

JAKARTA Hendra Setiawan ensured that he would not be far from badminton when he retired so that he began to prepare himself to become a coach.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics men's doubles gold medalist is currently considering retiring. He has opened the possibility to close his career at the end of this year.

"His desire (to become a coach after retiring). You see, I can't stay far from badminton either," said Hendra when met in Jakarta, Tuesday, September 24, 2024, afternoon WIB.

Hendra's desire to pursue the world of coaches made him willing to accept an invitation from the mixed doubles coach, Vita Marrisa, to accompany Dejan Ferdinansyah/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja in the second round of the 2024 China Open.

At that time, Dejan/Gloria managed to lock the victory over the Malaysian pair, Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei, to reach the quarter-finals of the BWF Super 1000 level tournament.

"Kemarim was invited by Vita Marissa. So, I learned how to be behind the field."

"My desire to become a coach after retiring so from now on I have to learn a lot from my senior coaches," said Hendra.

Hendra, who is paired with Mohammad Ahsan, is currently in an unsatisfactory trend. In the last three tournaments, they always fall in the first half.

The three tournaments in question are the Japan Open, Hong Kong Open, and China Open 2024. They respectively lost against Leo Rolly Carnando/Bagas Maulana, Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Mohammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani, and Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (Denmark).

There are still several major tournaments that might be Hendra's last appearance in this year's calendar.

The tournaments are the Arctic Open (Super 500), Dennark Open (Super 750), Japan Masters (Super 500), and China Masters (Super 750).