Karel Mainaky Aims for Shuttling Glory in Japan
Denpasar. For the Mainaky brothers, badminton is in their blood and they will make sure their presence is felt even after their glory days are long over.
Five of seven children in the Mainaky family — Rexy, Richard, Marleve, Rionny and Karel — were part of the Indonesian national shuttling team in the 1990s and nowadays they still have a hand in the sport, though courtside.
Rexy is the most famous of the five. He reached the pinnacle of his career when he won the men’s double gold medal with partner Ricky Subagja in the 1996 Atlanta Games.
In his post-competitive career, Rexy was the head coach for British, Malaysian and the Philippine national teams before returning to Indonesia and taking the head of athletes development post with the Indonesian Badminton Association in 2012.
Richard is head trainer for the national training camp’s mixed doubles teams in Cipayung, East Jakarta, while Marleve is an assistant trainer for the women’s singles team.
Rionny is a trainer with Japanese team Unysis and Karel currently coaches Japan’s women’s team Renesas, which is competing in the 2015 Djarum Superliga in Denpasar, Bali, this week.
Karel has been with the club for four years and admits that coaching female shuttlers is possibly the most challenging experience he’s ever faced.
“I once trained the men’s team of Unysis, another club in Japan. But it’s always been my dream to train the girls because I know it will be challenging,” he said on Wednesday.
“Unlike men, women have more sensitive feelings. That’s why I need a special approach to train them.” He credited his stint in Japan for giving him valuable learning experiences he now applies to his training technique. Japanese shuttlers, he said, are incredibly determined and are willing to work hard in perfecting their craft.
“Perhaps this is what makes them different from Indonesian shuttlers, though many of our players have the ability to match their skills,” he said.
The challenge of training such dedicated athletes is what has made him stay in Japan for over a decade.
“Maybe, I’ll leave Japan when they kick me out of the country. I’m not thinking of leaving in the near future,” Karel said.
Under his supervision, Renesas has grown into one of Japan’s top badminton teams. The squad has secured three wins and a spot in the semifinals of the ongoing Superliga.
Yukino Nakai, 18, considers herself lucky to be one of Karel’s proteges, saying her training experience under his supervision has been amusing.
“[Karel] is funny, he loves humor, he is easy-going, but is able to give us his full attention. While local coaches usually prefer to shout instructions from the courtside, he prefers to come and practice with us on the court,” said Nakai who helped Renesas claim a 3-2 win over Granular Thailand.
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