National Games 2025: With twin-golds and coach Jiva in tow, Satish Kumar aims big

Satish Kumar has hit a purple patch at the best possible time.

After winning the 2025 National Games mixed doubles gold in badminton with Aadya Variyath, Satish also won the gold medal in the men's singles category.

The feat is unique to the sport since not many elite shuttlers opt for a combination of singles and mixed doubles. But Satish see this as a challenge.

"That's the challenge we [Satish and his coach] want. Nobody has done it so we want to make it happen," said Satish, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of National Games 2025.

Influence of coach Jiva Nair

An interesting feature of Satish and Aadya is that their training and off-season preparation happens in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at the Asia Badminton Academy.

The primary reason for this is Jiva Nair, his coach, who resides in Malaysia.

The association started when Satish was a teenager.

"I went for a one-month camp with him. I have seen him do well with the Malaysian national team and people suggested him to me," he recalled.

"It worked really well for me. After coming back from the camp, I had good results. I continued to train with him for two more months and my game improved and that's when I decided to continue with Jiva sir," he added.

There was a brief hiatus where Jiva had stopped personal coaching but the break did not last long.

Upon Satish's request, Jiva once again took him and Aadya under his wings and the results are there for all to seen.

"I've worked with him since my junior badminton days, his strategies, his methods work well for me and hence I wanted to continue working with him," Satish remarked.

"Since we (Satish and Aadya) only have a few months in a year to train during the off-season, we move to Malaysia whenever we have time," he added.

Lofty goals

Incidentally, Aadya has also shifted base to Malaysia to train with Satish and the duo have formed a formidable mixed doubles partnership.

"We sat down, we spoke with the coach together, and decided to go (move to Malaysia and train) there," said Aadya, in an interaction with reporters.

The duo are currently ranked 33rd in the mixed doubles BWF world rankings but their eyes are set on loftier goals.

Training in Malaysia does come with its own set of struggles, particularly financially but Satish has found solutions.

"It is expensive but luckily for me, I have a team without whom I won't be able to afford it. GoSports Foundation, SDAT [Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu] have really backed me," he remarked.

For Satish and Aadya, all of their badminton needs are taken care of by their benefactors and it has enabled them to focus on the game, and they are now reaping the rewards of the labor.

The gold at the National Games aside, the duo has been picked for the Indian team for the upcoming Asia Badminton Team Championships, a maiden call-up for the pair.

"The goal is to enter the top 20 world ranking (in singles)," said Satish, talking about his goals for 2025.

"We have the Asia Championships, after that we will be going to All England Open, Swiss Open, and German Open," he added.

The duo will join the national camp in Guwahati, where the rest of the Indian team will congregate and train before leaving for Malaysia for the tournament, scheduled to begin on February 11.