Setback for PV Sindhu as South Korean coach Kim Ji Hyun resigns due to personal reasons

World Champion PV Sindhu faces a major setback as South Korea's Kim Ji Hyun has stepped down from her position as India's women's singles badminton coach to attend to her ailing husband in New Zealand.

Kim Ji Hyun - who had joined the squad early this year - had played a crucial role in guiding PV Sindhu to winning the World Championship gold last month at Basel, Switzerland.

The 45-year-old had to rush to New Zealand after her husband Ritchie Marr suffered a neuro stroke about a fortnight ago.

"It is true, Kim has resigned as her husband is pretty unwell. He suffered a kind of neuro stroke sometime during the World Championship. So she rushed back. She needs to take care of him as it will take around 4 to 6 months for him to recover," India's chief national coach Pullela Gopichand told PTI.

Interestingly, Kim who is from Busan is India's third foreign coach to have resigned without completing the tenure.

Earlier Indonesian coach Mulyo Handoyo - who had guided the men's singles shuttlers progress on the world stage - had resigned abruptly in late 2017 citing personal reasons. He later joined the Singapore squad.

Malaysia's Tan Kim Her had also stepped down as India's doubles coach early this year, 18 months before his tenure was to end at the Tokyo Olympics.