Chinese women’s singles junior coach Zhu Weilun is impressed with how far some of the less-developed badminton nations have come in the space of one year.
Zhu had handled a session of the BWF Coaching Clinic at the last edition of the World Juniors; he lent his expertise once again today at the BWF World Junior Championships 2023 for a group of 26 players from Brazil, Tahiti, Trinidad & Tobago, New Zealand, Ghana, Peru, Belgium, Cook Islands and Spain.
“During the team events last week, I saw a lot of the smaller countries competing, and I’m very happy that badminton has reached them,” said Zhu. “For those who competed last year and returned this year, I noticed that their level has improved in technique and tactics and performance. I also noticed that they are more driven on court, so I’m proud that badminton has spread in these countries.”
Zhu, aided by BWF Development Manager Erica Khoo, led a session on technique, with his emphasis being on the fundamentals of the game such as point of contact, grip, wrist position and footwork.
“The training programme I emphasised on today was fundamental skills, technical and tactical play for singles and doubles. It’s important to have the base so that they advance to the senior level to become better players.”
The afternoon session had Indonesia’s junior men’s singles coach Ignatius Nunung Subandoro training a group of 11 players.
“It was a completely different experience compared to what I’m used to at home,” said Sameer Ali from Trinidad & Tobago. “It was interesting to be trained by more experienced and more professional coaches. The focus of the sessions was on the fundamentals of the game, to have a strong base, to which you can add on more skills. I found this extremely useful.”
Brazil’s Renan Melo, whose club coach Sebastiao Oliveira was enthusiastically recording the session on his phone, said: “My coach Sebastiao was happy that I’m taking part in this clinic. It was a great experience. We got to learn some new techniques that I can use in my game.”
A third session will be held on Wednesday, to be conducted by Korean coach Park Tae Sang.
The BWF coaching clinic has been a feature of every World Junior Championships since 2012.
Credit: Badminton World Federation
