Golden Shuttle Academy – Coaches Clinic in Russia

The BWF World Junior Championships provide a glimpse of upcoming champions and legends in the making. I was part of the Badminton World Junior Championships 2019 hosted by Kazan in Russia. I was a witness to the tournament as an official BWF photographer. It was really wonderful to see young talents from countries where badminton hasn’t developed much keeping up with their peers! Some of the players are an epitome of fine talent and not far away from matching their badminton idols; Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Thailand), Christo Popov (France), Brian Yang (Canada), Anastasiia Shapovalova (Russia), Leo Rolly Carnando & Daniel Marthin (Indonesia), Riko Gunji (Japan) just to name a few.

Overall, the tournament was a great showcase of talents. Kunlavut Vitidsarn & Christo Popov made it into the U19 boy’s final where Vitidsarn had a smooth straight-sets win against his challenger. The U19 girls’ final was no less than a thriller with Riko Gunji fighting it hard to finally emerge victorious after a three-set battle against Zhou Meng from China. It was really good to watch the second seeds, Carnando and Marthin from Indonesia win a nail-biting final against the first seeds from China in the U-19 doubles finals. Besides the on-court events, the players gained a wealth of experience from off-court activities as well.

The juniors were involved in coaching clinics conducted by former Malaysian champion, Lee Wan Wah and great former player from Indonesia, Allan Budi Kusuma. Lee Wan Wah provided tips and techniques for a successful doubles strategy whereas Allan Budi Kusuma demonstrated the quintessence of footwork and speed in singles. Apart from these, former players Susy Susanti, Rajiv Ouseph, Anthony Clark and Michael Fuchs were also a part of the mentoring team. The sessions led by them would definitely help the players add a few more arrows into their quiver of strategies. The coaches clinics program was a great takeaway for me as well, both as a coach and a player. It helped me and provided me with insights on the different strategies and approaches used by different coaches & mentors.

 

It was an excellent experience for me to have witnessed the tournament first hand at Kazan. All I can say is, with so many young players from all over the world putting up their best performances, the sport of badminton is bound to go a long way!

 

Jnanesh Salian

Golden Shuttle Academy