Limited funds forced Vietnam's number one female badminton player Nguyen Thuy Linh to compete internationally without the support of a coach.
Thuy Linh has just reached the finals of a Super 300 tournament for the first time, the German Open. During that journey, the tennis player from Phu Tho had to ask her colleague Lauren Lam - her defeated opponent in the round of 16 - to sit in the coaching chair to provide professional support, because she did not have an official coach.
This is not the first time Thuy Linh has received such support in international competitions. At the 2023 Finland Open, the 27-year-old star was supported by Thai coach Pakkawat Vilailak in several matches.
Nguyen Thuy Linh competes at the 2024 German Open. Photo: Badminton Photo
According to Thuy Linh and the representative of the Vietnam Badminton Federation, limited funds force athletes to make a trade-off between being able to compete more and not having a support team to accompany them.
The budget for badminton of the Department of Physical Education and Sports is limited and must be divided between organizing domestic tournaments, training, or participating in Asian and world tournaments. When participating in open tournaments, athletes must have additional support from the budget of their host club or sponsor. Normally, only high-level athletes competing for Olympic spots such as Thuy Linh, Le Duc Phat or Nguyen Hai Dang are given the opportunity to compete.
"If a coach goes with her, the cost will double, but the number of tournaments she will participate in will be halved," said Mr. Le Thanh Ha - General Secretary of the Vietnam Badminton Federation (VBF). "Thuy Linh also understands the current difficulties and accepts to compete alone in many tournaments."
The tennis player born in 1997 said that many people agreed not to go to save money for her to have convenient and as many competitions as possible. "Competing alone is not easy," Thuy Linh shared. "But I understand that I am being supported by many organizations and individuals to be able to compete with such a tight schedule."
There are still tournaments where Thuy Linh is accompanied by a coach, such as the China Open in November 2023, with support from national team coach Ngo Trung Dung. Meanwhile, a team for athletes usually includes at least one coach and a medical expert. However, full support is usually only available in strong badminton countries such as China, Japan, Korea, and Indonesia.
Coach Ngo Trung Dung directs Nguyen Thuy Linh at the 2023 China Open.
Many athletes in the top 50 like Thuy Linh still have to compete alone, notably Chinese-American athlete Zhang Beiwen - currently ranked 10th in the world. Zhang Beiwen said that playing badminton in the US is not easy because the national sports federation does not provide subsidies and athletes have to pay all expenses themselves. She has had to call for support many times due to lack of money to participate in international tournaments, and always travels without a coach to save costs.
“I can’t afford to pay a personal coach to follow me to every tournament,” Zhang Beiwen told SCMP (China) in 2019. “I only train with one coach when I go to Singapore – where he is working as a personal coach.”
In the coming time, Thuy Linh will continue her tour in Europe. She will compete in the French Open Super 750, from March 5 to March 10. After that, Linh will go to England to compete in the All England Open Championships Super 1000, from March 12 to March 17 and the Swiss Open Super 300, from March 19 to March 24.
Thuy Linh is currently ranked 23rd in the world. Her goal is to compete well to improve her ranking, thereby seeking a seeding spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics. If seeded, Thuy Linh will have a higher chance of qualifying, opening up the opportunity to enter the round of 16.
In addition, VBF has invited Indonesian expert Hariawan Hong back, starting work from March 1. The important goal is to train hopefuls like Nguyen Thuy Linh, Le Duc Phat, and Hai Dang to compete for tickets to the 2024 Olympics. Previously, expert Hong was part of the Vietnamese badminton team in 2022.
Mid-Autumn Festival
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