SINGAPORE – Fujian is where Lin Dan, widely regarded as the greatest badminton player, was born and developed in one of the best academies in China, and the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) is hoping a tie-up with the Chinese province, as well as other top national federations, will raise standards of the sport here.
At its awards and gala night held at Fairmont Singapore on Feb 19, SBA president Lawrence Leow said a deal with Fujian was signed in November 2023, and memorandums of understanding with the Badminton Association of Thailand and Badminton Korea Association will be inked over the next few months.
He noted how the Republic’s top players Loh Kean Yew and Yeo Jia Min improved after stints in Thailand and South Korea, where they trained with world champions Kunlavut Vitidsarn and An Se-young respectively before making deep runs in recent tournaments.
Leow said: “Aptly put, in the Year of the Dragon, we reckon that to fight with the dragons you have to first fly with the dragons. With these trials yielding encouraging results, we decided to formalise these arrangements. These bilateral exchange programmes with the top badminton teams will see our players train and spar with the best in the world.”
World No. 19 Yeo appreciated her “holistic” two-week training camp in Seoul in November 2023, when nutrition, rest, recovery and targeted training were taken care of, while 11th-ranked Loh benefited from a focused few days in Bangkok in January, when he trained for up to eight hours a day across three sessions starting from 7am.
He said: “The longer training stints allowed me to make changes to my game, while the shorter stints were more about the high-quality sparring opportunities.”
Leow said the collaboration will not be confined to the senior team. He noted: “We are hopeful that more junior players, among them our brightest prospects, can get a head start in their badminton journey through such exchange programmes, which will culminate in the formation of a strong team and the backbone for the future of Singapore badminton.”
There was also good news on the domestic front. The Singapore Badminton Arena in Guillemard – the original Singapore Badminton Hall name is used by another establishment – should open in the second half of 2024 after delays due to the pandemic and roof leakage in the main hall. It will house the Badminton Promotion Centre (BPC), which will build and sustain a talent pool in SBA.
Leow said the association has committed about $2.5 million on the refurbishment of the facility, which will house 12 badminton courts with a seating capacity of 1,300 spectators. The courts will be available for public rental.
One BPC initiative is the Young Shuttlers Programme, which aims to add 5,000 primary school boys and girls to the local playing pool every year and fill a gap for schools that do not offer badminton as a co-curricular activity.
Radin Mas Primary School is the first school on board with 600 pupils invited to a one-day badminton introductory session. Beyond that, interested participants can subsequently sign up with the SBA Badminton Academy and attend a 15-week foundation programme.
The Singapore Badminton Arena will also facilitate a new Singapore Badminton League that aims to promote further growth of the local badminton scene.
Leow said: “We hope to provide a platform for the next generation of players to gain more competition exposure while fostering an environment of healthy competition. By participating in the league, these players will have the opportunity to push each other to perform at their best, ultimately elevating the overall level of badminton in Singapore.”
The SBA has also set up two subsidiary companies to focus on the leasing of space and the management and operation of the facilities respectively.
“Setting up these entities will ring-fence SBA from potential risk that may come from operating a commercial space,” said Leow. “It will allow the Guillemard hall to be run more efficiently, much like a business where swifter decisions can be made when needed.”
