Viet
Nam will begin constructing its largest badminton centre at Ha Noi’s elite
athletes training centre by the end of this year, the Viet Nam Badminton
Federation’s (VBF) vice chairman and general secretary, Le Thanh Sang, said
yesterday, June 2.

Deft: Nguyen Tien Minh in action during the National Badminton Championship. (Photo: VNS)

The VND400 billion
(US$20 million) centre, expected to cover an area of 10,000sq.m, will be home to
over 100 top badminton players, including a 2,500-seat Gymnasium near the My
Dinh Sports Complex, 12km west of central Ha Noi.

“The project is part
of a sport development programme for 2011-15 by which VBF plans to train a new
generation of top badminton players over the next five years,” Sang said.

“Last year, the Asian
Badminton Confederation suggested that Viet Nam set up an international standard
badminton centre, not only for Vietnamese players, but also players from other
Asian countries,” the general secretary added.

Although Viet Nam
currently has around 300 top players, only Nguyen Tien Minh has reached
professional status.

HCM City-born Minh,
ranked seventh in the world, is the only Vietnamese player earning well from
world tournaments and sponsorships.

The 28-year-old, who
leapt from 24th to 7th in world rankings over the past two years, earned around
VND120 million ($6,000) per month.

The VBF’s general
secretary said that Viet Nam had still not found another player in the same
league as Minh. “The VBF had often scouted for younger players to substitute
Minh, but to no avail. Low payment has also kept potential prodigies away from
the sport,” Sang added.

“Although the VBF had
invested in two players, Nguyen Hoang Hai from the Army and Le Ha Anh from Ha
Noi, over the past three years, neither could improve their world rankings.”

The VBF has also
struggled in obtaining adequate sponsorship even though they organise around 10
tournaments annually.

Currently, the VBF
receives a $25,000 sponsorship from Yonex Sunrise for funding coaches and
athletes competing and training abroad.

Two years ago, HCM
City invited Indonesian Asep Suharno to coach Tien Minh with a monthly salary of
$5,000.

Ha Noi has taken
initiative in training its top badminton athletes with sponsorship from the
Indonesian Citra West Lake City Development Company.

Hanoian starlet Le Thu
Huyen,16, currently ranks 217th in the world women’s division after three years
of training with the Ha Noi Ciputra team.

Bac Giang-born Vu Thi
Trang, 19, who won a bronze medal at the Youth Olympics in Singapore, is another
player steadily making a name for herself.

Trang is the only
female Vietnamese player to receive sponsorship from sport producer ProAce.

The Ha Noi-based
badminton centre, expected to reach completion next year, plans to scout around
50 kids, aged between 8-9 years old, to take part in a five-year full-time
training programme.

“The centre will
additionally train athletes from other Asian countries. The VBF, with assistance
from the Asian Badminton Confederation, will hire top coaches to train kids on a
long term basis,” the VBF’s general secretary said.

“Viet Nam has, up
until recently, nurtured 45 young players at three centres in the northern Bac
Ninh Province, central Da Nang City and southern Can Tho City.”

The general secretary
said he hoped that the elite centre in Ha Noi would provide Viet Nam with the
best possible players for world competitions by 2015.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News