Vietnam’s number 1 badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh said he wants to practice with training partners of world-class levels in order to be well prepared for the coming 2012 London Olympics.
Minh, who has recently fallen from the 7th to 9th rank in the world due to his constant failures at international tournaments, said in an exclusive interview with Tuoi Tre that he is surrounded by challenges on his way to London this summer.
“The drop in the world ranking hurt me psychologically,” he said, adding the problems also come from his farewell to Indonesian coach Asep Suharno, and the poorly-developed training plan he is following.
Under the training schedule in preparation for the Olympics, Minh has daily practices with the Ho Chi Minh City badminton team, and will attend 2-3 international tours every two months, he said.
“This is my normal, annual training schedule.”
Minh added that for such a large target as the Olympics , he needs one to two practice partners who are of a world-class level like him.
“All of the Vietnamese players, though exerting an enormous effort, are still lagging far behind my ability,” he said.
Minh said most of the players in the world top-ten have to hire players of high ranks, usually those in the world top 30, to practice with.
Meanwhile, as for countries with high badminton development such as China or Indonesia, there is little difference in terms of level between their top players, so they can mutually perfect their skills by practicing with each other.
“I need to practice with partners with high ranks, who are capable of revealing my weaknesses for me to improve in time.
“At present, no Vietnamese players are able to do so, and I hope to be allowed to hire foreign players of high levels to partner with.
“However, I have repeatedly called on relevant agencies with this proposal, but received nothing so far.”
Commenting on his slip in the world ranking, Minh said he did try his best, and could not have done better.
“One of the most important causes for my failures is that my rivals have all become familiar with my playing strategies,” he explained.
“They studied my strategies via video tapes, and developed their own tactics to defend.”
Minh said several young players who he used to defeat, such as Chinese Chen Long (world number 3), Japanese Kenichi Tago (7), and Shon Wan Ho of Korea (19) are now 23-24, which is the top of their career development.
Minh said the farewell to expert Suharno also put him in trouble.
“Suharno not only trained me in playing skills and tactics, but also helped me greatly in life and psychological matters.”
“He has assisted me to remain in the world top-ten for the last two years. I did want to extend the contract with him, but failed eventually, as it was not something that I could decide.”
