Badminton Europe have started to support different confederations around the World and not just Europe.
The Centre of Excellence opened in 2017 - just two years later the centre is now welcoming players not just from Europe but worldwide on a larger scale than ever before.
Cubans arriving on Saturday
Badminton Europe already have players at the CoE from Africa and Asia, but the Senior Manager of High Performance, Michael Nørbæk believes that now is the time to push on.
- Thank you to BWF for the cooperation and the support we have received. They funding of the BWF Player Scholarships to all five confederations is crucial, Nørbæk says.
- It is a big step for all of us and this is the right step for badminton. All five confederations, Asia, Pan-Am, Oceania, Africa and Europe, will take advantage of this.
Players such as Kate Foo Kune (Mauritius) and Adnan Ibrahim (Bahrain) are already at the CoE from outside of Europe, and from tomorrow, there will be more players training there, on scholarships.
Taymara Oropeza (ranked 128) and Osleni Guerrero (ranked 88) from Cuba will join the CoE on Saturday on scholarship until after the first week of June.
The Cubans will train and live at the CoE for the duration of their stay, before they leave again next month.
BEC prepares the players for the Olympics
With the 2020 Olympic Games getting underway in Tokyo, in just over twelve months’ time, Badminton Europe will try and prepare badminton players in the best way possible for them to succeed.
- Badminton Europe knows that the biggest dream of most badminton players is to go to the Olympics. It is a long journey, and we are happy that we can support players in chasing that dream, Michael Nørbæk says.
Pan-Am Stars to arrive
Following the two players from Cuba, there will be many more coming from June to the end of the year and beyond.
Beiwen Zhang from United States of America will join the centre for a period in September to the start of November.
The top Women’s Singles Player will stay in Denmark for the duration as she prepares to play on the European section of the HSBC World Tour, with the Tokyo Olympic Games starting next Summer.