Jonathan Dolan, Ilias Xanthou and Jonathan Persson from respectively Ireland, Greece and Germany are now a part of Badminton Europe’s Centre of Excellence.
- I want to be in a full-time training environment with high quality coaches to see how much I can improve. There are good players in the centre to train and spar with, this has also influenced me in wanting to move to the centre, Jonathan Dolan, 23, explains to Badminton Europe.
Dolan arrived in Holbæk in the beginning of February and chose to take the move to focus solely on singles. This opportunity from Badminton Europe has been just what he has needed to get back on track after struggling with injuries for the past year or more.
- The Centre of Excellence can offer me a training environment where I’m among likeminded athletes who wish to accomplish similar goals to mine. Here is a great team of coaches to support me and give me advice on important decisions to shape my career. High quality sparring and good training conditions.
Jonathan Persson, Germany
- My goal is simply to become a better badminton player, and I think that the Centre of Excellence can help me achieve that, Persson shares.
The 23-year-old German first heard about the centre through some friends that told him that a good setup had been created in Holbæk.
- Many players are training here, and if you are ever feeling down at the early morning trainings, for example, someone will be right behind you, giving you that push and making you do your best. And I really like that.
Ilias Xanthou from Greece
The Greek player, Xanthou, has visited a couple of times and has now decided to stay for a period of six months. But Xanthou is not ruling out the opportunity to stay even longer:
- I’m considering staying until 2020, until the Olympic Games, but I want to see how it will go with my performance and I will decide.
The sparring, the quality of training and the coaches’ experience was the factors that drew Xanthou, 25, to travel to Denmark and stay at the centre permanently.
Get to know the players at the Centre of Excellence by visiting our player profiles