HÀ NỘI — HCM City will send 12 badminton players and two coaches to Thailand for a short training course in an attempt to find new talent.

The athletes and coaches will sharpen their skills at the SCG Badminton Academy in Bangkok from July 2 to August 20.

Venus Asavasitthithavorn, from SCG’s Enterprise Brand Manager’s Office, said her group wanted to help the Vietnamese players to develop their potential at the highest level and be ready for regional and international competitions.

It was one of the SCG’s visions to improve the life standards and lift the sports movement at the destinations where the group was located.

 “Since 2002, Việt Nam could not find any player who could reach the world level such as Nguyễn Tiến Minh. It is a headache for us because we have talented athletes but we do not have enough support and sponsorship to push them up,” said Huỳnh Ngọc Liên, Deputy President of the HCM City Badminton Federation.

 “Sending young athletes to Thailand is a good start. SCG Academy is a professional environment where they are updated and science is applied in sports training and practice. It would help athletes to get to a higher level,” she said.

 “The course is not a long-term one but it is an important step to lift Việt Nam badminton. Hopefully, we could take part in big events in the near future.”

SCG has produced high ranking players such as world women’s No 8 Ratchanok Intanon and world men’s No 10 Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk. — VNS