But you know, if you look at Tennis, we can't exactly say Australia is good at it either Lleyton Hewitt is a cool guy, but he's on a different level to Djokovic, Nadal or Federer And even if an Australian player gets into the QF or SF of a SS event. I still don't see it getting the broadcast happening. So I don't think its a matter of performance of the players, more like the image of the sport If we can promote a good and strong image, that badminton is good, by getting some really entertaining matches on TV even once, then it will eliminate all those annoying stereotypes of the sport in Australia We need everyone to spread the good word of the sport in our country. Australian Badminton Open is happening, but its not getting any exposure outside of the badminton world
Coaching in Australia is of actually quite a good standard, despite what some from 'elitist' part of the Badminton world may think. The current set up involves almost a "Manager" sort of role and then a "Head Coaching" role. The issue I have with them is not the personnel but the set up of the National system. There are also high level coaches from Malaysia, China & Indonesia that currently reside in Australia. The sad thing is that there is little funding available to get these elite coaches coaching aussie kids. The second problem is that these coaches dont coach in a "Western Format", they coach in a different style that is recognized and acceptable in Western Culture. By this I mean that they are forceful dictators of programs and players, and this is not what is accept by many in Australia. Whilst Australian people understand the idea of hard work, the programs put in place by some foreign coaches is excessive and doesn't provide the balance that should be involved in a western program. Also they dont provide the support and comfort that should be required when dealing with junior players. Now the reason Australian players go overseas to train is NOT because of the coaching but because of the level of competition in Australia. To be the best you have to play the best! And in Australia the best players are lucky to be Top50 players in the world and they don't have anyone higher than that to spar with and push them to the next level. So when a player gets to a certain level, they need to head overseas to spar with players in the next bracket of player. Players in Australia also play a different style and struggle when they come up again more 'wristy' & 'flat' Asian players because they are not used to it. So once again overseas training allows these players to experience different styles than what they can at home. My thoughts are that the National Squad should be based in Malaysia and not Melbourne, as it would give them the best access to elite players & coaches and you are also closer to the bigger tournaments. If you look at the set up of Tennis in Australia, once you reach a certain age you are sent off to Spain to train and play on the European circuit. This is what BA needs to look at if they want their players to reach the next level, although as with everything this all comes down to $$$$
Tennis is not even in the same stratosphere when it comes to Badminton! Just look at Flinders Park and the millions and millions spent on building that monstrosity! Their national funding is in the 10's of millions, their national association turns over hundreds of millions, the funding for infrastructure is in the hundreds of millions! The number of players is 10 times of that of Badminton in Australia! The TV numbers that Tennis put up is that just under the AFL/NRL grand finals! Tennis has a long and proud history in this country! And to say our players are not on the same level as the current top guys is true! but we have a long and proud history and have produced the greatest player of all time in Rod Laver! Lleyton is the 3rd or 4th longest serving world #1, so dont have a crack at him as it shows the little knowldge of the game that you possess. We have a current top 10 womens player and multiple top level doubles players! But some people with little knowledge seem to fail to see past the Mens Singles and look towards other facets of the sport.... So its a little rich to say we are not good at it!
Then good sign for KOR, after Bang Soo-hyun era it seems they're struggling to produce high calibre WS, Sung Ji-hyun has improved a lot lately.