New league a headache for national badminton coach

By Sun Xiaochen (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-27 09:38

BEIJING - The newly-established Chinese Badminton Super League (CBSL), which ended its first round over the weekend, has raised serious concerns it will have a negative effect on the national team's preparations for the 2012 London Games.

The CBSL, which runs from May 22 to Aug 9, is a product of the sport's governing body's bid to increase the game's popularity, build up the sport's marketing and also develop it at the grassroots level.

However, it is clashing with the national team's traditional training system, according to head coach Li Yongbo.

"The national team players have to sacrifice a lot in order to play in the CBSL," said Li. "I'm really worried about that."

To live up to their CBSL commitments, national players will miss a series of international games which would help the young guns in the squad gain valuable experience for the London Games, the coach said.

Adding to his concerns, the players will have only 10 days left to prepare for the World Championships in August after the league concludes.

"Personally, I'm not sure if the league is of value to the national squad. Operating a commercial league such as the CBSL will promote the development of the sport," Li said. "However, the national team's competitions are likely to be restricted, which shows the new league is a double-edged sword."

Li said even if the national players have the time to assemble for training immediately after playing in the CBSL, their physical and mental condition will be a "big problem".

"Despite a break of several days after every round, flying between club and national team duties will exhaust the players' energy and strength,"said Li, who led the men's team to the Thomas Cup title this month. "But we still have to do it as these players have to train together to maintain top form, which is hard to reach during the club competition," the 47-year-old coach said.

His concerns have been highlighted by an injury to national team player Bao Chunlai.

Bao, 27, strained a leg muscle in his opening CBSL game against national teammate Lin Dan.