At the 2019 World Championships in Basel, out of a possible 20 medals, one went to Europe. The other 19 went to Asia. Together with Pi Hongyan, we explore how Europe can close that gap.
It is without question that Asia is the dominant powerhouse of world badminton. Europe has produced world-class players over the years. With current stars like reigning Olympic and three-time World Champion, Carolina Marin, former World Champion and reigning All England Open champion, Viktor Axelsen, and the one who won the sole European medal, a silver at last year’s World Championships, Anders Antonsen, Europe can certainly compete at the elite level. But how can Europe close the gap?
Who best to ask than former French superstar, Pi Hongyan. A player who won World and European medals for France, training in and around Europe, but built her badminton foundation in China. Pi has uniquely experienced high-level badminton in both continents. Here are her thoughts.
- For me, there are two important things where European nations find it difficult to catch the Asians in. One is the volume of training done at a young age. They are doing 100 per cent full-time training from youth level, whereas in Europe there will always be a dual project for players, balancing between training and studying for their education. For Europe, we have no choice but to adapt, as it is important for the individual to study also.
Like a machine
In Asia, there is the option to completely commit to badminton. In a way, live badminton and only think in badminton. The advantage of this is that badminton is a sport where repetition builds up skills and consistency in a player’s shots. This is something that Pi Hongyan has been through, having grown up in Chongqing, China. When coming to Europe, many marvelled at her consistency, as she explains.
- People have said to me that you make very good drop shots, you are like a machine hitting the same corner every time. My response is that yes, I have been doing so many repetitions of this shot almost every day, so these are the results we can get. However, in Europe, for the young players of the same age, they come two or three times a week for training. This is already quite good for them. In France now, we are speaking to the young players and saying that if they want to excel at the top, they need to be coming to training at least four to five times a week for two hours each session. This amounts to around ten hours per week, which is still very far from my childhood experience, which was five hours per day. Sometimes even six to seven hours before I stopped to study. On the weekend there was no rest because we still continue training. So, over the course of a whole year, the comparison is that European players of the same age get a third of the training time as in Asia.
There is great hope
Despite the disparity in the hours' players are able to put in at a young age, a big positive seen by Pi Hongyan is that the quality of training in Europe is very good. This is a huge advantage over anywhere else in the world and if tapped into properly, it can be massively beneficial for future performance.
- The quality of training is so much better. This is what I felt when I first trained in Denmark, where the sessions have a very high tempo, and everyone was 100 per cent focused throughout. Also, the technical coaching early on is very good in Denmark, and this is something we are trying to implement at a younger age in France. If you do not have this foundation, some players can get stuck at a ceiling further down their development path. Also, we lose a lot of talented players at 17/18 years old when they choose between badminton and study. This is a big investment for not only the player but for the whole family.
As China develops, the European challenge of balancing sport and education will become a Chinese challenge that they need to overcome, as Pi says.
- Traditionally in China, many players play badminton to try and get their family out of poverty. Although, this trend is changing now and actually players are deciding to go down the education route more. They collect points towards university but opt out of becoming professional.
At the last Olympics in Rio, Europe won a medal in every category bar mixed doubles, recording four in total. China secured three. A low number compared to their eight medals at the previous games.
With the Olympics returning to Europe for Paris 2024, the gap may be closed further on all Asian nations. As we learn from Pi, a lot can be taken from the approaches from both continents, with the badminton environment also changing all the time, but the European spirit is there to make big leaps forward.