Building a private badminton gymnasium and hosting world championships

[May 20, Kyunghyang Shinmun]

Building a private badminton gymnasium and hosting world championships

It has only been ten days since Young-joong Kang took on the role of skipper in the international badminton field.

*I’m still a little dazed,” said Young-joong Kang (Daekyo Group chairman), president of the International Badminton Federation (IBF). He expressed gratitude to Soo-hyun Bang(former member of the national team and gold medalist in the badminton women’s singles during the Atlanta Olympics) for introducing him to badminton. According to him, he would not have been able to get to the helm of the badminton world had it not been for Soo-hyun Bang, who was elected director during the regular IBF meeting held last May 8 in Beijing, China.
After the badminton team owned by O’Leary Cosmetics was disbanded in 1997, Chairman Kang offered to draft Bang for Daekyo. “I cannot go alone. Please take the rest of the team,” Soo-hyun Bang demanded superbly at that time. Impressed, Chairman Kang formed a new team and drafted all Bang’s teammates. “You gave me a wonderful gift,” he said to Soo-hyun Bang eight years later.
Thus goes the story of how Daekyo’s Noonnoppi Women’s Badminton Team was born. Managing the team gave Chairman Kang the opportunity to become more active in the badminton world.

- A love affair with shuttlecock that began with inviting Soo-hyun Bang to Daekyo –

As Korea’s “textbook tycoon,” Chairman Kang has definitely come a long way from being a village extracurricular instructor Born in Jinju, Gyeongnam Province, he graduated from the College of Agriculture of Konkuk University. Before establishing the Daekyo Group, he started out in a small study room at Jongam-dong, Seoul. At 84, his mother is still active and healthy. She was instrumental in prompting Chairman Kang to organize a badminton team and serve as president of the Korea Badminton Association in 2003. According to Chairman Kang, he was able to learn “health and harmony” from his old mother, who had been an active member of a badminton club for 30 years.

He was asked how he plans to lead IBF for the next 4 years. Naturally, he should be well prepared.
“IBF should evolve. I will personally see to it that badminton, which is popular in Asia and Europe, also takes root in areas where it is little known, such as South America or Oceania,” he vowed.

As such, Chairman Kang believes that badminton should be developed into a more interesting and dynamic event. For 2 years now, Chairman Kang has been promoting the introduction of the rally point scoring system in badminton through an external service contractor as well as reviewing the possibility of holding international tournaments outdoors.
“The highest speed of shuttlecock in men’s badminton is 332km per hour. It is that fast and dynamic. If we nurture such merits properly, badminton will become a game loved by fans not only during the Olympics but also in everyday life,” he said.
His plans include the creation of training centers in countries where badminton is little known such as Africa or Oceania in order to develop related technologies and to foster players and instructors.

He still has an important “task” for the local badminton field.

-Reviewing the possibility of holding tournaments outdoors

Like a dutiful son, badminton had brought home several gold medals including the 5 won from the 4 Olympics starting from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics up to the Athens Olympics held last year. World championships have yet to be held in Korea, however. Having taken over the reins in Korean badminton before assuming the role of the skipper of an international sports organization, Chairman Kang stresses the need to host world championships in Korea.
“We need to build a private gym where world tournaments can be held. If the government provides the site, I will immediately build the gym. I will personally guarantee the success of the world championships held in the future gym,” he vowed.

He also intends to popularize badminton in Korea and strengthen competitiveness.

“Badminton should take root as one of the school sports. It is the only way for badminton to develop as an elite game. To obtain better scores at international sports events, more capable players should be fostered. In the case of China, considered the badminton powerhouse in the world, there are more than 1 million registered players. Schools must organize more teams to enable the building of a strong foundation for badminton,” he stressed.

- “Encouraging the organization of school teams will promote badminton among all classes of society.” -

Chairman Kang shares his thoughts on retiring players.

“This problem deserves the attention of education officials. When players retire, they actually have no place to go. Appointing retired players as teachers or special instructors will go a long way in developing the school’s physical education and strengthening sports skills,” he explained.

The memory of the Athens Olympics is still fresh in Chairman Kang’s mind. In the prestigious international sporting event that is held every four years, badminton receives little attention. He felt a twinge of envy upon seeing many VIPs from various countries including Cheri Blair, wife of England’s Prime Minister of England, seated at the gymnasium rooting for their teams.

“When the team of Dong-moon Kim and Kyung-min Ra was unexpectedly eliminated, I was very disappointed; seeing the Korean players winning gold medals in other events (men’s doubles), however, I realized the staying power of Korean badminton. I distinctly remember praying for the Korean players to perform well while I was seated at the audience stand,” he said.

Even though it has only been approximately 10 years since Chairman Kang was introduced to badminton, he has already devised a grand scheme for the development of badminton.