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Catch Up with:
Kim Ji Hyun
Kim Ji Hyun is
busy, busy serving superbly tasting coffee in RJ's cafe.
It seems an odd place to find someone who is a coach with the BWF and a former top international. That is until you
realise that Ji Hyun is helping out her fiancee and cafe owner
Ritchie Marr and is visiting NZ on a quick break from her
international coaching duties. Not that Kim minds
she is happy to help out wherever she can.
 A
Great Player:
Formerly
a Korean international Ji Hyun was once ranked as high as 2 in
the World in Womens Singles. Born in Pusan city in Korea she has been playing badminton since
the age of 11.
She has had many achievements one being her
battles with former World No.1
Susan Susanti - whom she rates as one of her toughest ever
opponents. But her fondest memories was being part of
the Korean team that won the team events at the world
championships.
After her
international career had finished as a player she came to coach
in NZ.
 Working
for BWF:
For
the last 2 and a half years - after leaving NZ - Kim has been based
in Saarbrucken,
a
town in Germany.
Settled
amidst this European landscape is one of the prestigious World
Badminton Federation's (BWF) training camps.
Within the
camp are a group of athletes
from developing countries working hard to reach their goal of performing well at the
2008 Beijing Olympics.
Ji Hyun: "We have players from all round the world
including the Ukraine, Switzerland, Belarus, Nigeria, Peru,
Czechoslovakia, Vietnam, and Austria."
For Ji Hyun it
was at first an adjustment to get used to the variety of
cultures and different playing styles. However she is now
really enjoying the experience and the opportunity to work with
such a great group of young player.
"The training is
quite intense with 15 hours on court, 3 to 4 hours off court per week.
In addition they are encouraged to study also to develop
themselves off court. They work hard and watch what they
eat as well as how they train."
What Makes a Top
Player?
: When asked what to
look for in a top player Kim pointed out, that it is not as
easy as making out a list, as each player is unique.
However she did say there are some things that can be grouped
together as traits top players would have in general but in
different amounts:
Generic Traits of Top
Players
- High Accuracy
- Fast Speed
and Recovery
- Consistency of
shot
- Deception
- Angle -
steepness of the shuttle
- Distance - able
to get good the shuttle deep
into the court when required
- Close to the
net - giving little room for the
opponent to return a tight net
shot
You can tell that
Ji Hyun is very happy to be in a position to help the players
under her charge. Below are the details of just two of
them who are developing their reputation on the world scene.
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1) Larisa
Griga
(back far right
in above photo)
Age: 23
Current Ranking:
25th in World Singles
Country: Ukraine
Larisa reached
the final of the European Cup in 2007 as part of the BC
Amersfoort team. She has also won the womens singles at
the Dutch International tournament beating Yu Wakita 21-19,
21-19.
Larisa is one of
the top players in the training squad. She is a hard
worker, very positive with a big powerful smash. She has
good attack and defence and is very solid and very fast around
the court.
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2) Olga Konon
(left front in
above photo)
Age: 18
Current Ranking:
44 in World Singles
Country: Belarus
Olga won bronze
in the womens singles at the 2007 European Junior Championships
Olga is very very
fast with excellent fitness. She can beat most of the boys
in the squad. She also has very good "touch" and deception
with a very good snap smash. In addition she has a good
defence and very strong backhand.
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