Thanks smashie54 for that link Here's the text of the article: BEIJING 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES Strong cast from Saarbrucken in Beijing 8 August 2008 COACHES Ge Cheng, Per Henrik Croona and Kim Ji Hyun have every reason to smile and celebrate. Thanks to the trio’s hard work at the Badminton World Federation world training centre in Saarbrucken, Germany, 16 players have qualified for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. And their efforts have not gone unappreciated by the players. “We would like to express our gratitude towards our coaches – Ge Cheng, Per Henrik Croona and Kim Ji Hyun - who played vital roles in turning our dreams into a reality,” said Ukraine’s Larisa Griga on behalf of the players. “They were constantly there for us 24 hours a day, supporting us and sacrificing so much to see us qualify for the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Needless to say it was tough training, much fun and an invaluable journey for all of us players.” A total of 16 players qualified and they are Jeannine Cicognini (Sweden), Kristina Ludikova (Czech Republic), Olga Konon (Belarus), Larisa, Claudia Rivero (Peru), Simone Prutsch (Austria), Grace Daniel ((Nigeria) and Nhung Le Ngoc (Vietnam) in the women’s singles. In the men’s singles, the players who qualified are Raul Must (Estonia), Kevin Cordon (Guatemala), Edwin Ekiring (Uganda), Eli Mambwe (Zambia), Stuart Gomez (Australia), Kestutis Navickas (Lithuania) and Yuhan Tan (Belarus). However, the National Olympic Committees of Belgium and Austria did not include badminton in their contingent. There were also other players who qualified for Beijing who benefited from short training stints in Saarbrucken. They are Petr Koukal, John Moody, Nguyen Tien Minh, Scott Evans, Anna Moura, Karen Foo Kune, Thilini Jayasinghe and Akville Stapusaityte. The Road to Beijing programme started in June 2006 and focused on singles only with the target of qualifying as many players as possible to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. To make the programme more interesting, the training centre also organised, with the co-operation of Badminton Europe, a one week sparring and training camp for the European qualifiers in singles. The coaches were full of praise for the training camp and were delighted with the opportunity to train and compete before the Olympics in a professional and systematic programme. “It’s finally time to say good bye to the BWF training centre in Saarbrucken after 26 months. During this time, it was a wonderful experience to live with players from all over the world- to discover new cultures and make new friends,” added Larisa who is also captain of the women’s team. “Our sincere thanks to our head coach, Ge Cheng (China), who taught us to train the ‘Chinese’ way. His distinctive skills and sense of humour which personally touched every player ensured that training sessions were more physically bearable and enjoyable. “Additionally, he was the best cook in our private kitchen. For so much more than has been mentioned here, Ge Cheng, you are special to us and will remain in our hearts forever.” Larisa also had a special word for Kim, whom she nicknamed ‘Kim Chi Power.’ “Her spirit and energy is truly amazing. No matter the time – 7am Monday morning or 7pm Sunday night – she constantly strives to push us further,” added Larisa. “Always there to assist us, both on the court and off when necessary, Ji Hyun, you are a fantastic coach and a great friend. We will always remember you.” The players also extended their gratitude to Croona who continuously challenged them to improve their performance,. “We will never forget his outstanding training programmes, outside activities, hill sprints and various other fun games which never failed to make us competitive. He fully dedicated himself to the players and was willing to listen to and understand our problems, and we thank him for that. “We would also like to wish all our coaches the very best in their future undertakings and efforts to develop badminton around the world. And not forgetting the wonderful support from the office that made sure each and every need of the players was taken care of.” With one chapter concluded, Larisa and her ‘teammates’ are now preparing to embark on another. And come Saturday, it will be a new journey in Beijing. -------------------------- It's great to note that, in particular, Olga and Kevin put up a great show at Beijing
Yes, I do know Guatemala... but not for badminton! Apologies for the late response... I've been a bit too busy lately This is exactly my sentiment too. I opened a thread on him after his extremely impressive showing against Bao Chunlai Maybe Kevin Cordon will one day be as famous as Rigoberta Menchu and Miguel Angel Asturias
Very impressive. Sadly there are too many Guatemalan people who do not even know what those names means. Un Saludo.
This guy is super-fast and super-smart. I hope he can spar with better players everyday. He should join the Danish league or KLRC.
i was so impressed with this guy in the olympics. he fought like a champion and i want to see more of him in international competitions
became a fan after I saw him playing against BCL too....this guy has a good future provided he is given enough support.....better join KLRC soon......he has an impressive jumping smash....
i just saw kevin last week when he won the Puerto Rico international pretty easily, i didnt get the honour of having to play him though (not sure i would want to get beat that badly haha) cause he was higher up on in draw from me since he was 1st seed, but he is a really amazing player none the less and im sure will see and hear more about him internationally and he will be one of the players from the pan am region that will give the asian players a run for their money.
he seem to have bad luck against canadian MS. Both mike beres and david snider have beaten him before.
yes that is true he has lost to both of them, but at the recent pan am championships in the individual events when he lost to snider it was in a kinda weird game with how he destroyed snider in the 2nd keeping him at 6 [23-21 6-21 21-19] but unfortunatly lost overall. still him along with dabeka, snider and a few others in the pan am region will hope to see more of them and on the SS stage as well more.
Congratulations to Kevin for winning the Slovenian International at the weekend. OG qualification shouldnt be much of a problem for him Any idea as to where he is training currently ? Quite a lot of the other players from Guatemala train in Denmark but i am not sure about Kevin.
A very determined man. Only 24. Has a long way to go. Good job on beating CL! \ Final score: [TABLE="class: ruler"] [TR="bgcolor: #EBFAFF"] [TD]MS[/TD] [TD="align: right"][TABLE] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD="align: right"]Kevin CORDON[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [TD="align: center"]-[/TD] [TD][TABLE] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD][/TD] [TD]Long CHEN [5][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [TD]21-19 8-21 27-25[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD="align: right"]1:14[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] This actually made me google Guatemala just for finding out where it is after hearing it for the first time. Surely, he has done his country proud.
My jaw dropped and i cannot believe what i say... what a superb play.. i mean wow.. i am still shell shocked...KC can go far with proper training.. he really has the Zeal to fight on and the mental toughness to beat his opponent today.. To me it is a tall order and he have my salute.
Yeah, the first time I saw him in action, it was in the Beijing Olympics. I was very impressed by his play and he nearly beat Bao Chun Lai.
Last night, kevin has an awesome match facing Chen Long, two thumbs up for him... At the 3rd set, during 23-23, it seems that several of Kevin points was due to its smart play. he sets the condition so to make easier for him to score a point or make Chen long did mistakes. He sent Chen Long at right hand corner, and finish it with tight net shot... BEAUTIFUL.... He is also a very determined Badminton player and energetic....
2011 World Championships (Round 2): Kevin Cordon-vs-Henri Hurskainen (SWE) . Congratulations to Kevin Cordon for defeating Chen Long at the 2011 World Championships. It should hope that Kevin Cordon could defeated Henri Hurskainen (SWE) today. But let's wait and see. Henri Hurskainen has also done quite well, defeating Carl Baxter (ENG) quite easily; 21-08, 21-19 in only 34 minutes. .
yup., I saw the CL and Cordon games. Those duece is amazing. The bald headed coach must have prayed the right thing. Cordon is on steroid? lol. Well done. A match of his life. He should have the advantage tonight. If LCW wins, he need to thank this guatemalan guy... This is the first time I'm seeing him. If he trains up, he can be a world beater with his left hand. I can see 50% improvements in him. http://www.youtube.com/badmintonworldtv#p/u/26/bx1edVP9jdI
the "bald headed coach" is Pedro Yang, also from guatemala. Kevin Cordon has been training with the Spanish team for the last couple of months, and says that this has been key to his improvement.
