CNMI badminton players go thru developmental program 

Robbie Thackham, Coaching and Development manager for Badminton Oceania, far right, Australian badminton player, Jacob Schueler, far left, and Australian badminton player, Louisa Ma, fifth from right, pose for a photo before they hold the developmental program for the CNMI’s senior badminton players last Friday at the TSL Complex.(LEIGH GASES)

Robbie Thackham, Coaching and Development manager for Badminton Oceania, and Australian badminton players Jacob Schueler and Louisa Ma held a developmental program for NMI juniors and senior players last Friday and Saturday at the TSL Complex.

About 24 junior players between 12 and 19 years old and 12 senior players had the chance to learn new skills and upgrade their game during the program.

The training focused on a lot of technical skills. 

“A lot of these players are quite new, so it’s just evaluating where they and are doing a little bit of work with them, because we’re not here for that long, but then working with the Northern Marianas coaches to then keep working on progressions for them to help develop them further,” said Thackham.

Australian badminton player, Jacob Schueler, left, and Coaching and Development Manager for Badminton Oceania, Robbie Thackham, in black, show CNMI senior players some footwork drills last Friday at the TSL Sports Complex.(LEIGH GASES)

The key thing they worked on is footwork and movement, said Thackham. “Making sure they start to move correctly, and then the technical skills with their racket—putting them in groups and just changing what they’re doing on court a little bit.”

“They pick things up quite fast, they’re willing to change and try something different,” said Thackham on the NMI players’ level of play. “I think that they just probably haven’t had as much training as a lot of the other countries. That will come with time but they’re quite positive and willing to try new things and make changes,” he said. 

Schueler agreed and said, “They’re keen to learn and try and work hard.” 

Schueler and Ma both assisted Theckham with coaching and Theckham said they’re good role models for the participants in the program.

Thackham thanked the Northern Marianas Badminton Association for giving them the opportunity to coach NMI players. “It’s good of them to do that. It makes a big difference to give these guys opportunities,” he said. They also thanked the Tan Siu Lin Foundation for supporting the program and for the accommodations.

Ma, who will be playing in the tournament, said “the weather’s very different. It’s winter in Australia and the weather in Melbourne’s really cold, so coming here is a big change. So, I’m still adjusting to that. And we haven’t seen the tournament hall yet, so it’ll be good to see what that is like and the conditions might be a little different there.”

Schueler, for his part, said that he’s ready. “I’m looking forward to playing. They got some top players from Korea, Taiwan, and Japan, so we’ll see how we go against them, and just looking forward to playing on the international circuit.”

Both Ma and Schueler said they are looking forward to watching Kevin Cordon, a Guatemalan player, play as he had a very good run in the last Olympics.

The NMI is hosting back-to-back 2024 Paris Olympic Games qualifying tournaments starting tomorrow, Tuesday, June 6. The qualifying round games will run from 3pm to 4pm, while main draw games will follow suit and take place until 9pm. 

Wednesday’s action will be from 10am to 9pm; Thursday’s games are from 12pm to 9pm; and Friday is from 1pm to 9pm. Semis matches on Saturday will be from 1pm to 9pm, while finals in the men’s and women’s singles and men’s, women’s, and mixed doubles are slated for Sunday, June 11, from 12pm to 5pm. The same schedule will be in effect for the Saipan International 2023.