Straight down to business for new badminton coach after visa delays
AFTER overcoming some visa problems, Badminton Scotland’s new head coach Tat Meng Wong will arrive in the country today and will start work immediately,
The Malaysian was originally due to join the organisation at the start of January but his timing now adds an extra dimension to this weekend’s National Championships, which begins in Perth just as Wong is given a first opportunity to run the rule over the leading Scottish players.
In a year in which Scotland hosts the sport’s most prestigious event – the World Badminton Championships in August – he will have to hit the ground running even before that. However, with Badminton Scotland facing a funding crisis after UK Sport’s withdrawal of support at performance level, Wong will be asked to attend an important meeting tomorrow.
“I’m delighted everything is now sorted out with his visa and he will be here for our meeting with the SportScotland Scottish Institute of Sport,” said Badminton Scotland chief executive Anne Smillie.
“The situation we are in at the moment is not ideal, but we are very fortunate, unlike Badminton England who don’t get any separate performance funding.
“We get generous support from SportScotland, but we know we are still going to have to look at tightening our belts.”
“His first task is going to be to assess all the athletes and he will be reviewing the numbers in our elite squad and how they train,” said Smillie.