Abela started playing badminton when he was 5 years old and his father, who is a coach, used to bring him to training sessions: “I loved it from the very first day”, says Abela, 18.

At the age of 13, he won the U-16 National title in singles and from then onwards he has been taking his badminton seriously. He started to train harder and has the aspiration to become a top badminton player. A typical day for Abela would be physical training in the morning, and then a two hour-session on court with his club, Paola Badminton Club, or the national team. 

In 21 days, Abela’s life and training will be very different. He is moving to Denmark and will start training at the centre with all the other COE players, which is something that he is looking forward to.

“I am very excited and honoured to be part of the Centre of Excellence, where I look forward to train in a very professional environment.”, he says about this new change in his life.

“For me, this is an amazing opportunity which will surely help me to improve my game since I will be training with very high-level players. I will also be under the guidance and supervision of very professional coaches. The centre itself is equipped with high-tech facilities all under one roof. So, for me this is dream come true!”

Abela’s goals are simply to give his utmost and improve as much as possible. This will hopefully lead him to win a prestigious tournament and, in the future, to take part in the World Championships and Olympic Games. If his dreams of Olympic participation come true he will be the first Maltese badminton player to do so.

“I am sure that the Centre will be a stepping stone to help me improve and reach my future goals to become a better badminton player and be a role model to the younger players.”

If you wish to learn more about Badminton Europe’s Centre of Excellence project, please visit our page by clicking here.

We have already announced the head coach, assistant coaches and eight other players for the COE. Read all the previous announcements here.