Guillaume Gailly born 28 January 1974 in France. He is a SL4 player, but also a Shuttle Time Tutor and Coordinator. 

Gailly begins by telling us how he started played badminton. 

- I started in U15 around Paris. Friends of mine were playing in the club and we started to play in the garden. As a tennis player I enjoyed very fast to play badminton

It is definitely not cheap to play badminton internationally. You have to pay for flight tickets, hotel rooms, entery fees and much more. How does Gailly found it all?

- I fund everything by myself, I use my saved money and try to lower the expenses as much as possible. I used to work as a trainer for a long time and I saved money. I also work sometimes for BWF or continental confederations to get some funds.I only get equipment from my partners, Yonex and Youbadit (pro shop in France).

Ups and downs

In a badminton career there will be both ups and downs (hopefully more ups than downs), and below you can read about Gailly’s best memory and biggest disappointment so far in the career.

- My best memory is probably the win over Bethell and Griffin in semi-final of last European Champ in Rodez.

- My biggest disappointment was when I was 13. I won all my men's double at training with my friend, we were very confident for the only double tournament of the year. We lost at first round…

For many badminton player their big dream is often connected to badminton and would like to win the Olympics or something like that. But for Gailly this is a little different. His big dream is still connected to his sport, but it is not including any medal or title. 

- My big dream is to travel around Africa for a year or two, doing Shuttle Time courses, training camps, and visiting the countries in a van. I also got some places around the world I'd like to visit.

The future for Para badminton

Para badminton has developed over the last years, commenting on how Gailly has seen the development through the past 5 years, he says.

- It's been increasing a lot, five years ago there were only 4 tournaments a year where we have at least 10 now, thanks to the Paralympics. We can also see that the top level is much higher in every class. I'm pretty sure that a lot of players were already playing, but were not competing at international parabadminton level.

As Gailly says, Para badminton has for sure developed in the past 5 years. But how does the future for Para badminton look?

- I think we need to develop a multi-level circuit, to avoid long distance travel for beginners and regional players. By doing so, we can welcome more new players, and maintain the excitement of the game for everybody. I hope every part of the world will be able to follow the success of parabadminton, and join the party.