Badminton Europe Centre of Excellence player Matej Hliničan believes that since he has been part of the Badminton Europe set up in Holbæk, he has become more professional and can understand his game more.

Hliničan has been part of the set up since October last year and has made a lot of progress making his professional debut in 2012.

- The Centre of Excellence has definitely helped me to become more professional both on and off the court. I can understand my game better and get me on a right track, Matej Hliničan told Badminton Europe.

- So, with me being in a centre with quality coaches, good sparing players and all around the professional setup is like a winning lottery ticket, he added.

An increase in performances since joining the COE

The 23-year old Slovakian knows that his performances in training and in the few tournaments that he has been in have increased since joining the team. 

-  I have played many tournaments so far but I can feel that I am going in the right direction and becoming a better player day by day, the Slovakian commented.

- Since I was 15 years old I had to constantly look for training opportunities which led to frequent change of coaches and training environment, he said

You can view the Badminton Europe COE player profiles: here

Preparation for the Olympics 

Hliničan admits that his travelling has slowed down is progress as a player on the court and has things in place to improve in the coming months and years.

- I have been travelling quite a lot in the last few years, as part of my aim to qualify for the Olympics, so my progress has not been as fast as it had been previously, the 23-year old said.

- My goal now is to focus primarily on improving my game and becoming a better player. I need to carry on with what I have started but sometimes I will need to focus on specific areas for this to happen, he added.