The Centre of Excellence (CoE) attracts many players from all four corners of the globe to come and train in Denmark. Lino Muñoz, 28, is one such player, hailing from Mexico.
Muñoz is the top Mexican player and currently ranked at no. 77 in the world. This year has been a positive year for him, getting to four tournament finals in the singles category. He is constantly looking for ways to develop further and has been training at the CoE for a few months, so we asked him how he is finding it.
- I really like the training here, the atmosphere is very nice and there are a lot of players that have the same expectations and goals. This makes me feel at home and I like all the coaches here, as they work as a team, give good feedback and really look after you. This is something important for players like me who do not have a proper coach, Muñoz responded.
The coaching staff at CoE really do push the players hard. We asked Muñoz if there have been days where he has found it too tough, and how does he cope with the training.
- Yeah, I mean it is part of being a badminton player, but there are days where you need that little extra push. Sometimes you cannot be at a hundred percent but having someone behind you who gets the best out of you. It’s important to have and I am grateful for it, Muñoz said.
I would like to stay longer
With several players coming from different continents, we ask Muñoz how he found settling into Europe and his life in Denmark.
- I have been training in different places, like Hungary and Spain, so I am used to the ways of European training. I really like the training set-up I have here, I would like to stay longer, and if I make it to the Olympics I would like to train here for that event. The qualification period right now is very demanding as I am playing a lot of tournaments. It’s part of the journey and I am enjoying it, Muñoz ended.