A badminton player who has had to adapt to the British game after moving from Malaysia is confident he can inspire and contribute to a De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) Badminton Club Varsity victory.
William Wong, DMU Men’s Badminton First Team Captain and second year Architecture BA (Hons) undergraduate will compete as the number one seed for #TeamDMU at Leicester Arena on Saturday 18 March.
On a day which is being branded ‘Super Saturday’, the fixture will be sandwiched between volleyball and basketball Varsity clashes at the home of the Leicester Riders Basketball Club, who recently signed a partnership with DMU.
A full house is expected to attend and fill the bleacher seating at the arena.
William, 20, said: “I’ve been playing badminton for around four to five years now, having started out playing in my home country of Malaysia.
“However, I’ve had to really adapt my game since coming to England as badminton is a lot different over here, the level is a lot higher in Malaysia and the game is stronger and faster.
“When I moved here, it took me a while to learn the style of play and the new environment, especially the wooden courts. In Malaysia all the courts are rubber.”
William has had a strong season in the singles winning 11 of his British University and College Sports (BUCS) matches and losing just three, helping the men’s side reach fourth in the table with a predicted finish of third.
The side are currently competing in BUCS Midlands Division 2B, the highest division DMU Badminton have featured in following promotion last year.
Their final position will be determined following their remaining fixture against the University of Warwick 2nd. They have more than held their own in a very competitive league.
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William is proud of what the team have achieved and of his involvement in the club. He said: “It is quite an honour to represent your university and play regularly against other universities which involves playing against competitive players who play at county, national and international level.
“I am very happy with the team performances and also my own performances this season.
“We recently got a coach and our performances have dramatically improved, we have become more consistent and are taking most of our games to the wire.”
William also credits how well connected their coach is for player development and also the Strength and Conditioning sessions provided by the DMU Sport team.
“Our new coach Garfar is very active with what we do and really helps us in training and connect with players from Loughborough to improve our game.
“The S and C sessions have been a real help and have been vital for the team moving forward. I have also been encouraging players to get a membership to the QEII Leisure Centre to get stronger which they have done and I am proud of the commitment they are showing.”
The side are prepared for Varsity and have been keeping an eye on the results of the University of Leicester who are currently struggling and have failed to claim victory all season in BUCS Midlands Division 1A.
William said: “I think it will be a really interesting game at Varsity and a strong atmosphere at Leicester Arena, especially with the other fixtures taking place at the same location at the same time.
“Hopefully the University will show unity and support all teams in what is going to be an exciting and action packed Varsity series.
“With great support for DMU Badminton and all sports in general, we are confident that both our teams and #TeamDMU has a whole can pull off one mighty Varsity upset.”
You can keep right across the Varsity series through Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat accounts, and follow the story using #DareToWin and #TeamDMU on social media.
Posted on Thursday 9 March 2017