Coach He aims to put HK in Olympic elite

Newly appointed head coach Tim He Yiming hopes he can complete the unfinished job of his predecessor, Chan Chi-choi, in bringing Hong Kong to the world's highest level.

He, who arrived in Hong Kong as a coach in 1993, took over the top job this month after his former boss, Chan, ended a 20-year association with the Sports Institute in April.

'We have won medals at the Asian Games and world championships, on the professional tour and in many other high level competitions, but we are still a second-class team in Asia, well behind China, South Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia,' said He, who was a member of the China national squad during his playing days in the 1980s.

'In the long run, we have to prove ourselves at the Olympic Games if we want to become a real force to be reckoned with. This is also the dream of a coach like myself and the dream of every person involved in Hong Kong badminton.'

He had been working closely with Chan as the women's team coach and knows there is one glaring omission on their CVs - an Olympic medal. 'This is a big challenge. The badminton team have been making good progress over the years, but we still need to put in more effort before we can achieve the goal,' he said.

'To do that, we must expand our elite squad like those top countries - to have more talent in the team and to maintain a keen competition among the players so they push each other to work harder. The players also need to gather adequate results at the highest level so they believe they can accomplish the job at the Olympic Games.'