Tsukagoshi to take part in Badminton Oceania training camp

Article from Marianas Variety (mvariety.com)

LINA Tsukagoshi has been selected to take part in the Badminton Oceania Player Development 2024 – Tier 2 event in Thailand from Nov. 26 to Dec. 8.

Tsukagoshi, a member of the NMI national badminton team, has gained a hefty amount of experience after  participating in competitions in Asia and Oceania. She will continue to hone her skills when she undergoes training in Thailand.

Joining her are four other selected players from the Cook Islands, Fiji and Guam.

The training program’s objective is to prepare and develop players from the Pacific for junior international competitions, which include the Oceania junior championships, junior international tournaments, the world junior championships, and Youth Olympic Games.

When she learned from her coaches that she was selected, the 14-year-old 9th grader from Saipan International School had mixed feelings. “I was happy but also stressed,” Tsukagoshi said. Her coaches had also told her that she had to choose between badminton and tennis. “It was very difficult to choose because I feel like tennis really shaped my life, but then this [training] opportunity is once in a lifetime,” she said.

Tsukagoshi will undergo training at the Banthongyord Badminton School in Bangkok, Thailand where she intends to learn how to improve her self-control during games.

“My self-control can get out of hand sometimes when I make unforced errors. I hope that the coaches in Thailand can help me fix that because that would really improve my game,” she said.

She expects to learn a lot of new things not only from the coaches, but from players who have more experience than her. She plans to use her newly acquired skills in future competitions.

Tsukagoshi also wants to get sponsored by a badminton brand. “Ever since I started playing badminton competitively, it’s been my goal to improve and get sponsored,” she added.

Tsukagoshi discovered badminton while learning kendo, a traditional Japanese martial art that focuses on the practice of swordsmanship using bamboo swords.

She said after each kendo training, they were provided badminton rackets and plastic shuttles to play with.

Eventually, she found badminton “really fun and interesting” and decided to join the middle school badminton interscholastic league. Later, she won the middle school and high school division titles.

After realizing her potential in badminton, she tried out and made the cut for the U15 junior national team that saw action in New Zealand,

Since then, Tsukagoshi has won about 20 badminton titles.