Athlete specializing in 'picking gold' for Nghe An sports delegation

Athlete Le Cong Tai won gold medal at the 2020 National Individual Championship. Photo: PV

Joy and sadness after the world silver medal

Le Cong Tai was born in 1993, in Hung Dung ward (Vinh city). Tai lovesshuttlecockRight from his elementary school days. Back then, after school hours, Tai often played shuttlecock with his friends and was always admired for his shuttlecock kicking ability. In 2005, Tai was selected by the school to compete in the Phu Dong Provincial Sports Festival in shuttlecock kicking. Thanks to his innate qualities, he caught the eye of Coach Ton Quy Hoa -Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center.

At that time, Coach Hoa convinced Tai to follow the path of a professional athlete, because he saw that with the qualities Tai had shown, he was someone who could go far in the future.

After 5 years of studying and training at Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center, Tai started to participate in the first tournament in his football career. That year, Tai only won the silver medal in the national youth tournament.

“That was the first tournament in my career, so entering the tournament I felt very confused. Many of my techniques were not yet perfected, so I could only bring home a silver medal,” Tai said.

After the silver medal, Tai practiced diligently, always learning from his senior athletes to perfect the basic skills of shuttlecock. Skills such as handling the first step, sweeping, dribbling, and hitting the shuttlecock were perfected by Tai day by day. In addition, to become a successful athlete, to stand out from other athletes, one must have different techniques and moves. During the training process, Tai always had his own way of kicking unlike any other athlete.

“In addition to the guidance of the coach, I often explore new techniques on my own. I have practiced techniques such as serving at high altitudes and handling the shuttlecock from afar and can proudly say that these are my own unique skills,” Tai said. With his tireless efforts, Tai is expected by the center to be a gold mine for shuttlecock kicking.

Not disappointing the coach's trust, in 2012, Tai entered the national bridge championship. With an excellent performance, he defeated all opponents and won the gold medal. Le Cong Tai confided: "This will be the tournament I remember most in my career, not because this is my first gold medal, but because this is the tournament where I overcame myself."

With his achievements, Tai was called up to the national team to compete in the World Badminton Championship. It must be said that before a major tournament, any athlete has certain nervousness and anxiety, but faith and determination always urge them to do their best, in order to bring glory to the Fatherland, to their hometown and to the center that nurtured them. Therefore, in addition to class practice hours, Tai often opens websites to learn difficult techniques of the opponent. He always wants to find effective attack lines to be able to defeat opponents of the world's level.

In 2013, Tai entered the World Badminton Championship. After defeating 4 opponents, Tai entered the semi-final match against his German opponent. This was a very strong opponent, with technique and extremely fast reflexes. But with his strengths, Tai did not give his opponent a chance to score. As a result, after 2 rounds, Le Cong Tai won overwhelmingly, thereby making his name in the final match. However, entering the final match with a heavy mentality, Tai had to surrender to a very strong Chinese opponent, winning the world silver medal.

Le Cong Tai performs his skillful whitewashing technique. Photo: PV

Not stopping there, in 2014, Tai won his first gold medal in shuttlecock at the national sports festival for Nghe An delegation. It is not too much to say that Le Cong Tai is an athlete who "picks" gold for Nghe An sports delegation when in the following years he continuously reaped gold medals for his home province. In total, in his sports career, Le Cong Tai has won 6 national shuttlecock gold medals, 2 national sports festival gold medals and 1 world shuttlecock silver medal. This will not be an easy feat to achieve, he still hopes to continue competing in the future and will reap medals for Nghe An sports.

Love business

Tai got married at a young age. His wife's job was not yet stable, so the couple had to be independent, so life was quite difficult. After having children, my wife and I decided to go into business.

Tai realized that he knew a little about sports, about training and competition clothes for athletes, so he decided to discuss with his wife about starting a business in the field of sports fashion. However, with limited capital, Tai and his wife could not open a business store. So he initially started his business by doing business online.

Tai remembers: “At that time, my wife and I only had about 10 million VND in capital, so we only took a few items, sold them all and then took more. With my knowledge of sports, many customers trusted my advice. Every day we sold 5 to 10 sets of clothes.”

Le Cong Tai won the World Silver Medal and 8 National Gold Medals in badminton. Photo: PV

From those initial advantages, Tai and his wife gradually accumulated experience, finance and had a stable customer base. He decided to expand the business by renting more booths and combining online and in-store sales. Tai confided: “My passion is shuttlecock and my hobby is business. But it is also that passion for sports that has helped me in this seemingly unconnected field. When I am no longer a competitive player, I will move to the business field.

With passion and determination, I believe that Le Cong Tai will have enough perseverance and desire to achieve future successes./.