Becker Teams Up With LTA For Coaching Drive at Mission Hills

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Mission Hills

17 Jul, 2016, 11:01 GMT

SHENZHEN, China, July 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Mission Hills' drive to develop tennis in China has gathered pace with the staging of the world's first Boris Becker and Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) Coach Accreditation Scheme.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160715/390228

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Boris Becker launching the Accreditation Programme with Dr. Ken Chu, Chariman of Mission Hills Group (Line 1, Left 3) ; Mr.Tenniel Chu,Vice Chairman of Mission Hills Group (Line 1, Right 4), Dan Thorp(Line 1, Right 3), LTA's Head of Coach Development and coaches.

Under the expert guidance of six-time Grand Slam champion Becker and Dan Thorp, the LTA's Head of Coach Development, a selection of China's tennis coaches attended the five-day get-together.

As well as a series of indoor and outdoor clinics conducted by Becker and Thorp, the programme included a junior challenge match between tennis youngsters from Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

Talking about the potential to produce Chinese Grand Slam champions, Becker said: "Give us a bit of time. It won't happen overnight. This isn't a quick fix where we come in and next week we have a champion.

"This takes years and years of dedication from all the people at Mission Hills and all the coaches.

"What's unique here is that we're building the whole thing and looking for the right coaches.

"The best talent cannot be coached by the wrong people. So this programme is very, very important. Without the coaches you won't get the players."

Tenniel Chu, Mission Hills' Vice Chairman, said: Boris has more than 40 years of experience in playing and coaching and has an amazing record with Novak Djokovic, the world number one and multiple Grand Slam champion. With the LTA's involvement as well, I am confident that our certification programme will foster many new world-class coaches to create many world champions.

The event marked the first time that the Wimbledon-based LTA has brought its wealth of experience to China and exported its coaching certification outside the United Kingdom.

Reflecting on the past five days at Mission Hills, Thorp said: "For the LTA this week has been about learning and finding out about tennis in China and at Mission Hills … and about the coaches.

"Then we will be in a position to see where this might go in the future."

Mission Hills' Vice Chairman Chu, said: "The coach accreditation scheme is just the first step of the Boris Becker Mission Hills Tennis Academy for tennis development in China and we are working closely with Boris to establish the Becker Tennis Camp and Becker Cup."

Becker said: "I can't wait to discuss the next steps in this great journey. I'm ready to go!"