Badminton world president visits Lanka

Dr. Kang Young Joong, President of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) is in Sri Lanka to have discussions with the Minister of Sports and Public Recreation, Gamini Lokuge, and the new Badminton Interim Committee on development of badminton in Sri Lanka.

Dr. Kang is impressed with the bold steps taken by the Minister to introduce transparency and good governance in sport and he sees a promising future for badminton in Sri Lanka to which BWF can contribute.

During his stay, he will also visit the tsunami affected areas and see the results of the reconstruction effort. After the tsunami Dr. Kang generously donated Rs. 2 million of his personal funds to help the badminton players in Sri Lanka who were affected.

Dr. Kang's visit was made possible by the close contact he has with thew President of the new Interim Committee on Badminton, Professor Ranjit de Silva, who is a former Council Member of the Badminton World Federation.

Dr. Kang Young Joong is Chairman of the Daekyo Group and is considered to be one of the leading and most successful businessmen in South Korea.

He was named 'Person of the Year' in 2008 selected by '21st Century Sports Forum' in his country and he has many other titles and awards too numerous to mention.

With a passion for development of youth both in education and sports, Dr. Kang has very recently established a Foundation supported by the top businessmen in Korea to assist in the worldwide development of sport, education and the arts.

The capital of this fund is currently at US$ 10 million which is expected to triple to US$ 30 million by the end of this year.

This will be the first time that a Badminton World Federation President has visited Sri Lanka.