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Last Updated: 01/04/2008 
Site Launched:
26 Mar 1997

The Southern Badminton Association has given to Raju Rai, a former member of the now-defunct Lake Placid Junior Olympic Training program, a grant to to train in India.  This is part of the Southern Badminton Association's support of Junior development in the Southern Region for its players.  The following is a letter from him to Jim Greenlees, S.B.A. president. 

2/18/2002

Hi Mr. Greenlees,

Everything is going well in India. The training is very tough. It has a very high intensity and also for long periods of time. My shots have become a lot better as well as my fitness. The training here takes a different approach then the way it is in the US so it will take a little while to adjust but the training they teach here is very good. It will not only help now but in the long run. For the past 3-4 weeks I have been training 6 days a week and 2 sessions a day. We do weight training on 3 of those days and long distance running two days a week. We also do shadows after weights and a lot of stretching which helps a lot. If you have any other questions I will answer them. I will let you know how I do in the German Jr. and the French Open. When I get back to Atlanta I will try and give you a call at home sometime. Ok thanks for everything Mr. Greenlees.

Bye,

Raju

1/20/2002

Hi Jim,

First of all I would like to thank you and the rest of SBA for all the support you are giving me. I really appreciate it. I will continue to work hard in my training and get better to prove that the money was put to good use. 

As far as India goes, training starts this Thursday, January the 24th. This past week we had a tournament. I played both singles and doubles (doubles with a Indian guy). In singles I lost in the second round in 4 games. I also was not feeling well, but I do not want to use that as an excuse. I feel after I get back into a training program again my game will pick up from where it left off and continue to get better. In doubles I made it to the finals and lost in five games, the final game being 7-5. It was a very close match, we were tied at 5 all. 

Today we are meeting with the coaches to see what the training schedule is like. As soon as I find that out I will let you know what I will be doing here. I also will try to find out some other tournaments to play in India and I am also planning to play the French Open in March. I will continue to update you on what I am doing in India and my progress.

Once again thank you and SBA for everything. Hope all is well with you. Hope to see you at some upcoming tournaments. Keep playing.

Sincerely,
Raju Rai