KAMPALA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Fresh from winning the 2017 Africa Schools singles title, Uganda's Brian Kasirye is keen on playing professional badminton in China.
"I love to play for a club in China because badminton is played at a very high level there," the 16-year-old student of Kakungulu Memorial Secondary School told Xinhua in an interview on Wednesday.
Badminton is among the most popular sporting disciplines in China as the country also has several top ranked world players.
Kasirye said that because China has a huge pool of talent to pick from, it has made the game very competitive in their country.
"I would want to one day go and play competitive badminton in China so that I can improve and become among the best ranked players in the world," said Kasirye.
According to the Badminton World body, China have so many young badminton talents that many second or third tier Chinese shuttlers could be the best if they played for other countries.
Last December, Kasirye guided Kakungulu Memorial Secondary School to victory in the team event of the 2017 Africa Schools Championship before he stopped Egyptian player Mounir Mohamed Elsayegh in the boys final.
He told Xinhua that his target is to be among the top world players and also carry the Ugandan flag high by performing well. "I would want to face some top Chinese players like Chen Long and Lin Dan," he added.
The 16-year-old said Chen Long and Lin Dan are accomplished players who inspire him because of their style of play.
Simon Mugabi, the Chief executive officer of the Uganda Badminton Association (UBA) told Xinhua that he is happy with the improvement showed by the 16-year-old in the last two years.
"We have also included his name on the team going for the 2018 Commonwealth Games so that he can get more exposure at the big stage," added Mugabi.
