About Us
Bintang Badminton Academy (BBA) started in December of 2001 with only a handful of students and one crazily devoted coach. For a while, the students trained on the small warehouse’s cement floors, with the two badminton courts’ lines masked out with tape. Gradually, the academy grew to three courts; indoor sports flooring was installed (by the coach and the students); the walls were painted a cheerful lavender blue color. And since, many new badminton enthusiasts have been born.
In January of 2004, the academy moved to a larger warehouse that could fit eleven courts. Once again, the coach, his students, family, and friends all came together to help build the gym. After three months of hard work, the light blue star was finally painted onto the wall and the gym opened its doors to badminton fanatics from all over. In the three years since the badminton academy’s birth, the number of kids and adults learning and playing badminton has grown tremendously.
Through the badminton academy, many people who have never played badminton before have developed a passion for the sport; many people who have played before but were never serious have developed a competitive spirit. All in all, BBA has promoted the sport of badminton greatly within the community and hopes to continue doing so.
Who We Are
Phu Khuu - Founder and Head Coach
The head coach of Bintang Badminton Academy is Coach Phu Khuu. Coach Khuu has played badminton for over fifteen years and has coached the sport for over eight years. He started playing badminton when he was a freshman in high school (Mission San Jose High) and since has learned from a handful of well-known coaches and players in the Bay Area. Back when he first fell in love with the sport, there were no training centers, no dedicated badminton facilities, not even people who coached on a full-time basis. So Coach Phu resorted to training himself - hitting against the garage wall for hours on end, conditioning, practicing footwork - and going to all the open gyms in the area.
In the summer of 1998, Coach Phu was fortunate enough to participate in an athlete-coaching program in Indonesia where he trained with Indonesian national badminton athletes under the national coaches. While training in Indonesia, Coach Phu realized the intensity of this sport in third-world countries.
They would train for four hours in the morning, condition for four hours, and then end the night with another two hours of drilling. What struck him was during one training session, a player had twisted his ankle and the Coach said only this: “Get up or get out.” Though the training was tough (being that Phu was not trained to do this from an early age), he came back in one piece and brought back with him a whole new perspective on training.
After returning from Indonesia, Coach Khuu has focused his time and energy on training students to become true badminton athletes. He has coached two high schools, Mission San Jose High School and Saratoga High School, both of which he turned into league champions. Coach Khuu had revamped the Mission San Jose badminton program and, in the process, ended Newark Memorial High School’s 13 year winning streak. In 2001, Coach Khuu decided to turn the tables around in the Santa Clara Valley League. He signed on as head coach of Saratoga High School, which at that time was ranked near the mid-bottom of the league. Within three years, the school’s badminton team rose to the top, defeating Palo Alto High’s reign in the badminton scene. All of the high school students who were fortunate enough to be coached by Coach Phu leave high school remembering how fun and exciting badminton can be and is.
In 2001, Coach Khuu started Bintang Badminton Academy, so he could have a permanent training center for his students. A handful of Coach Khuu’s students have won league and state high school championships; many have placed in the U.S. Junior National Tournaments; yet others have slowly climbed the ladder in local badminton tournaments.
What sets Coach Phu apart from other coaches is his ability to motivate and inspire students. Coach Phu is a very devoted and motivated coach, one whose love for the sport of badminton shines through in every aspect. His undying energy for the sport and for his students has helped promote Bay Area badminton to new heights.
Stella Chun - Co-Founder
Co-founder of Bintang Badminton Academy, Stella is currently a software engineer,just like most of the open gym players and members here. She grew up in Fremont, where she attended MSJHS and graduated as valedictorian. Stella thereafter received her Bachelor’s degree in computer science at Stanford University in 2003. Stella’s love for badminton started in high school where she was number one on the high school varsity team. Unfortunately, her studies at Stanford kept her very busy and away from the badminton courts, but she picked it back up right after graduating and continues to play and compete for fun. when Phu, her then boyfriend and now husband, raised the idea of starting a dedicated badminton facility, she was hesitant at first but then gave her full support and dedication. Since the academy’s inception, the husband and wife team have worked hard to grow the sport.
Roxanne Tong - Coach
A Hong Kong national player, Roxanne started training in Nanjing China under her mother (who was a China national player). She trained with the likes of Yang-Yang. After many years of hard work, Roxanne moved to Hong Kong, where she joined the HK national team. As a member of the HK national team for over ten years, Roxanne represented Hong Kong in numerous international tournaments. She was the champion of Women’s singles at the 1985 Australia Silver Bowl and runner-up at the New Zealand Open the same year. In 1986, Roxanne was winner of Women’s Singles at the Hong Kong National Open.
Roxanne is a certified coach with over fifteen years of coaching experience. In Hong Kong while she was training, she also coached the Hong Kong Youth National team and performed clinics for schools all over. Many of the local students she worked with became HK junior national team members. In addition, Roxanne conducted classes and seminars to certify others to become coaches. After moving to the United States in the early 90’s, Roxanne has continued to coach on the side as a hobby, because she wants to help raise the level of badminton play in the community. Her undying passion for the sport can be seen in the way she continues to play at open gym, even when her body has long told her to stop. Roxanne offers much technical expertise and invigorating training techniques.
Bintang’s Pro Player Team
Christopher Flores
A member of the Filipino National Badminton Team, Christopher Flores was the top singles player for his country between 2007 and 2008. Having started the sport late did not deter him from striving to be the best. Christopher worked hard and trained whenever and wherever he could. Christopher was awarded UAAP 2001-2002 Rookie of the Year. After graduating from Far Eastern University in 2005, he travelled to Guangzhou, China to train. Throughout 2006 and 2007, he split up his time between training with the Filipino national team and with the Malaysian team. Christopher’s notable wins include 2006 Magnum ABC Malaysia Satellite Singles first runner-up and 2007 and 2008 Dunlop National Open Singles Champion. Christopher came to the US in summer of 2008 and has been at Bintang Badminton Academy since. He is working hard and shooting for 2012 Olympics!
Quang Minh Nguyen
The latest addition to Bintang’s team, Quang Minh Nguyen, was the top doubles player and second singles player for the Vietnam National Team between 2003 and 2007. His best world ranking was within 100 for singles and 57th for doubles (in June 2006 with Thanh-Hai Tran). Quang Minh was introduced to the sport when he was a child. Though he was active in many other sports, it was in badminton that he felt he had talent. Through the support of his parents and a lot of dedication and hard work, he became one of the top singles players on the Vietnam team in his early 20’s. In 2004, he devoted himself to training seriously in doubles although he still aimed to boost his singles game and improve his individual ranking. His partnership with Thanh Hai Tran was successful and they quickly rose to the top ranks, reaching quarterfinals and semifinals at multiple international tournaments. Quang Minh retired from the Vietnam National Team in 2008 and came to the U.S. Quang Minh recently won Men’s Singles at the 2010 Dave Freeman Open and the 2010 Mid-Atlantic Classic! He is a player to watch out for at upcoming US tournaments!
Holvy de Pauw
Undoubtedly one of the strongest male singles players in the U.S., Holvy de Pauw started his badminton career in Indonesia. He was amongst the best players in his junior years and proved it when he became the 2001 Indonesia’s National Boys Singles Champion. Holvy was watched by many and had a crew of badminton fans. After training with the Djarum National Center for a while, he was recruited to the Switzerland and then later the Germany national teams. Holvy continued to compete in the international realm, winning the 2005 Croatian International Men’s Singles title. In 2007, he came here to the U.S., where he soon after won the UCB/GGBC Championship in Men’s Singles. Then in 2008, Holvy won the Wilson MIT Boston Open Men’s Singles title. Holvy is a strong and skilled player on the court — his smashes sound like gunshots! But what draws people to watch and cheer for him is his modesty and calm nature. He is not only a great badminton player and very passionate about the sport, he is also a very humble and nice person!
