The Naperville City Council has approved plans for the owner of a regionally renowned Woodridge badminton club to open his second gym at 2019 Corporate Lane in Naperville, training area athletes in badminton as well as table tennis, the Chicago Tribune reports.
According to the paper, Thomas Chen of Woodridge's Midwest Badminton Club, a former Hong Kong competitive badminton player, will be joined by coach Ilian Perez, a former U.S. singles champion training for the 2016 Olympics. The sport is gaining popularity in the United States, with 90 girls' varsity teams in Illinois, and is growing past its casual-lawn-game image, the paper said.
"With all of the high schools in Naperville, there is a big market there... Many of my students are from Naperville," Chen told the paper. "I decided to open it because I felt like this was my dream... I want to help the sport and promote badminton in the community."