KUCHING: Sarawak Badminton Association (SBA) will hold the Sarawak Junior Closed 2019 badminton championship at SBA Hall at Jalan Lapangan Terbang, here, from Jan 24 to 27.
SBA honorary secretary, Tuan Haji Abdul Hadi Kadir said the event is a good avenue for talent scouting and to select those who have the potentials to become part of the existing State squad.
The tournament will be divided into boys’ and girls’ singles and doubles categories for those under 12, 14 and 16 years old.
“We are organising the four-day event to select Sarawak’s representatives for the coming 1st and 2nd leg tournaments of the National Junior Circuit and other events,” he said.
Entries are still open to those who are interested to compete until January 17.
According to Hadi, the association is looking forward to more entries from newcomers who can use the upcoming event for exposure and to compete with the present crop of State junior players also taking part in the competitions.
“This is a good opportunity for the newcomers to compete in a state level event where they can meet and compete with players who may have already represented Sarawak in previous championships,” Haji Hadi said.
He said the teams managers’ meeting will be held on Jan 23 at SBA Hall at 7pm while the final round of competitions will be held on Jan 27 starting 1:30pm where members of the public are cordially invited to attend.
On another note, Hadi said SBA will soon be meeting officials from the State’s Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports (MTACYS) and its agencies such as Sarawak Sports Corporation (SSC) and Sarawak Sports Council to give updates on its development programme as well as the calendar of events for 2019.
Hadi, who is also general manager of Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) said the association is looking forward to State government’s support in terms of funding to achieve its long-term development objectives which include the establishment of the proposed Badminton Academy under Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).
“Our president, Tan Sri Datuk Abdul Aziz Husain is one of BAM’s deputy presidents and he has been entrusted to make the badminton academy project a reality for the benefit of young talented players from both the states of Sarawak and Sabah,” he added.
“We have done our strategic planning and are now eager to proceed with the implementation phase where the establishment of the proposed badminton academy is crucial in order for us to boost the pace of our development programme,” he said.
According to him, the upcoming badminton academy will facilitate SBA’s tireless efforts to groom local young talents and give them the necessary training as well as exposure to maximise their potentials in winning medals at national level such as the Sukma 2020 in Johor.
