Shuttling badminton stars to a bright future

KUALA LUMPUR: Resounding cheers filled the air as the 11th edition of the Association of the Wives of Ministers and Deputy Ministers (Bakti) Badminton Junior Open Championship reached its conclusion yesterday.

Drawing over 1,000 participants nationwide, the event, held by Bakti in collaboration with the Kuala Lumpur Sports School Council and Kuala Lumpur Education Department, featured 24 competitive categories showcasing the talents of young badminton players aged seven to 16.

The tournament, held from Dec 16 to 19, aimed to find new badminton talent among students as well as serve as a platform for Bakti’s Tunas Juara trainees to familiarise themselves with the atmosphere of a real competition.

The competition was first held in 2006, event organisers said in a statement yesterday.

The closing ceremony in Sports Arena Sentosa here was attended by Bakti Welfare chairman Toh Puan Dr Aishah Ong.

Also present at the ceremony were Badminton Association Malaysia coach director Rexy Mainaky, Kuala Lumpur Badminton Association president Datuk Seri Dr Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos, and Bakti treasurer Datin Seri Jessica Lim.

During the closing ceremony, the audience was treated to a nerve-wracking performance match between the winner and first runner-up of the 12-year old Men’s Double category – Derrick Leung Jin Wen and Muhammad Noor Hanafi against Zhen Hao Yeoh and Zhen Hing Yeoh, respectively.

Commenting on the preparation level of badminton national players, Rexy said he was confident that the Men’s Double pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, as well as the Women’s Double pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah would make it to the Olympic Games in Paris, France next year.

“So far, players that we can confirm would be competing in the Olympics would be Aaron-Wooi Yik and Pearly-Thinaah,” he told reporters there.

He added that both pairs are strong candidates for Malaysia to bag the country’s first Olympics 2024 gold medal.