PETALING JAYA: The National School Sports Council (MSSM) badminton tournament makes a return after a two-year absence due to Covid-19 but it will be a subdued celebration in the Under-12 category.
The meet will be held in Kuching from Sept 4-7 with shuttlers competing in the Under-18, Under-15 and Under-12 categories.
However, the boys’ and girls’ doubles for the Under-12 have been dropped for the first time. Only the singles will be contested and each state is only allowed to enter two players per event.
The Under-15 and Under-18 categories will have both events and each state and the Federal Territories (Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan) are allowed to enter four players per event.
Several parents and officials have raised their dissatisfaction for the omission as the competition was supposed to provide the avenue to unearth future talents.
They felt that the singles players should also be allowed to compete in the doubles.
MSSM technical director for badminton, Najib Latif, said: “The main reason for the cancellation is because of Covid-19 concerns. Due to this, we also had to restrict the Under-12 singles entries to two players per state as this age group is the most vulnerable.”
