PETALING JAYA: Petaling Badminton Club, in their bid to further boost grassroots development, will be staging the NCT National Badminton Champion–ships circuit where six winners will get a chance of witnessing Malaysian shuttlers in action at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The circuit, which will start early next year, will have five legs in Melaka, Pahang, Penang, Selangor and Sabah while the Grand Prix Finals will be held at the Sports Arena Sentosa in Kuala Lumpur.
Petaling BC chief executive officer Datuk Jack Koh (pic), a former doubles international, said each tournament will attract from 1000-1200 players in the boys’ and girls’ Under-9, Under-11, Under13 and Under-15 categories.
The semi-finalists and finalists of each category, where singles and doubles will be contested, will proceed to the GP Finals.
“We used to have one-off junior events before this but we felt that a series of events will be able to give a bigger pool of players to compete where this is Petaling BC’s initiative to assist in grassroots development,” said Jack.
“The players we will be focusing on are not part of the state badminton association’s development programme or juniors under the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).
“Their participation will increase the pool of players who are active in competition nationwide and the State BAs can also consider including the potential talents in their programme. “The biggest perk for the players is that we will select six of the winners at the GP Finals to watch and support Malaysians shuttlers at the Paris Olympics next year.
“Watching the top Malaysian players performing at the highest level will give young ones the motivation to emulate their idols.”
Jack said the players in the Under-13 and Under-15 categories will be considered for the trip with consents from their respective parents.
Meanwhile, BAM have also pledged to support Petaling BC’s initiative where they will be providing the technical support by arranging for qualified umpires and linesmen to officiate the tournaments.
