Reda Saleem (Dubai)
The draw for the Asian Mixed Teams Badminton Championship, organized by the Football Association, in cooperation with the Asian Confederation and the Dubai Sports Council, under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, Honorary President of the Badminton Federation, took place at the Expo Exhibition Center during the period from 14 to 19 February. On the current day, our national team fell into the second group with the teams of Malaysia, India and Kazakhstan, while the first group included the teams of China, South Korea, Singapore and Uzbekistan, while the third group included the teams of Indonesia, Thailand, Bahrain, Syria and Lebanon, and the fourth included Japan, China Taipei, Hong Kong and Pakistan.
The draw ceremony took place on the sidelines of the press conference held by the Organizing Committee of the Championship at the Dubai Sports Council headquarters today to announce the details, and was attended by Saeed Hareb, Secretary General of the Dubai Sports Council, Jassim Kenso, Vice President of the International Badminton Federation, and Noura Al Jasmi, President of the Emirates Badminton Federation. And Nasser Aman Al Rahma, Assistant Secretary General of the Dubai Sports Council, and members of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Badminton Federation.
Musa Nashed, Secretary General of the Asian Badminton Federation, Dr. Satya Menon, CEO of Blue Ocean Corporation Group, and Indian BV Sindhu, world champion in badminton, ranked 6th in the world, silver medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics and bronze medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
17 teams will participate in the tournament, which is being hosted by the UAE for the first time, and China will win the 2019 edition, Japan will be runners-up, and both will be at the top of the tournament classification, then Indonesia will come third and Malaysia will come fourth. Uber, and other world leagues.
The tournament will be held in the men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles and mixed doubles competitions, and it starts with the preliminary round in a one-round tournament, then the knockout stage until the final.
Saeed Hareb, Secretary General of the Dubai Sports Council, confirmed that the Badminton Federation is on the cusp of a new phase of development and prosperity, and said: “We are proud to cooperate with the Asian and UAE Badminton Federations to host this great continental event in which 17 Asian countries, including the world’s strongest countries, participate. This Olympic sport, and this tournament comes as an extension of the world championships for badminton, which Dubai was the first to host, as 4 world championships were held in the Hamdan Sports Complex, which were the finals of the world championships that were held for four consecutive years.
He added: «Badminton receives great attention in the country in general, and in Dubai in particular because it is an Olympic sport, and international players have taken it as their headquarters to prepare for the Olympics through training in our sports facilities designed according to the latest international specifications, most notably the Danish player Viktor Exelsen, who trained in Dubai and managed to win the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and we hope that this championship will inspire a number of young men and women in the country to practice and develop in it, leading to the honorable representation of the country in world championships and Olympic tournaments.
He continued: «Organizing the tournament in Expo City will increase the splendor of the competitions, and will inspire the competitors to present their best, and we support all efforts to spread this sport and provide means of success for its championships in cooperation with the Emirates Badminton Federation, which will contribute to enhancing the diversity that the Dubai Sports Council and event organizers are keen on. In order to provide an opportunity for sports fans and the public of different nationalities, which amount to more than 200 nationalities, to follow various sports tournaments.
Noura Al Jasmi, President of the Badminton Federation, confirmed that the event is being organized for the first time in Dubai, and the Dubai Expo headquarters was chosen because it is a global tourist destination. The Beyond Bountyress Organizer Inc.
