Dubai Club Championships attract badminton’s finest

Sport360 staff 20:45 04/08/2015
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  • Badminton has been one of the most popular sports at Dubai Sports World.

    The badminton courts at Dubai Sports World have been a hive of activity every day throughout the summer, but the action stepped up a notch on Friday as over 120 of the best players in Dubai fought it out for honours in the first round of the Shuttle Time Dubai Club Championships.

    Players representing 12 clubs and academies across Dubai will compete over the next four weeks to take the first Shuttle Time Dubai Club Championships title.

    Round 1 saw some fantastic competition as players of all ages faced off in in five categories: Men’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles, Boy’s/Women’s Doubles and Masters Doubles (40 and above).

    Professional Sports Academy and Team Victor emerged as the early leaders in Group A, taking 5-0 victories over Friday Smashers B and Shuttle Hawks respectively. In Group B Badmintown recorded a 5-0 win over Captain Badminton Club.

    Other results in Group A saw India Club win 4-1 over Jpark Shuttlers, and Shuttle Shooters took a 3-2 win over Friday Smashers A.  In Group B Badeemonz defeated Arab Badminton Club 4-1.

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    Dubai Badminton Development Manager Jaffer Ebrahim was delighted with the response and turnout for the first ever Club Championships, saying, “It is great to see players from all across Dubai come together for these Championships. Badminton is making great strides in Dubai, and bringing together all the individual clubs and academies is another important step in the development of the sport here.

    "Badminton is truly a sport for all – our youngest player here today is 11 years old, and our oldest is 59. From what we have seen today, the competition over the next three weeks will be very tough indeed.”

    Shuttle Time Dubai is an innovative, engaging and inclusive development program which aims to encourage participation in badminton across the community.

    In addition to the Club Championships, Shuttle Time is being implemented through a range of programs and activities including teacher training and coaching development programs; Schools Championships and the provision of free courts at Dubai Sports World.

    The Shuttle Time Dubai program is being implemented as part of the arrangement between the BWF and Dubai Sports Council, the pinnacle of which is the hosting of the Dubai World Superseries Finals in Dubai each December from 2014-2017.

    With the grassroots program flourishing in Dubai, interest in the season-ending Dubai World Superseries Finals is building as the world’s best players race to qualify for one of the most prestigious titles on the badminton calendar.

    Only the top eight ranked players in each category will qualify to battle it out for their share of the US$1million prize pool, and after a thrilling event last year, this year’s World Superseries Finals from 9-13 December at the Hamdan Sports Complex promises to be even more exciting with qualification points for the 2016 Olympic Games also on the line.

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