Badminton takes flight with first Shuttle Time Dubai Schools Championships

Sport360 staff 15:28 22/04/2015
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  • Shuttle Time Dubai Schools Championships Participants with Mascot.

    Nearly 200 young badminton players made sporting history last weekend when the preliminary stage of the first Shuttle Time Dubai Schools Championships was held at the Salah Addin Sports Hall, Al Mamzar.

    – Saina Nehwal launch Dubai Schools Championships

    And for six talented teams, the best is yet to come as they have won their way through to the Championship Finals on 29 April, where they will also meet world number one Saina Nehwal of India.

    Students from 14 schools competed in the Boys’ Championships in three age divisions – under 13, under 15 and under 17, while a further 30 boys from 6 schools participated in the Emirati Challenge which ran concurrently.

    The six winning boys’ teams and the Emirati Challenge winners will be joined in the Championship Finals by the winners of the Girls’ Championships, which will be held on Saturday 25 April.

    Participants in the Schools Championships will not only get the chance to meet Nehwal, but also win tickets to December’s Dubai World Superseries Finals, coaching clinics with former world number one Peter Gade, as well as badminton kits.

    Nehwal made history earlier this month when she became the first Indian player to take the top spot in the world rankings and was the first Indian to win the Yonex-Sunrise India Open.

    Schools Championships will be held at the Sports Zone.

    While attending the Schools Championships in Dubai, Nehwal will also take part in a coaching clinic with the participating students, as well as signing autographs in a session open to the public from 12.30-1pm.

    The Schools Championships will be held at the Sports Zone, Fitness First, The Meadows from 9am – 1pm on Wednesday 29 April.

    Nehwal will also tour a number of the world class sporting venues in Dubai, and meet local dignitaries during her visit.

    The competition was organized in conjunction with the Dubai Sports Council, and is part of the ongoing Shuttle Time Dubai grassroots development program which is aimed at increasing participation in badminton.

    Shuttle Time Dubai is part of Dubai’s four-year, multi-platform partnership with the Badminton World Federation (BWF), facilitated by Falcon and Associates, the pinnacle of which is the staging of the annual Dubai World Superseries Finals, the first of which was held last December, which will be held in the city each year until 2017.

    This tournament will be the first of two, the second will be held in October/November 2015.

    Participants in both tournaments will also enter the Shuttle Time Dubai Schools Rankings, and the top ranked players will be invited to compete in a season ending finale at the Hamdan Sports Complex at the time of the Dubai World Superseries Finals on 9-13 December 2015.

    Players who qualify for the finale will also receive coaching from former world number one Peter Gade.

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