DSC announces badminton tournament for women

DUBAI: The Women’s Sports Committee of Dubai Sports Council (DSC) has announced a badminton tournament for ladies, which will take place at Dubai Sports World, Dubai World Trade Centre, on Sept. 19 and 26.

The Women’s Shuttle Time Championship will feature Emirati and expat shuttlers competing in separate categories with draws of 32 each.

Registration for the tournament is open now, through Dubai Sports Council’ official website (Women’s Badminton Championship 2020), and it will close at 32 players in each category. The tournament will bring the curtains down on the Women’s Shuttle Time Programme, which started early August and has helped attract and train a number of Emirati and expatriate ladies in the sport.

“The Women’s Shuttle Time Championship is a culmination of the Women’s Shuttle Time Programme that was launched by the Council to train women in badminton, which has become one of the most popular sports in Dubai with a growing number of practitioners of different nationalities,” said Fouzeya Faridoon, Manager of Dubai Sports Council’s Women’s Sports Development section as well as the Women’s Sports Committee.

“The aim of this tournament is to give participants of the Programme an opportunity to test their skills in a competitive atmosphere and, at the same time, motivate and encourage, and support them as they continue their development programme.”

Faridoon added: “The Dubai Sports Council is always keen to support and develop women’s sports by organising tournaments, training courses and workshops. Indeed, we have been able to achieve a lot of success in this field and the number of women practicing sports keeps increasing.

“A number of government and private institutions now have a women’s sports team in their organisation with professional trainers, and you can see them participating in all the different tournaments organised or supported by the Council.”

Meanwhile, the badminton men’s single semi-final of Dubai Sports Community Club’s Tournament will be a celebration of Dubai’s rich cultural and ethnic diversity with four players from four different nations flying their country’s flag.

The last-four bookings will see China’s Che Liang take on Pakistan’s Munzar Abdul Rahman in the first semis on Friday, September 11, while India’s Sachin Seth will meet Syria’s Mahmoud Taifour for the second spot in the final. Seth made it the last four with a thrilling 15-11, 11-15, 15-6 win over China’s Zhou Wei on Friday, the opening day of the tournament at Dubai Sports World, Dubai World Trade Centre.

Taifour, meanwhile, made the grade defeating Nepal’s Sahil Chand 15-6, 15-5, while Abdul Rehman subdued Indonesia’s Chairul Rijal Hafidz 15-4, 15-4, and Che Liang prevailed 15-13, 15-13 over India’s James Varghese.

In the women’s single, 17-year old Tanisha Crasto – India’s top-ranked junior doubles player who has represented the country at the World Junior Badminton Championships – will open her campaign on Friday against UAE’s Bushra Mohammed Najjar. If she wins that match, Crasto will take on China’s Diana Wu, who defeated Yoshita Meher Ahmed of Sri Lanka 15-0, 15-2 in her opening match.