MUSCAT: The Oman Racket Sports Committee (ORSC) is set to begin its inaugural edition of 2024 Oman Badminton Clubs Championship on Thursday. The three days event will take place at the AMM Arena in Bousher.
As many as 12 clubs representing five governorates across the Sultanate of Oman will take part in the championship including: Al Amerat, Al Kamil Wal Wafi, Bausher, Oman Club, Seeb, Al Shabab, Saham, Majees, Salalah, Masirah, Qurayat and Ibri. The five governorates represented by Muscat, North and South Al Batinah, Al Sharqiyah South and Dhofar.
Three main categories will feature in this edition of the national event namely: senior category with 30 players registered, 19 players in the double category and 17 players in the Under-15 category.
It is the first badminton event for the clubs at the men’s level as ORSC had organised the first edition of badminton tournaments for girls as part of the Women's Sports activities in October 2023 in collaboration with the Women's Sports Department at the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Youth.
The playing format of the tournament will start with group matches as preliminary rounds.
The men's singles and men's doubles competitions have been divided into groups based on player rankings with a round-robin and knockout system in place. The top 16 teams/players in each of these competitions will qualify for the knockout stage and reaching to the final match.
As for the Under-15 category, the same competition format will be applied but without player rankings as it is unavailable currently. Players finishing in the top four positions in each competition will receive cash prizes along with the championship trophy for the first-place winner in each category.
The international umpire, Seyed Omid Moghadaszadeh from Iran, was appointed as general referee of the tournament besides eight umpires including five Omani referees. The assistant general referee will be Ahmed al Mafaraji.
Dr Abdulrahim bin Musallam al Droushi, Chairman of ORSC, said that it is a great step to host the first edition of the Badminton Clubs Championship. “We are pleased with the number of the clubs who have registered in the tournament as they exceeded our expectations and this reflect the players' and their clubs' keen interest in expanding participation in individual sports. This aligns with our goals and the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Youth's strategy to support all sports, particularly individual ones."
"This championship holds great importance for us in developing the level of amateur players. We have opened the door for non-Omani professional players to participate in the men's doubles competition as this step will allow to make a difference in enhancing their levels. Additionally, it serves the purpose of scouting talents for our national teams from the participants in the under-15 category, as well as improving our expertise in hosting badminton events across all technical and administrative aspects," he added.
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