Muscat: Competition is heating up at the underway Oman Club Badminton Championship which is entering the final rounds on Saturday.
The three days event which started on Thursday under organisation and supervision of the Oman Racket Sports Committee (ORSC) will conclude on Saturday by closing ceremony which will feature holding of final match of the senior doubles category beside delivering the awards to the winners and all contributors, sponsors, referees, and administrators at the AMM Sports Arena in Ghala. The concluding ceremony will be under auspices of Abdullah bin Khamis al Kindi, member of the State Council, in presence of Dr Abdulrahim bin Musallam al Droushi, Chairman of ORSC, dignitaries and officials from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth.
The preliminary rounds of the inaugural edition of Oman Club Badminton Championship registered thrilling competitions as the players from 12 clubs representing five governorates including: Al Amerat, Al Kamil Wal Wafi, Bausher, Oman, Seeb, Al Shabab, Sohar, Majees, Salalah, Masirah, Qurayat and Ibri clubs. The competition included 31 players in the general singles category, divided into eight groups. In the general doubles category, 19 teams are divided into four groups while 17 players took part in the under 15 years category and divided into four groups.
HIGH CLASS EVENT
The head coach of Ibri club, Hilal al Maqrashi, voiced confidence that the ORSC have great calendars for this year which include significant domestic events that will have an intense competition. “These tournaments will contribute positively to enhance and spread the game at the local level and strengthen its international standing,” he said.
Oman Club player Akram Yousef Hajji affirmed that the first edition of the Oman Club Badminton Championship is being organised as per high class standard event. “The tournament is exceptional as it is being held for the first time in Oman. It has encouraged many professional and domestic players to compete and develop their experience that could help them to grow properly in this sport in the near future."
Seeb player Mahdi al Lawati said: "Special thanks to ORSC for their hard work in organising this opening edition of the championship. I am in this game since three years and there were no previous domestic championships. I am pleased with this event and looking forward to continuity and to have more similar events."
REFEREEING TEAM
Iran’s Seyed Omid Moghadaszadeh was appointed as general referee and assisted by Oman’s referee Ahmed al Mafraji accompanied with eight referees including four from Oman namely Hamed al Harassi, Sheikhan al Abri, Haitham al Shibli and Mohammed al Wardi besides 12 line umpires.
Ahmed al Mafraji said, "This championship is very promising with the participation of many top players from various age groups. The event will help to boost the game more widely across all governorates. We observed outstanding performances from players during the first two days of the tournament and looking forward for the finals in the concluding day.”
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