MUSCAT: The competitions of West Asia Junior Badminton Championship are underway in Muscat at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher. In the opening day of the Under-17 category, Bahrain had a strong start as they defeated Iraq 5-0 while Syria secured an important 4-1 win against Saudi Arabia in the opener. The UAE managed to start with a 4-1 victory over Bahrain while Saudi Arabia beat Qatar by 4-1. Syria edged Jordan 3-2 in a well-fought match.
In the Under-15 preliminary rounds, the UAE team achieved a thrilling 3-2 victory over Iraq after a tense match while Syria dominated Bahrain with a 5-0 victory. In another game, Bahrain bounced back strongly to blank Saudi Arabia 5-0.
Speaking after the match, Waseem al Dhamad, Vice-President of the Syrian Badminton Federation and head coach of the Syrian team, praised the Syrian players for the triumph in the opening game in both categories. “I am very pleased with the team’s performance in both games in the earlier matches of the tournament. Despite the lack of some key players in the women's team, the new faces managed to deliver top game,” he said.
The third day's competitions of the West Asia Junior Badminton Championship in Muscat are underway at the main hall of Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher. Participating teams are working hard to secure their spots in the final rounds and advance to the later stages as they are aiming to compete for the top positions and win titles across various categories of the championship.
The preliminary rounds for singles, doubles and mixed doubles events in Under-15 and Under-17 age categories began on Monday and will run until Wednesday. The final rounds will commence on Thursday with the championship concluding on Saturday as the winners in all categories will be announced.
Yousef Mundher, coach of Jordan team, voiced confidence that his team is among the nominated teams for the title. “Jordan team is considered as one of the top teams in West Asian and Arab level. Our team managed to earn some titles in the previous edition particularly in the female categories where they are considered the strongest among the Arab teams,” he said.
“Organising such events and tournaments for this age group of players is very essential as the junior players need to build their future through attending in more tough tournaments to develop their skills and gain more technical expertise,” he added.
The tournament is being organised by the Oman Racket Sports Committee in collaboration with the Asia Badminton. The event featured participation of 58 players representing eight West Asian countries including Jordan, UAE, Bahrain, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Syria and hosts Sultanate of Oman. Competitions are being held in singles and doubles for Under-15 and Under-17 as well as mixed doubles.
Oman’s junior team comprises Shihab al Hinai, Faisal al Hinai, Abdulaziz al Hinai, Ziyad al Hinai, Hamed al Buraidi, Mohammed al Maqrashi, Sultan al Azri, Ahmed al Azri and Meral al Hosni. The national team is under supervision of the head coach Hamad al Maqbali.
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