New steps help badminton grow in popularity in UAE

Dubai - Player and spectator interest at club championship a healthy sign for the sport locally.

The development of organised badminton in the UAE on a big scale was never attempted in the UAE till 2014 when the Badminton World Federation (BWF) with their worldwide Shuttle Time initiative began to sow the seeds in the latest nursery they have set up.
After the formation of Shuttle Time Dubai in January last year the talent scouting and other grassroot developmental programmes for the communities and schools have seen badminton grow in popularity at an appreciable rate.
The volunteers taken in, mostly passionate lovers of the game at the long time clubs and centres here, are now either certified officials or coaches after going through BWF approved courses and camps.
Shuttle Time Dubai is a case study for new aspirants who want to take up promotional activities right from scratch and the director for this part of the world, Jaffer Ebrahim has been working tirelessly for the past year and a half tuning up the already available talent and skill base apart from the main job of having to teach and groom youngsters of all ages.
"The latest in our group training projects was the second batch of coaches. Last week we got some 17 of the full time coaches here to come over to the Dubai Sports World initiative and be a part of Shuttle Time Dubai to get a formal BWF certification," Ebrahim, the current Bahrain national champion told Khaleej Times.
"The new ways to approach the profession were introduced to the men and women, all of whom have high performance records back in their countries. The skill level coaching programmes are in good hands in the country at the moment."
"The next good thing to happen is the volunteer development scheme where for all the tournaments in the UAE we have no problems in handling matters the professional way with computerisd draws and results sheets being available for anyone, anywhere in the world," he added.
"This club championships where well over 120 players take part on the six parallel courts, can be a huge task but the experienced gained by our volunteers and trained hands make sure we see through the event quite smoothly every weekend. The tournament software updates are done after every match which is of a high standard set for a club championships anywhere in the world."
Ebrahim continued: "The general classification into two categories A and B makes sure we have players of all levels taking part. It's not only the proficient club players that need to be looked after but also those who indulge in the sport for recreation and exercise as well."
This Friday, Arab Badminton Club who recovered from their first round loss to win convincingly in the second and third rounds of the Category B championships, take on the all-Filipino outfit Badeemonz in the title clash.
The same weekend action will also see the semifinals in category A where Professional Sports Academy, India Club, Team Victor and Shuttle Shooters will lock horns for places in the summit round scheduled for August 28. The semifinals and finals commence at 5pm on both Fridays and will go on till 9.30 pm-10 pm at the Dubai World Trade Centre hall where Dubai Sports World is located.
moni@khaleejtimes.com