UAE Badminton Federation aims to qualify for 2028 Los Angeles Olympics

“Badminton is one of the most popular sports in Asia, with an 82% fan base. The Asian Championships will change the landscape of badminton in the UAE. Our aim is to bring clubs together for the exhibition that will take place in February and April momentum,” Al Jasmi said.

“Our vision is to inspire a generation to play badminton and produce Olympic, Paralympic and Special Olympics champions.”

With the UAE and Dubai emerging as world sports centres, the Asian Championships will add another touch to its splendid laurels with team events in February and individual events in April. Badminton, as a recreational sport, can be practiced to a professional level by almost everyone, it is very cost-effective, and it is a lot of fun to play.

Al Jasmi also highlighted a five-year plan involving all segments of society, which also includes attracting more nationals to the sport by hosting school championships for Emirati children and creating some opportunities for the expat community.

“With the full support of the government, our vision is to inspire a generation to play badminton and to produce Olympic, Paralympic and Special Olympics champions. Projects in the five-year plan focus on: Special Olympics, Shuttle Time, Women’s Games, Para Games and the UAE national team,” added Al Jasmi.

To achieve their goals, the UAE Badminton Federation held a workshop to discuss how to help the Federation and its stakeholders work together; to discuss the Federation’s services such as player engagement, coach development, etc.

The outcomes of the workshop will be further implemented in the organizational structure through a roadmap.

Management company Beyond Boundaries has signed a five-year deal with Badminton Asia to bring the Badminton Asia Championship (formerly the Badminton Asia Championship) to the UAE for the first time.

The tournament has been held in various cities every year since 1991, with the only breaks in 2020 and 2021 because of Covid-19. Several top players compete for individual and team titles in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) 1000 Championships with ranking points.

With the presence of 43 Asian countries, the Continental Federation recently signed a five-year agreement to bring the event to Dubai, Dr Sathya Menon, CEO of Beyond Boundaries, said that all countries participating in Malaysia’s AGM are very welcome. Excited to be in Dubai, it puts a huge responsibility on our shoulders.

Dr Sathya Menon said: “We have made a promise to provide Arabian hospitality in Dubai, but we have delivered on that promise, but there are many logistical challenges.”

According to Dr. Sathya Menon, badminton has a fan base of 785 million in Asia.

“So we are expecting a lot of fans to come to Dubai. Even if a small number of global fans come here, that would be a very large number. We are working closely with the federation, the Ministry of Education and the Dubai Sports Council to achieve great success, ‘ added Dr Sathya Menon.

Anton Subovo, Head of Badminton Asia, is delighted to host the event at the new venue. Manila hosted the 2022 tournament in April, with Malaysia’s Li Zijia and China’s Wang Zhiyi winning the men’s and women’s singles titles, while Indonesia’s Pramudya Kusumawardana and Yeremia Rambitan won the men’s doubles gold. Chinese players Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan won the women’s doubles title, while Chinese pair Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong won the mixed doubles gold.

“Badminton is one of the most popular sports with unprecedented levels of engagement and fan base. It would be exciting to host the Asian Championships in a new venue.” The latest BWF men’s and women’s top rankings, according to records Twelve of the 15 were from Asia.