KUCHING: The badminton competition of next year’s Sukma will be staged in Sibu.
Sarawak Badminton Association (SBA) secretary Abdul Hadi Abdul Kadir said the State government had decided to hold the badminton competition in Sibu as the new stadium there will be completed sometime this year.
“The seating capacity is 7,000 people which is bigger than the 5,000-people capacity of the Sarawak Indoor Stadium. But the dates for Sukma XIX have not been fixed yet and I am expecting to be held before Hari Raya,” he told reporters in a high tea press conference at Hills Shopping Mall yesterday.
The event was in appreciation of media personnel for their coverage of the recent Yonex Sunrise Malaysia Masters, a Grand Prix Gold event.
The media representatives were presented with letters of appreciation and souvenirs.
Hadi said SBA have also offered the Sibu Division Badminton Association the job of hosting this year’s Maybank International Challenge, with the proposal to rename the event to Maybank Sarawak International Challenge so that it can be held at any of the major towns in the state.
According to him, this event will also serve as a prelude to the 2016 Sukma in terms of preparations and hosting of the badminton competition.
“We are also planning to bring back the Sarawak Open, a national grand prix event that was last hosted here in 1992. Since Sabah are hosting the Sabah Open, why not we do the Sarawak Open as well?” he said.
That, he added, would provide the state shuttlers with a good chance for exposure at national level and help them prepare for Sukma.
Meanwhile, Hadi disclosed that SBA had a fruitful dialogue session with coaches and parents of players yesterday. It was decided that more such dialogue would be held on a regular basis.
“We welcome coaches and representatives from clubs and academies to join our sub-committees (development, training and tournament) and share their ideas and experience.”