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- Uggah (seated centre) and Padum members during the opening ceremony on Saturday.
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- Cooplay (seated centre) with Churchill (seated right) and Patrick (seated left) with members of the technical team and some of the players.
KUCHING: Pebadas (Persatuan Badminton Dayak Sarawak) contingent won the YB Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas Challenge Trophy in a Dayak Closed Badminton Tournament organised by Persatuan Dayak Universiti Malaya (Padum) here yesterday.
Pebadas had two teams while Sarawak Dayak National Union (SDNU) sent the biggest contingent of five teams.
The final match held at the Champion Hall, Mile 11 Jalan Kuching-Serian saw Pebadas 1 beat SDNU B 2-0 with victories in the singles and veterans doubles. The open doubles was not played as the match was already decided.
The champion and runner-up took home cash prizes of RM2,000 and RM1,000. Joint third, Tiang Laju based in Sri Aman and Pebadas 2, took home RM500 each.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas declared open the tournament on Saturday while the closing ceremony was officiated by Padum chairman Cooplay Nyipa Aji.
In their speeches, the two leaders noted that lack of Dayak players in the Sarawak Sukma badminton team.
Cooplay’s suggested that local tournaments organised by Dayak-based NGOs and associations such as SDNU and Padum include youth categories.
“This is to attract the young to join in and also a platform for the Dayak community and talent scouts to unearth budding badminton champions for the future, particularly at Sukma” he said.
The suggestion was also shared by SDNU vice president-cum-Youth chief Churchill Edward Drem who was present at the closing ceremony with joint organising coordinators Patrick Betok, Anthony Ugor Nili and Petrus Ngalih Tingi.