Badminton tourney to see 20 teams

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KUCHING: Twenty teams will vie for the SDNU President Cup 2017 badminton tournament slated for Sept 22 and 23 at Sentosa Sports Centre in Jalan Stakan here.

Sarawak Dayak National Union (SDNU) will be represented by Belia SDNU, SDNU Samarahan A, SDNU Samarahan B, SDNU Cawangan Kuching, SDNU Simanggang 1 and SDNU Simanggang 2.

Worthy rival, Persatuan Badminton Dayak Sarawak (Pebadas) will be sending four teams: Pebadas 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Other teams are Pasukan Sejalai, Pasukan SIBAU, Pasukan Seraban, My BC Sibu, Madu Boyz A, Madu Boyz B, Pasukan Rhino, Lang Beuh A, Lang Beuh B and Pasukan SRSBC.

A meeting cum draw session for team managers and captains will be held at Penview Hotel in Jalan Pending here at 2.30pm tomorrow (Sept 21).

On Sept 22, matches start at 8.30am followed by an opening ceremony at the Sentosa Sports Centre at 11am to be officiated at by SDNU treasurer-general Christopher Gira Sambang who is Tamin assemblyman.

The closing ceremony including dinner for officials, participants and their friends, and prize-giving programme will be held at The Rooftop of Penview Hotel starting at 7pm on Sept 23. Event patron is SDNU president Tan Sri William Mawan who is Saratok MP.

SDNU Youth chairman Churchill Edward said the union is thankful to participants showing interest in the tourney despite the entry fee of RM300 per team – a sign that badminton is still the most popular sport among Dayaks.

Though the tourney is for SDNU members, the technical committee members and umpires come from various races, showing that racial harmony and unity are intact in Sarawak, he pointed out.

“The tournament offers reasonably good cash prizes apart from entertainment and platform for social interaction. I invite talent scouts to watch some of the matches as they feature several young Sarawakians of potential for the state,” he said.