Ong (fifth right), Rodzli (fifth left) and others give the thumbs up for the circuit.
KUCHING: Sarawak Junior Badminton Circuit is set to take off this year.
It will be officially launched in April while the competition to commence in June, according to Sarawak Sports Corporation (SSC) statement.
The initial 2020 project consists of 16 tournaments which will run only during the weekends.
Targeted categories are U11, U13 and U15 and the circuit will give the children around the state the opportunity to enjoy the competition, socialising with each other and especially being independent on the court.
The whole idea of the competition is to create a tournament without any elimination.
Group matches are played in the earlier rounds and the players will proceed to a double knock-out system.
With such planning which is based on a “Learning by Playing” concept, the juniors will continuously play until the tournament ends.
SSC will be setting up a dedicated website, which includes the calendar with all the tournament information, and all the results/rankings are automatically updated.
Meanwhile, the SSC had a fruitful discussion with representatives from the state’s badminton fraternity regarding the circuit, including grass roots development in a meeting on Wednesday.
The meeting, which took place at the Pandelela Rinong Aquatic Centre, was chaired by SSC chief executive officer Dr Ong Kong Swee and assisted by SSC sports development division manager Ahmad Rodzli Hashim.
More than 10 people attended the meeting, including those from Miri via web conference.
Among those present were SSC coach Ngu Siew Siong, Johnny Ng (Kuching Badminton Association), Yong King Sung (Sibu Badminton Association), Jeremy Ting and Nathan Sim (Miri Badminton Association), Zaim Gary (Limbang Badminton Association), Nakhla Brahim (Persatuan Badminton Bumiputra Sarawak), Dominic Lim (Pacific Badminton Management) and Nava (Hornbill Sports Club).