Dubai: UAE’s oldest badminton tournament will stage its 39th edition from May 9. India Club UAE Open Badminton tournament, backed by Global Hawk Imaging & Diagnostics LLC with two new categories and more participation, will be held every day from 7pm at the India Club badminton courts.
India Club held its first edition in 1978 and with every year the tournament has become more competitive with players registering for the tournament from different parts of the world. Announcing the tournament, Sunil Singh, the head of badminton organising committee, said: “We started a badminton tournament in a big way in UAE, others followed, and we are happy about it. International players have played in it and some of the top Indian players who have played in this event have acknowledged the excellent facilities we have here. We always strive to make the event better every year.”
The popularity of the event has resulted in huge sponsorship support. Dr. Nawab Shafi-ul-Mulk, the Managing Director of the Global Hawk Imaging & Diagnostics LLC, said: “We were approached to sponsor the event for another year but the popularity of this event has made us agree to back the event not only this year but next year too and achieve a hat-trick.”
Consolidated Shipping Group and Carrera Sunglasses are the co-sponsors.
Speaking about the new additions to the tournament, Dinesh Nair, who will oversee the conduct of the event, said: “Players competed in 26 categories last year but this year to encourage more youngsters to take part, we have included two more categories like doubles for boys’ under-16 and girls under-18. To encourage local talent we are not inviting any ranked players from India or other places. We want to develop and harness the local talent available.”
Irfan Izhar the sports secretary and Ketan Rele, the joint secretary of the India club along with Bharat Chachara, the General Manager of the India Club, have been making all the arrangements. Last year the event saw 600 participants and this year the organisers expect to break that record. Last year the event saw players from India, Pakistan, Philipines, Qatar, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, Bahrain, Malaysia and Singapore take part.
As a part of the Club’s CSR activity, special needs children from SNF Development Center, Dubai Autism Center and other center’s will take part in the tournament under a special pool. Blue color workers from various labour camps will also take part in the tournament. Last date for receiving entries is May 3 and for more details contact 04 – 3371112.
