Para-Badminton gets a timely boost

Dubai: The hosting of the inaugural Fazza Dubai Para-Badminton International 2018 may eventually lead to the UAE bidding for the 2021 BWF World Para-Badminton Championships, according to a top development official based in the country.

Jaffer Ebrahim, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) appointed development manager has been overlooking the rise of badminton in the UAE since the past few years. The former Bahraini player has played a pivotal role in the shuttle sport gaining a huge following from the schools’ sector along with the nation hosting of the BWF World Super Series at the Hamdan Sports Complex for the past four years.

And now with Para-Badminton making an entry in this part of the world with Dubai playing host to this week’s Fazza Dubai Para-Badminton International 2018 at the Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club, Ebrahim sees the possibility of the UAE once again playing a crucial developmental role in the sport.

“Hosting the 2021 World Championships is already on our agenda,” Ebrahim told Gulf News on the sidelines of the competition that got under way on Thursday morning.

“With the hosting of an international event like the BWF World Super Series, Dubai has managed to inspire so many people, mostly youngsters in taking up Badminton. I don’t see any reason why we cannot have a similar thing happening with the Para-Badminton,” he added.

This week’s event sees a total of 122 players from 23 countries participating with the UAE represented by a group of four, including Salama Al Khatri in the women’s along with Rashid Mohammad, Humaid Fawzi and Sharjah boy Mohammad Al Zarouni. Matches in various categories are being held daily from 9am till 6pm at the Shabab Al Ahli Dubai indoor hall in Al Ghusais.

“An international tournament is possibly the best platform in the world for any player. It is here that the actual spread of the sport occurs,” Ebrahim noted.

“Not only will this event give our players the exposure, it will also help raise the profile of Para-Badminton making our job a bit easier. This is only the first time that we are hosting such a competition anywhere in the Middle East, and I am confident that this movement will spread in due course of time,” he confided.

Badminton was a demonstration sport at the 1972 Munich Olympics and the 1988 Seoul Games, and was introduced as an official sport at the 1992 Barcelona Games.

In October 2014, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced that Para-Badminton would be included in the programme for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games to be held from August 25 to September 6. The BWF has worked tirelessly, and within a few years, reached out to more than 45 member nations in a short time frame. “I am sure we will be in a position to inspire many more people, not just in the UAE but beyond as well,” Ebrahim noted.