The Yonex-Sunrise Badminton Asian Junior Championships 2006 due to be held from 3rd to 9th July have received an all-time record of 24 national entries. All four regions of the Asian Badminton Confederation have responded positively to the tournament which reigns as one of the more popular events in the ABC’s annual calendar.
To be held at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium, this year’s championships will introduce the Mixed Team event in preference to the Boys’ and Girls’ team events. Explaining this, Karen Koh, Chief Operating Officer of the ABC says, “In past years, we had the boys and girls team championship followed by the individual events. This year we have scrapped the team event for boys and girls and instead made it a mixed team event, in the same mould as that of the World Junior Championships. This should be an attractive package for most countries, particular for those that are traditionally weaker in the sport.”
The reason for this encouraging turnout for the Asian Junior may be attributed to the fact that most of those who will be at the Kuala Lumpur tournament will not be a proven face in the game, not yet at least. Though the traditionally strong nations of the sport - China, Indonesia, Korea and Malaysia will be at the Asian Junior in July, their presence is not expected to pour cold water on the aspirations of players from other countries.
Unlike the Open championships where highly ranked players participate leaving little room for the minnows any realistic chance of a podium finish, this event for Under-19 is a different cup of tea altogether, virtually every player from the long list of entries can strike gold.
“Thus countries like Iran, Jordan, Syria and Iraq from West Asia and Mongolia, North Korea and Bhutan from East Asia readily responded to our invitation to participate,” explains Karen. “They feel their youngsters have a fair chance of proving themselves and progressing past the initial rounds. Also they are not likely to be badly mauled and dispirited with the competition being pretty equal. With the rally-point scoring system in place, the odds of a white-wash just do not exist. Most countries see the Asian junior as an even playing field.”
The Confederation has confirmed that the draw for the tournament would be held at its secretariat on 28th June at 2.00pm.
The list of nations who have confirmed participation:
West Asia:
Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Syria
South Asia:
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan
South East Asia:
Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam
East Asia:
China, Korea, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, DPR Korea, Mongolia
Asian Junior Draws Released
The ABC secretariat had released the draw for the upcoming Badminton Asia Junior Championships 2006 from 3rd to 9th July at the Stadium Badminton Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The draw was done at 1400hrs (28th June) at the secretariat and witnessed by representative from IBF, Singapore BA and Malaysia BA.
There are 20 teams in the mixed team. 12 teams to be in the main draw & 8 teams for the qualifying rounds (where 4 will qualify for the main draw).
All five individual events will be played in the knock-out system.
Source:badmintonasia.org
To be held at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium, this year’s championships will introduce the Mixed Team event in preference to the Boys’ and Girls’ team events. Explaining this, Karen Koh, Chief Operating Officer of the ABC says, “In past years, we had the boys and girls team championship followed by the individual events. This year we have scrapped the team event for boys and girls and instead made it a mixed team event, in the same mould as that of the World Junior Championships. This should be an attractive package for most countries, particular for those that are traditionally weaker in the sport.”
The reason for this encouraging turnout for the Asian Junior may be attributed to the fact that most of those who will be at the Kuala Lumpur tournament will not be a proven face in the game, not yet at least. Though the traditionally strong nations of the sport - China, Indonesia, Korea and Malaysia will be at the Asian Junior in July, their presence is not expected to pour cold water on the aspirations of players from other countries.
Unlike the Open championships where highly ranked players participate leaving little room for the minnows any realistic chance of a podium finish, this event for Under-19 is a different cup of tea altogether, virtually every player from the long list of entries can strike gold.
“Thus countries like Iran, Jordan, Syria and Iraq from West Asia and Mongolia, North Korea and Bhutan from East Asia readily responded to our invitation to participate,” explains Karen. “They feel their youngsters have a fair chance of proving themselves and progressing past the initial rounds. Also they are not likely to be badly mauled and dispirited with the competition being pretty equal. With the rally-point scoring system in place, the odds of a white-wash just do not exist. Most countries see the Asian junior as an even playing field.”
The Confederation has confirmed that the draw for the tournament would be held at its secretariat on 28th June at 2.00pm.
The list of nations who have confirmed participation:
West Asia:
Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Syria
South Asia:
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan
South East Asia:
Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam
East Asia:
China, Korea, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, DPR Korea, Mongolia
Asian Junior Draws Released
The ABC secretariat had released the draw for the upcoming Badminton Asia Junior Championships 2006 from 3rd to 9th July at the Stadium Badminton Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The draw was done at 1400hrs (28th June) at the secretariat and witnessed by representative from IBF, Singapore BA and Malaysia BA.
There are 20 teams in the mixed team. 12 teams to be in the main draw & 8 teams for the qualifying rounds (where 4 will qualify for the main draw).
All five individual events will be played in the knock-out system.
Source:badmintonasia.org
