Badminton hosts Africa�s second biggest tourney
Kabelo Boranabi | Friday November 24, 2017 12:28
The three-day tournament is the second biggest in Africa, as it carries an $8, 000 (approximately P80, 000) first prize money. The series is second to the Nigeria International where $10, 000 is up for grabs.
Speaking to Mmegi Sport yesterday, BBA public relations officer, Modisaotsile Badubi said it is part of a the three-stage tournament that will bring down this year’s curtain on the Badminton Confederation of Africa calendar. Other host countries of the stage are South Africa and Zambia.
The first stage is hosted in Botswana with the second moving to Zambia next week, while the final stage is in South Africa. Badubi said the tournament was awarded an International Series status hence the Badminton World Federation (BWF) assisted with the prize money making it the largest badminton tournament to be hosted in the country.
Badubi hopes the tournament will leave a lasting legacy, as it becomes the second global competition to be hosted in the country after the Netball Youth World Cup that took place in July. “It is evident with the location that we wanted the games to bring lasting legacy in the country. We decided to host the games outside Gaborone to reach the people in that part of the country.
We want the aspiring players to come and watch these games, as players of high quality will be playing. These youngsters could draw some inspiration from these players looking at the standard of play at a high level.
“We also want to build relations with countries that will be taking part in the tournament. We want to come with players, coaches and umpires exchanging programmes with these countries that will help enhance the skills of the locals,” he said.
The tournament has attracted players from across the world, with some coming as far as Iceland, Italy, Slovakia, Israel, Sri Lanka, Mexico and India, while the African continent is represented by the host, Botswana, Uganda, Zambia, Mauritius and South Africa.
The tournament has attracted 123 players with 65 representing Botswana. Bonolo Makubate and Tefo Kabomo are the medal hopefuls for the country. The locals will be looking to score points at the tournament in an effort to improve their world rankings as this is a BWF ranking tournament.