Badminton Goes For Bronze
The Botswana Badminton Association (BBA) is targeting a bronze medal at the All Africa Under-19 Junior Championships. BBA has sent a four-member team to the tournament held in Cotonou, Benin from August 22 to September 1, 2021.
The local junior team will be making a return to the continental scene after more than half a decade.
The team has rather less podium place ambitions as the BBA says the tournament will be used to as a yard stick to prepare the country’s junior players for the future international tournaments.
“This is the first time the particular set of players play at a major competition so our biggest accomplishment from them competing on a platform of this magnitude would be for them to get exposed to a higher calibre of badminton.
We are however hopeful and optimistic to at least come home with a bronze (medal),” BBA’s public relations officer, Modisaotsile Badubi told Sport Monitor. The quartet of local youngsters is also to gain its first international rankings.
The country’s highest ever junior ranking was in 2014 during the Africa Youth Games where Botswana was ranked fourth in Africa. At the time, the local team brought home two bronze medals from the tournament.
Badubi said it is vital for the juniors to gain better rankings at this year’s championship as it would increase the athletes’ chances of participating in more international tournaments.
“The benefit of these rankings is that they allow our players to qualify for major international competitions.
We had one of our junior players being awarded a wild card qualification at the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China because of our rankings at the time. Players who participate at this even will accumulate team and individual points to help increase the said rankings,” he said.
The team left yesterday (Sunday) under the tutelage of head coach Muniovandu Kandjou. Pakarae Marenga (Rainbow School) and Oreemetse Sedietso (Matsha College) make up the men’s team while the women’s team is made up of Kesego Hamo (University of Botswana) and Kelebogile Mongunda (unattached).