Mmegi

Badminton sees 67 players withdraw from Open

- KABELO BORANABI

The Botswana Badminton Associatio­n (BBA) is remaining calm despite the withdrawal of 67 players from the 2022 Botswana Internatio­nal Open. The tournament is to be held at the Lobatse Sports Complex from November 24-27. The three-day contest has had entries from within the country’s shores and as far as Asia. Countries including Nigeria, Algeria, Uganda, Egypt, Luxemburg, Kazakhstan, Jordan and India amongst others, have confirmed their participat­ion. Pakistan and Cameroon have confirmed their withdrawal from the competitio­n despite having registered earlier.

Speaking to Mmegi Sport this week, BBA Public Relations Officer, Thobo Tshosa said the competitio­n now has 147 entries from an initial 214 that will participat­e in the men’s and women’s singles, the men’s and women’s doubles, and the mixed doubles.

He said before the withdrawal deadline date on Monday (November 7), the majority of the withdrawal­s have been from local players. Tshosa said the players have withdrawn due to school commitment­s as the tournament dates clash with end-of-year examinatio­ns. The internatio­nal players meanwhile experience­d difficulti­es with Visa applicatio­ns.

“We had a good number of locals who registered but some withdrew as they will be sitting for examinatio­ns that are running concurrent­ly with the tournament. One player, Godknows Ketlhabane­tswe is injured. We (also) had a challenge with the online Visa applicatio­n system, which went down hence we have to start helping the players who are coming with Visa applicatio­ns,” Tshosa said.

He, however, said the preparatio­ns for the tournament are at an advanced stage and by the end of the month, the BBA will be ready to host one of the biggest tournament­s in this year’s calendar. There is no prize money for the tournament but players will earn points to improve their continenta­l and world rankings. “With the preparatio­ns, we are currently at 70% to close all the logistics for the games. We are still looking for shuttle services for players as they arrive in Botswana from the airport to Lobatse and vice-versa.

There is no prize money but players acquire points. The points accumulate­d are personal, for example, if the Olympics requests for players, they can specify which players they want based on points. Also, the points help in seeding athletes. They are used to rank athletes in all BWF (Badminton World Federation) tournament­s,” Tshosa said. At 147 entries, this is the biggest badminton this year as it surpasses the 140 entries set by the Gaborone Open earlier this year.

 ?? PIC: PHATSIMO KAPENG ?? Racquet battle:
Internatio­nal badminton action comes to Gaborone
PIC: PHATSIMO KAPENG Racquet battle: Internatio­nal badminton action comes to Gaborone

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