BAM FINALLY HAVE A PLACE TO CALL HOME
KUALA LUMPUR: It pays to become a national champion now.
The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) have announced an increase in prize money for the National Badminton Championships, to be held at the Sri Perdana Hall in Ulu Kinta, Perak, from Feb 19-25.
The total prize money has been raised from RM182,000 last year to RM270,000 this year.
The men and women’s singles champions will take home RM6,000 extra this year, with the man getting RM20,000 and woman RM14,000.
The men’s doubles champion will now take home RM30,000 instead of RM22,000.
The women’s doubles and mixed doubles winners will pocket RM20,000 respectively – an increase by RM9,000.
“This is the biggest payout for our national championships. We pay more for men’s singles because they have more entries,” said BAM president Tan Sri Mohd Al-Amin Abdul Majid during a press conference at Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara.
“We have 113 entries in the men’s singles but only 32 in the women’s singles. Overall, we will have 269 players battling it out for the local titles.”
The format for the tournament has also been changed to give more Malaysians a chance to play against the national players, with entries open to players aged 15 and above.
The tournament has also been divided into two parts.
The first two days will see the state and junior players battling it out in the qualifying round.
The top 16 qualifiers will then go into the main draw where they will face off with the top 16 players, who will be chosen based on their world ranking.
Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin and Goh Jin Wei are the top seeds in the men’s and women’s singles events.
Men’s doubles Olympic silver medallists Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong will be split up. V Shem will partner Teo Ee Yi and Wee Kiong will pair up with Ong Yew Sin.
Vivian Hoo-Woon Khe Wei are the top seeds in women’s doubles while Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing have been given top billing in mixed doubles.