Aspiring young shuttlers from the state of Johor will be strutting their stuff once again in the 2023 Johor Close Badminton Championship, which gets underway this week at DBC Sport Arena, Pontian, Johor.
The 11th edition of the 2023 Johor Close Badminton Championship which is scheduled to take place from the 5th – 8th of January is all set to be a battleground for more than 600 badminton players across the nation partaking in five categories, namely in the Under 21, Under 16, Under 14, Under 12 and Under 10 categories.
President of Johor Badminton Association (JBA), Mat Rasid Jahlil, clearly manifests that the 2023 Johor Close Badminton Championship will mainly involve players below the age of 21 as the aim of the championship is to select players to represent the state of Johor in a national level competition as well as nurturing them for the next few editions of the Malaysian Games (SUKMA).
“The objective of this championship is to gather as many players as possible in the state of Johor for them to play competitively. This tournament is also a platform for us to evaluate and select players to represent the state of Johor at the national level.”
“Besides that, this is also one of the preparations for the association to assemble a group of players who have the potential to represent Johor at the Malaysian Games (SUKMA) as the participants are still young; therefore, there is an opportunity for them to participate in the games later.”
“JBA would also like to take this opportunity to thank Ampang Jaya Badminton Club for generously sponsoring a total cash prize of RM10,000 for this year’s edition and further agreed to select the rising talents through this competition with an aim to mould the talented group of players at their club,” he added.
Dania Sofea who stole the spotlight in the previous edition by clinching the Under 16 Girl’s singles title is determined to replicate her triumphant feat by competing and clinching the Under 18 Girl’s singles title in this year’s edition.
The badminton prodigy who recently excelled in the 2022 Asian Junior Championship in Bangkok said, “A top tournament like this is indeed a perfect platform for me and other young players to compete competitively every year in preparation to represent Johor at the national level.”
Meanwhile, the rejuvenated elite shuttler Ariffin Nazri Mohd Zakaria aims to make up for the defeat which he encountered last year by clinching this edition’s Under 21 singles category.
“Upon winning the national Under 18 championship in August 2022, I’m determined to improve my game in every tournament which I’m going to undertake,” said the enthusiastic shuttler who recently competed and finished in the Round of 64 (U19 Men’s Singles) at the BWF World Junior Championship 2022 in Spain.
The 2023 Johor Close Badminton Championship also received support from the Johor State Sports Council, YOUNG-International, and DBC Sport Arena. The competition will take place from 5th to 8th January at DBC Sport Arena, Pontian, Johor.
