MASTER SHUTTLER

ONE of the kingdom's brightest badminton stars Jaffar Ibrahim is urging for more investment to be made into his beloved sport.

The talented 22-year-old has just won the men's singles title in the GCC Open Badminton Tournament held at the Indian Club in Manama.

He took the tournament by storm by beating UAE player Mohammed Moin in straight sets 21-7, 23-21.

This is Ibrahim's first tournament victory of 2007 and also his first title in the regional tournament. "This is very special for me because I am finishing the year with a championship," said the jubilant Bahraini.

The 2007 GCC Open Badminton Tournament saw 29 of the Gulf's best players competing for the coveted title. Earlier in November 2007 Jaffar won two bronze medals in singles and doubles categories at the Arab Championships in Cairo.

The energetic young player has travelled to the Philippines, India, Jordan, Malaysia, Egypt, Iran, and Saudi Arabia to participate in various regional and international tournaments.

He picked up his first badminton racquet in 1997 at the tender age of 12. "My elder brother Ehsan played and participated in local tournaments and that is how I eventually developed an interest in the sport," he said.

Jaffar's two older brothers Ehsan and Asad are former national badminton team players. Now Jaffar and his younger brother Hamid represent Bahrain and have been in the national badminton team since 2000.

"I played with my brothers and other former national team players at various local clubs. From 1997 till 2001 I trained with the Syrian coach Rashad Khan. Then in 2007 Bahrain Badminton and Squash Federation (BBSF) employed Rashad again and I received coaching from him for a couple of months," he said.

Formal coaching bore fruit for Ibrahim as he has won tournaments but says that the key to continued success will be consistent support from the General Organisation for Youth and Sports (GOYS).

"Unfortunately BBSF does not appear to have the required budget for its players and does not even have its own private badminton court where we can train.

"BBSF tries to arrange coaching for us from time to time but it needs to be consistent.

"Since the last two months I've had no formal coaching as BBSF did not have the required funds to renew coach Rashad Khan's contract.

"We had a new federation a year and a half ago and things improved slightly but BBSF has limited resources and facilities."

Ibrahim hopes that the government and more importantly GOYS can pledge funds to invest in the sport and help him - and the kingdom's other bright players - bring more glory to Bahrain.

As a final year University of Bahrain student, Ibrahim is studying mechanical engineering.

He trains for three to four hours everyday and plans to participate in upcoming tournaments in Iran and Malaysia in the coming months.

He is keen on attending a badminton training camp in the summer of 2008 in Malaysia and hopes that his hard work and continued success in regional and international tournaments will bring badminton to the forefront in the kingdom.