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Rising star Adnan Ebrahim will lead Bahrain’s charge in the upcoming All Seasons GCC Junior Open Badminton Tournament for children at the newly-opened New Millennium School (NMS) DPS Kingdom Hall in Zinj, writes Gopal Nambiar.
More than 100 players from the GCC are expected to participate in the day-long event being conducted by the Bahrain International Badminton Academy (BIBA) in association with NMS on Friday.
Adnan, 15, was the runner-up in the boys doubles partnering Syrian Mahmood Aram at the Badminton World Federation-sanctioned Bahrain International Junior Series which was held at the Khalifa Sports City in Isa Town last December.
A Grade 10 student at the Bahrain Vocational School in Isa Town, Adnan is following in the footsteps of his illustrious uncle, Bahrain’s national badminton champion Jaffer Ebrahim, and is yearning for more international glory.
Ebrahim expects his nephew to put on a good show at the tournament even though some of his opponents will be very tough.
Ebrahim, who is also the Bahrain Badminton and Squash Federation development manager, said: “Adnan also played in the Bahrain International Series and Bahrain International Challenge tournaments held at the Indian Club and the Bahrain Keraleeya Samajam, respectively, in October-November last year. But since it was an open tournament he had to take on opponents who were much older to him. Nevertheless, it gave him much-needed match experience.”
Heri Setiawan, who is his coach as well as the national team coach, sees a bright future for this promising player.
Tournament director Ashley George said: “Bahrain has the highest number of entries with more than 50 signing up, while there are 27 entries from Kuwait, 15 from Qatar and 10 from Saudi. Unfortunately, no one is coming from the UAE as they have a local tournament at the same time.
“We request all badminton lovers to come in big numbers and encourage the youngsters to display their talent.”
The tournament will be held in the following five age categories for boys and girls in both singles and doubles: Under 11, Under 13, Under 15, Under 17 and Under 19.
Players can take part in only one category in singles and one category in doubles, either their own age category or a higher one.
Trophies will be awarded to all winners and runners-up.
Matches will start in the morning on Friday and are expected to be completed by 8pm, followed by a presentation ceremony.
For more details, contact George on +973-3650013 or Ebrahim on +973-33007600.
The title sponsor for the event is the All Season Group.
