JOHOR BAHRU: Ariffin Nazri Mohd Zakaria and Dania Sofea Zaidi, who represented the country in two international tournaments last year, are among the more than 600 participants at the Johor Closed Badminton Championships 2023 which kicks off tomorrow.
Dania Sofea, who excelled at the Bangkok Asian Junior Championships 2022, will defend her title in the Under-16 (U-16) category, while Ariffin Nazri, who participated in the World Junior Championships in Spain last year, wants to make amends over his not so good outing in the last edition and will compete in the U-21 category.
Johor Badminton Association president Mat Rasid Jahlil said the tournament, which is also the first event in the state’s sports calendar this year, will be held until this Sunday at the DBC Sport Arena, Pontian, Johor.
With five categories being contested, namely U-21, U-16, U-14, U-12 and also U-10, he described the 11th edition of the tournament as important in Johor’s efforts to unearth more new talents in the sport.
“We want to add as many talented shuttlers from the state of Johor as possible and provide the best platform for them to perform competitively.
“This tournament also serves as a platform for us to evaluate and select players to represent Johor at the national level including the upcoming Malaysia Games (SUKMA),“ he said in a statement, here, today.
Mat Rasid said the tournament also received support from the Johor State Sports Council, YOUNG-International and DBC Sport Arena.-Bernama
