KUALA LUMPUR: Allianz Malaysia Berhad is prepared to continue organising Allianz Junior Badminton Championship (AJBC) in the coming years in its mission to unearth new badminton talents from among the younger generation in the country.
Allianz Malaysia Berhad chief executive officer Sean Wang said this is after seeing the AJBC as a platform for the players to show their improving capabilties this year compared to the first edition held last year.
He said the free tournament will continued to be organised to find new talents and give young players the chance as they could not afford to join badminton championships.
“From the start, the tournament is to scout for talents, as such the tournament does not impose any fees.
“If possible, we would want the AJBC tournament to produce winners capable of donning the national jersey while the winners also receive cash prizes and grants for them to cover expenses to advance themselves,“ he told reporters at the AJBC finals at the Bukit Kiara Sports Complex here. today.
More than 2,600 players participated in the AJBC qualification round which was held at 10 locations throughout the country including Sabah and Sarawak since July with a total of 183 participants qualifying for the final round today.
Wang said the increase in participation in the tournament held in collaboration with the Malaysian School Sports Council (MSSM) and the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), showed youngsters have great interest in the sport.
The competition in four categories namely men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s singles and women’s doubles are contested in two age categories, under 13 years (U-13) and under 15 years (U-15).
Allianz Malaysia also allocated RM2,000 in special grants in addition to RM1,000 as cash prizes for the winners of each AJBC category.–Bernama
