Badminton In The Maldives

[Oldhand]

Elsewhere, I posted that, in the Maldives, the locals don't play badminton.
How wrong I was :o

I should have made it clear that the locals don't play badminton 'in the resorts'... and that's only because the few courts they have are reserved for the guests.

The Maldives has a small but active badminton community. This is centred on Male (maa-lay) - the capital island. There are no resorts on this island - and the resident population is almost fully Maldivian.

The happening place is the Male Indoor Stadium - a large hangar-type structure that, on one side, serves as offices for the various sports associations and, on the other side, is partitioned to allow a basketball court and four badminton courts.

To play here, you need to sign up for an annual membership.
This costs two photographs (keep them handy) and MVR 650 (USD 51).
This gets you a laminated photo-identity card but, well, it takes a few days.
(Life in the Maldives is slow-paced... and such delays are normal).
Meanwhile, you can gain entry by flashing your receipt at the gates.

Remember to bring (or buy) shuttles and your choice of drink.
There are no vending machines around - and you'd have to walk some distance to get soft drinks or bottled water.
The locals use 77 speed RSL shuttles - they are cheap and bad.
It's very difficult to persuade them to use Yonex or ProAce or other brands.
Just remember to hit your clears more gently - else, it's out every time!

The national team trains here (they are now away at the ABC) and all the ex-national players who haven't yet migrated elsewhere play here in the evenings (except on Friday, which is the weekly holiday). A few of them are very very good - fast, sharp and powerful - and Moosa, their best player, is quite an exceptional player.

Around a dozen women too turn up regularly - although they usually play among themselves, a few are good enough to play a good game of mixed doubles.

The Maldives has now in place a programme that aims to build quality teams in football, basketball (yes, they do have quite a few very tall players) and badminton. In fact, they beat India in the South Asian Federation Games recently. (Although Indian football is no big deal in global terms, it is big in the region.)

I've tried uploading some pictures... but, as with other things here, internet speeds are woefully low :(

[jamesd20]

Sounds like Will be a good place to take the family when they want a holiday away from it all.............(except the badminton for us of course!!!)

[Oldhand]

A few pictures:
(I had to go to the local telco HQ to be able to upload pictures :()

[Oldhand]

A few more (this is slow work) :o

[Oldhand]

Two more pictures:

[Oldhand]

And, yes, there's also the local association which is trying to shore up the national team :)

[drifit]

many thanks to Oldhand for the effort of bringing us photos in Maldives.
i still remember that we have BC member in Maldives. dont know what happened next.....:confused: maybe we should ask Oldhand to scout him out?? :D

[Oldhand]

many thanks to Oldhand for the effort of bringing us photos in Maldives.
i still remember that we have BC member in Maldives. dont know what happened next.....:confused: maybe we should ask Oldhand to scout him out?? :D

Um, what makes you so sure that it's a 'he'? :p

Although the badminton community is small here, I couldn't find that member.
kwun too had told me about a member from the Maldives... but, at least for the moment, he/she remains elusive

I'll give it another try tomorrow as I'm here until Friday :)

[drifit]

Um, what makes you so sure that it's a 'he'? :p

Although the badminton community is small here, I couldn't find that member.
kwun too had told me about a member from the Maldives... but, at least for the moment, he/she remains elusive

I'll give it another try tomorrow as I'm here until Friday :)
just an assumption......:D
if the member is a she. i am wondering now whether the limit is till Friday...:p

[george@chongwei]

oldhand, u went to Maldives?:eek::eek:
actually maldives is a very beautiful country IMO.

[malayali]

Very nice pictures. It is always nice to see badminton gyms from around the world.
Thanks Oldhand

[Oldhand]

Well, not everything is indoors :p

[jamesd20]

Is that a picture of your yacht and crew members in the background?:)

[malayali]

Wow, now thats a good vacation destination!!!!

Well, not everything is indoors :p

[Oldhand]

Is that a picture of your yacht and crew members in the background?:)

Actually, that's just one of my yachts :p

Um, I have more pictures here (http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58059)
Please remember to conceal your envy :D

oldhand, u went to Maldives?:eek::eek:
actually maldives is a very beautiful country IMO.

Well, Malaysia is far more beautiful :)


Wow, now thats a good vacation destination!!!!

Yes, if you have the money.
The place is damn expensive :(

[drifit]

Well, Malaysia is far more beautiful :)



Yes, if you have the money.
The place is damn expensive :(
M'sia is more beautiful??
heheehhehehhe...........:p

expensive? not used to USD??
you spend too much in SGD, suddenly, all the pricing is USD ....... :D

[ctjcad]

...pretty soon and hopefully in the near future, they'll occupy all of the hangar space for badminton..:cool:...Btw, you did tell them about BC, didn't you??..:confused::)
*thanks for sharing the pics, too..

[Oldhand]

...pretty soon and hopefully in the near future, they'll occupy all of the hangar space for badminton..:cool:...Btw, you did tell them about BC, didn't you??..:confused::)
*thanks for sharing the pics, too..
Yes, the General Secretary of the Badminton Association of the Maldives (another BAM) is a BC member.

He is also a wonderful player - an ex-national who played in the international circuit in the late 1990s :)

[Oldhand]

All England Open 2003 winner Muhamed Hafiz Hashim of Malaysia with Ali Naseer Abdulla, General Secretary of the Badminton Association of the Maldives (BAM).

This picture was taken at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games (when, Ali says, they were changing shirts) :)

[Oldhand]

The Maldivian National Badminton Squad with President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (and other officials) after winning the Team Silver at the Indian Ocean Island Games 1993.

Among those standing at the back, the first seven men in blue jackets are from the badminton team - (from left) Hassan Riyaz, Francis Chia (Malaysian Coach), Ali Naseer Abdulla, Mohamed Sharath, Abdulla Shakeeb, Ali Amir (Manager & the new President of BAM) and Moosa Nashid (Captain) :)

(The three remaining men in blue are from the national windsurfing team.)

[Oldhand]

If you are planning a visit to the Maldives and will be packing a racquet, here's who to look for:

Ali Naseer Abdulla
General Secretary
Badminton Association of Maldives
1st Floor, Male' Sports Complex
Maafaiy Thakurufaanu Magu
Male', The Maldives

Tel +960 331 4057
Fax +960 331 7896

[bhope]

I use to go to Sun Island, Maldives almost every year in the end of November. They have very nice gym for badminton there. If you come alone you can always find someone else to play with since there are almost 500 guests on the island. There is also option to hire local partner. The island is 1 km long and 300 m wide but still has all the facilities for various sports. Exellent place for vacations.

[Oldhand]

I use to go to Sun Island, Maldives almost every year in the end of November. They have very nice gym for badminton there. If you come alone you can always find someone else to play with since there are almost 500 guests on the island. There is also option to hire local partner. The island is 1 km long and 300 m wide but still has all the facilities for various sports. Exellent place for vacations.
If you're referring to the Sun Island Resort, that's nearly 7km long.
Also, the guest list can go up to around 1,000 people.
You can rent a bicycle - the resort has several hundred of them - and it's about USD 3 for a day.

The resort has a full-fledged gym, a wide jogging/cycling path and separate facilities for badminton, tennis, table-tennis, basketball, wind-surfing, diving, snorkelling and beach volleyball.

There are two badminton courts... with wood flooring and rather poor lighting. A couple of dilapidated racquets and very brittle shuttles are also available.

During my stays there, I put up notices inviting people to join me for a game.
The only response was from a few Japanese tourists... and their skill level was abysmal, to say the least :(

The Paradise Island Resort has a great badminton court.
And a few of the staff, if time permits, can play a mean game ;)

Anyway, the best badminton in the Maldives is in Male', the capital.

[bhope]

If you're referring to the Sun Island Resort, that's nearly 7km long.
.
I am sure you are wrong. Here http://www.sun-island.com/ you can find a map of the island.
As for its length - look here http://www.holidaywatchdog.com/13594-South_Ari_Atoll-Sun_Island_Resort-Holiday-Review.html

It says 1.6 km long. In fact it is a bit shorter then that. Been there 5 times :)
I was always lucky to find partners there exept for one visit in May when I had to hire local chap as a partner. He was not excellent but still was pretty good to me. I am sure one can have better choise of partners in Male but Male is not as nice as Sun Island for other things:)

[Oldhand]

From the links you posted, it's clear we are referring to the same resort.
(I also recognise the resort's layout map, which is issued to every guest.)

To the best of my knowledge, this is one of the largest island resorts.
The parent atoll itself - Ari - is one of the longer ones in the Maldives.

Let me see if I can get clearer (and more accurate) information :)

[bhope]

You are correct. It is one of the biggest resort islands. Yet is it only 1.5 km long. Others are even smaller, sometime a lot smaller. A friend of mine who likes swimming use to swim around it as part of his every day routine.
We use to stay on the nothern tip of the island (room 101). Gym is indeed not well illuminated and there is no adequite ventilation either. Still nice to have two good quality badminton courts. That is one of several reasons I keep faithful to this particular 5 star resort.

[Oldhand]

You are correct. It is one of the biggest resort islands. Yet is it only 1.5 km long. Others are even smaller, sometime a lot smaller. A friend of mine who likes swimming use to swim around it as part of his every day routine.
We use to stay on the nothern tip of the island (room 101). Gym is indeed not well illuminated and there is no adequite ventilation either. Still nice to have two good quality badminton courts. That is one of several reasons I keep faithful to this particular 5 star resort.

You should try Paradise Island - it has a very nice court.
A few of the resident staff on Paradise Island can play quite well.

As this resort is quite close to Male' (the capital island), you could even go over in the evening and catch a few hard games at the Indoor Stadium :)

[coolTraveler]

if visiting Maldives don't forget to goto Ari Atoll, which is the largest atoll in Maldives. got nice resorts (http://www.ariatoll.com/Hotels.html) and specially south Ari Atoll area is great for a dive