Kudos to the SBA for organising the Cheers Badminton Age Group 2004 tournament stretching 2 weeks, from 14 to 27 June coinciding with the mid-year school holidays. And thanks too to the Cheers Group for spearheading the sponsors.This comes not too long after the inaugural Singapore Masters held in mid-March, also with Cheers as the main sponsors. This must be another 'first' for Singapore for I have not seen so many badminton enthusiasts numbering some 1,188 participants in all the six categories for both singles and doubles, male and female. Of course some participants may have entered for more than 1 category and in the process, there may be some walkovers. But still, this is an impressive figure and it certainly bodes well for Singapore Badminton. The categories include Boys' and Girls' Under 11, U-13, U-15 and U-17 for both singles and doubles and Men's and Women's Singles and Doubles Open. It seems that the Singles competition is more popular and the Boys' Under 15 received a record number of 119 entries followed by 92 entries for the U-13 and 83 entries for the U-17. In contrast, the Girls generally recorded a much lower participation rate with the Girls' U-15 leading with 51 entries, followed by 32 entries for the U-17 and 28 entries for U-13. The Girls U-11 had the lowest number with only 16 entries as against 59 entries for their boy counterparts. The Men's Singles Open received a respectable 64 entries but only 14 women were willing to take part. As for Doubles, again the Boys' U-15 led the way with 51 pairs whilst the best girls show came from the Girls' U-15 with 34 pairs. Both the Boys' and Girls' U-17 did not disappoint when they each recorded 40 pairs and 31 pairs respectively. But the most surprising turnout came from the Men's Doubles which registered 67 pairs in all as against 22 pairs from the Women. So among our young adults, including college students, army boys and those working, the game of badminton is alive and well in Singapore. And this large turnout will also enable badminton officials like the umpires, line judges, adminstrators, coaches, parents and friends, etc, to make their respective contributions either directly or indirectly as supporters. And I'm sure the sponsors will be overjoyed and this can only lead to a healthy badminton scene here! Cheers again to the SBA and all the participants and sponsors!!!
Yes I live in the West Coast as indicated in my profile. I suppose you are still a student and play lots of baddy? I only play about twice a week.
