Badminton U35 National Open: Super class experience on display

Ghana Badminton Association hosted its National Badminton Doubles U-35 tournament at the DG Hathramani Hall of the Accra Sports Stadium with all COVID-19 protocols strictly observed.

The 2021 National Badminton Doubles U-35 tournament is a Grade 5 Level ranking tournament that saw the best pairs of players playing in the Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles, and the Mixed Doubles Event.

The tournament was one of the selection trials for the 2021 Africa Badminton Championship and 2022 Commonwealth Games qualifiers, which began in February 2021 giving athletes critical national ranking points towards competitions.

The national young lad and lass no doubt positioned themselves with national pride for hours at the badminton Arena in Accra. The nation’s best and promising players were gathered during the event, and there was a superb atmosphere from the start right through to the end.

With national promising players taking part, spectators made the picture complete and showcased what Badminton can do in terms of exposure, performance, and event management. Together with newly accessed technical officials-it offered a ground for them to be accessed for their progression of being accredited-earning the record of work for their promotion towards the 2023 African Games to be hosted in Ghana.

In the Men’s Doubles Event, finally, Felix Amassah + Noah Ayim won against Samuel Lamptey+Aaron Tamakloe by 22-20, 20-22, 21-15 lasting almost 90 minutes of play. In the Women’s Doubles Event finals Prospera Nantuo+Rabiatu Ofoli won in a grand style up against Gloria Liu+Marcia Long-18-21, 21-9, 21-16; The Ghanaians female pair was a delight to watch with an amazing blaze of talent and brilliance.

The Open championship finals in Mixed Doubles Saw Ahmad Abdul-Samad+Gloria Liu defeating Kelvin Evans Alphous+Prospera Nantuo by 21-10 21-17; to win the Mixed Doubles event. In the end, Felix Amasah And Noah Ayim won the most decorated athlete pair distinguished award-based on performance, discipline, and athlete orientation. All participants received participation and winners’ certificate and tournament prizes.

Commenting on the success of the event, Yeboah, Evans President & Board Chair, Ghana Badminton highlighted the success of this event “amid COVID pandemic was important for the sport locally as it has invigorated our 2021-2024 High-Performance Plan targets and our 2021 Badminton in School’s Delivery Programme.”

“The National Open Grade 5 ranking level is our flagship doubles tournament for the year, and during this pandemic, it spoke volumes when companies like Ghana Gas, Ghana Investment Promotion Center and All Risk Consultancy had supported us to deliver this successful tournament with several networking meetings with these and other important partners of the national association. This showed confidence in our sport, allowing us to plan medium to long-term strategies to enhance other events during the year and promote badminton’s prominence as a thriving sports entertainment nationwide, including larger audiences for our athletes’ technical officials. The events media coverage was at its peak with high levels of service and quality live and delayed nationwide coverage during the tournament. The partnership with the Ghana Badminton was an opportunity to further strengthen the good relationships that already exist for some firms and to discover new and mutually beneficial opportunities for the future.”



Noting Badminton’s growing mass appeal, Mr Daniel Danso- Ghana Badminton Chair of Events and High-Performance Committee said: “We are focusing on building our team to its optimum and this tournament provided the right atmosphere for our exceeded expectations. Our spectators and volunteers also provided optimal service on all levels”

“In mid next month, our Veterans and U15 National Championship Series, which is the country’s most prestigious veterans and juniors’ championships following a successful rebounded of the championship since 1989. With aged (This is an individual championship with men’s and women’s singles and doubles and mixed doubles events.

The age categories are divided: +35, +40, +45, +50, +55, +60 +65, +70 and +75.) The winners of each category are awarded a medal and crowned National Veterans Champion in their age category. As the nation’s fastest-growing sport, our yearlong series of U15 competitions for boys’ and girls’ teams in multiple age brackets as teams earn their way from the top teams in their region to the regional championship juniors’ tournaments.

Annually, the National Championship Series provides the nation’s top school coaches with the premier stage to identify and scout the most coveted players in the country.”