Will the best shuttlers from Asia face off in the Badminton Asia (BA) Championships next month?
That seems to be on the minds of several member associations, as talks that the meet will be cancelled, intensify.
The competition is scheduled from April 25-30 in Dubai.
Adding to the mystery is the fact that no one from the regional body, headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, seems to be reachable.
Numerous phone calls to the office since March 27 went unanswered. A phone call to one of the office numbers (+603-7733 8962) was instead directed to the personal number of an individual who claimed to be a former BA staff.
No one answered the other number (+603-7733 8964) listed on the website up until this morning, as Twentytwo13 was informed that the “admin staff was working from home, and to email our queries.”
Twentytwo13 had, in fact, sent an email to BA secretary-general Moosa Nasid on March 27, but has yet to receive a reply. BA president Anton Aditya Subowo was copied in the email, together with the BA’s general email address.
On March 27, Badminton World Federation council member Datuk Kenny Goh, tweeted that it was rumoured the championships would be cancelled.
In another tweet, Goh said that he was informed of efforts by several BA exco members, to ensure that the championship will go on as planned.
I was informed that there is effort by a few EXCO members to ensure that BA Championship will proceed. #allthebest https://t.co/5UArkIpFYN
— KGCK (@gckeong) March 27, 2023
Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia won the men’s singles title in the 2022 edition, while China’s Wang Zhi Yi won the women’s singles title. Indonesian pair Pramudya Kusumawardana-Yeremia Erich Yoche Yacob Rambitan won the men’s doubles event, while Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan of China won the women’s doubles final.
Another Chinese pair – Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong – also won the mixed doubles event.
