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Players from 10 countries, incluing Malaysia, Portugal, India and Spain, are expected to feature in the annual Kenya International Badminton Championships will be held this weekend at the Premier Club, Nairobi.
The three-day event, which is expected to start on Friday, will run until Sunday.
Kenya Badminton Association (KBA)  secretary, Fred Gituku, said that local players will be using the championship to try and qualify for the  Beijing Olympics to be held in August.
“The event will provide a useful opportunity for our players to earn World Ranking points in a bid to qualify for the Beijing Games,” said Gituku.
Ranked top in Africa
Kenya’s men’s top doubles pair of Patrick Ruto and Himesh Patel who qualified for the World Championships in 2007 after they were ranked top in Africa at some point last year, will be looking to collect enough points to qualify for the Olympics.
In women’s singles, Kenya will be placing their hopes on Anita Alube and Rita Ndung’u.
The latter, who resumed training recently, will be chasing her fitness after tearing her Achilles tendon last year. Men’s singles hopefuls include Gituku, Victor Odera and Daniel Opondo.
Local players have been training at the Premier Club in Nairobi, while those based in Kisumu and Mombasa have been training in their respective towns.
According to Gituku, Kenya will miss the invaluable services of two top women players - Irene Kerimah and Anna Maina.
Singles champion
“Irene, the defending women’s singles champion emigrated, to the US while former singles champion, Anna  has retired from competitive badminton,” added the secretary general.
Other countries expected to send players are Iran, South Africa, Nigeria, Uganda, Mauritius and Seychelles. Previous editions have attracted participants from France, Israel, India, England, and numerous African countries.
This competition forms part of African badminton circuit comprising of five international tournaments,  held in Mauritius, South Africa, Morocco and Nigeria.
The tournament to be played under World Badminton Federation laws, is a WBF sanctioned championship that carries world-ranking points.
The event will include men’s singles, women’s singles, Men’s doubles, women’s doubles and Mixed doubles.
Umpires course
The draw for the event will be conducted on Thursday from 6 pm at the Premier Club by the tournament referee from Mauritius, Satiawan Mahadoo. He will also run an umpires course at the Club in the afternoon to which 12 local umpires have been invited.
They will serve as line judges and umpires during the event.
The championship is the first high ranking event to be held this year, after the Thomas and Uber Cup that was scheduled to take place late last month in Kenya, was moved to Mauritius.
According to Raj Gaya, the secretary of the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA), the body was forced to switch the tournament from Kenya to Mauritius because of the unrest that was being witnessed in the country at the time.
“In spite of all the assurances given by the Kenyan Government to Kenya Badminton Federation with regard to the security of the players, BCA Council looked into the matter and was very worried for their safety,” Raj Gaya’s statement read in part.

The Badminton World Federation wishes to inform that the Kenya International has been postponed by a week to March 28-30, 2008.
This is following confirmation from the hosts that hosting the tournament on the original dates, March 23-25, will not be feasible as it falls on the Easter weekend, an important day of religious reverence for the Christian community.
According to BWF Council member from Kenya, Peter Gacheru, some 90 per cent of the country’s population are Christians, thus making it difficult for Kenya to host the event on March 23-25.
He also added that most of the volunteers will be away and unavailable for the championships.
The changes of dates have been approved by the BWF and Badminton Confederation of Africa. Any inconvenience caused is regretted. For further details, please contact Ms Noridah Jamil at noridah@internationalbadminton.org

The Thomas & Uber Cup that was scheduled to be held in Kenya later this month has been moved to Mauritius.
The prestigious badminton tournament which will now be held on the February 17-23 will also double as a qualifier for the Beijing Olympics.
According to Raj Gaya, Secretary General of the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA), the body has been forced to switch the tournament from Kenya to Mauritius because of the ongoing unrest in the country.
“In spite of all the assurances given by the Kenyan Government to Kenya Badminton Federation with regard to the security of the players, BCA Council has looked into the matter and was very worried for the security of players who will be traveling there and above all if something bad happens, who will bear the responsibility.” Raj Gaya’s statement read in part.
Inconvenience
The badminton umpire’s course that was to be conducted before the event has also been moved to Mauritius.
“We are sorry for the inconvenience this change may cause. We cannot take any risk when it comes to the security of players and human life,” he wrote
The local organizing committee has received the news with great disappointment especially after they had done so much to assure BCA that the situation is not as bad as it appears on the foreign media.
“We had also approached the government to assure us if safety during the tournament and they had indicated a willingness to do so but we have no control over BCA’s decision,” Peter Gacheru, a member of the organising committee said.
Gacheru says that the tournament would have been a big boost for the sport in the country and it would have been the first time that an East African country has hosted it. They were expecting a minimum of 10 countries to participate.
Following the new development, the organising committee has also decided to postpone the Kenya International tournament from February to March 20 – 23rd.
According to KBF, 10 countries had already confirmed participation in the Kenya International. They body is working round the clock in liaison with the government to assure those countries of their security. They are however hopeful that the situation will have improved then.

Thomas & Uber Cup moved  4th February 2008  B.C.A.

The Thomas & Uber Cup that was scheduled to be held in Kenya later this month has been moved to Mauritius.
The prestigious badminton tournament which will now be held on the February 17-23 will also double as a qualifier for the Beijing Olympics.
According to Raj Gaya, Secretary General of the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA), the body has been forced to switch the tournament from Kenya to Mauritius because of the ongoing unrest in the country.
“In spite of all the assurances given by the Kenyan Government to Kenya Badminton Federation with regard to the security of the players, BCA Council has looked into the matter and was very worried for the security of players who will be traveling there and above all if something bad happens, who will bear the responsibility.” Raj Gaya’s statement read in part.
The badminton umpire’s course that was to be conducted before the event has also been moved to Mauritius.
“We are sorry for the inconvenience this change may cause. We cannot take any risk when it comes to the security of players and human life,” he wrote
The local organizing committee has received the news with great disappointment especially after they had done so much to assure BCA that the situation is not as bad as it appears on the foreign media.
“We had also approached the government to assure us if safety during the tournament and they had indicated a willingness to do so but we have no control over BCA’s decision,” Peter Gacheru, a member of the organising committee said.
Gacheru says that the tournament would have been a big boost for the sport in the country and it would have been the first time that an East African country has hosted it. They were expecting a minimum of 10 countries to participate.
Following the new development, the organising committee has also decided to postpone the Kenya International tournament from February to March 20 – 23rd.
According to KBF, 10 countries had already confirmed participation in the Kenya International. They body is working round the clock in liaison with the government to assure those countries of their security. They are however hopeful that the situation will have improved then.

La phase des éliminatoires de la Thomas & Uber Cup prévue à Nairobi (Kénya) a été déplacée à Maurice.

L'Open International du Kénya qui devait suivre a été annulé puis décalé du 20 au 23 mars 2008

L'Open International du Kénya est de nouveau reporté  du 28 au 30 mars 2008

La Thomas & Uber Cup Afrique sera-t-elle maintenue ?  Africa-Badminton 31/01/2008

A moins de 20 jours de la date retenue et maintenue par la B.C.A. pour la Thomas & Uber Cup Zone Afrique, la situation politique au Kénya demeure préoccupante et la ville de Nairobi n'est plus à l'abri des violences qui règnent actuellement dans d'autres villes.
Selon l'article paru dans l'Express.mu du 23/01/2008, le secrétaire de la CAB, Raj Gaya  a voulu se montrer rassurant :“Le gouvernement kenyan, qui souhaite améliorer l’image du pays à travers l’organisation de cet événement international, a donné la garantie qu’il assurera la sécurité des participants durant la compétition. Ces derniers seront escortés de l’aéroport au MOI International Sports Complex, où ils seront logés”. Les équipes et la manifestation sportive seront donc placées sous haute surveillance ce qui est bien le signe d'une crainte légitime sur la sécurité des participants.
Plongés dans une crise sociale grave, ne doutons pas que les Kényans seront les premiers à se détacher de cet évènement.
Quels sont les pays qui décideront de se rendre à Nairobi ?
A ce sujet,  si la délégation de Maurice va solliciter l'avis de son Ministère des Affaires Etrangères avant de confirmer sa participation, il en sera probablement de même de tous les pays ayant l'intention de se rendre à Nairobi.
Pour rappel, la situation ne date pas d'hier. Elle a dégénérée fin décembre à la suite des élections présidentielles. Depuis cette date, elle n'a eu de cesse de se développer et la presse internationale en a fait l'écho.
La W.B.F. et la B.C.A. avaient donc toutes les informations nécessaires pour supposer que cette situation grave risquait de se prolonger.
Si les éliminatoires de la Thomas & Uber Cup doivent se tenir rapidement afin de déterminer la représentation Afrique à Jarkarta (Indonésie) en mai prochain, il aurait été plus raisonnable de changer le lieu des éliminatoires Afrique plutôt que d'en décaler la date.
Si d'aventure la participation des grandes nations du Badminton était très fortement diminuée par le fait de décisions plus politiques que sportives, c'est l'ensemble du Badminton Africain qui en fera les frais.

A suivre ......

W.B.F. - KENYA KENYA INTERNATIONAL 2008 Nairobi (Kenya) Du 29 Janvier au 02 Février 2008

 

W.B.F. - KENYA Thomas & Uber Cup African   Preliminaries 2008   Nairobi (Kenya) Du 25 au 28 Janvier 2008

 

 

Archives 2007

	PROTON  WBF  WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS   13-19 Août 2007   Kuala Lumpur  MALAISIE
Présence Africaine :	SH : Lasmari N. (ALG)  SD : Foo Kune K. (MRI)  DH : Patel H. & Ruto P. (KEN) - Dednam R. & Dednam C. (AFS)  DD : Youssef A. & Hosny H. (EGY)  DM : James D.L. & Edwards M.C. (AFS) - Cupidon G. & Ah-Wan J. (SEY)

 

Kamav Peter	Mbogo Patrick Kunya	Munga Victor Odera	Mutiria Alfred	Odundo Simon Achayo	Opondo Daniel Odhiambo	Patel Himesh
Ruto Patrick	Shah Hahish Niteenkumar	Alube Anitah	Arasa Naomi Kemunto	Kerimah Irène Moraa	Ndungu Rita Njeri

 

Kenya: Badminton Axed From All Africa Games  The Nation (Nairobi)  10 June 2007  Posted to the web 11 June 2007  Nairobi

Badminton became the first casualty to be axed from the Kenyan contingent to this year's All Africa Games slated for July 11 to 23 as the steering committee endorsed a total of 21 disciplines to travel to Algeria.
Only 193 athletes, 56 team officials, five accompanying referees and ten technical officials selected by their respective continental bodies will make the Kenyan contingent of 264.
Games leader of delegation Nderitu Gikaria said they have opted to announce the team composition as early as possible to avoid last minute disappointments.
Gikaria also announced that the official residential camp at Kasarani will be opened on June 19 to all the disciplines though the committee has been financing the teams non residential training at their respective venues.
The Operations Committee noted that badminton was left out of the team despite it having been sponsored to take part in the Africa championship in Mauritius because of dismal show.
Routed by opponents
"We took them to Mauritius by they were routed by their rivals and it will not be good to take the same players to Algeria for the games and expect them to do well only after a one month training. They will still be meeting the very opponents they faced in Mauritius," said Gikaria.

 

Les principales sources d'informations