Doha: Qatar’s budding badminton talents are all set to participate in a unique tournament format that could lead to a huge step-up for the racket game in the country.
The first edition of the Qatar Junior Badminton Premier League was launched earlier this week, with the aim of bringing together the best players from different age categories, ranging from under-9 to under-19.
Organisers and officials at the launch of the league.
The tournament is expected to start in the third week of January and is likely to last for a month. The exact dates have not been announced by the organisers. The new tournament has teams competing for getting players via auctions and then fight it out for the overall prize.
The new model, based on the format popularised by Premier Leagues organised for various sports in India, is being used for badminton for the first time in Qatar.
Organised by Absolute Sports Academy, with the support of Apex Body of Associations of Badminton academies and clubs in Qatar, the league will see five teams - Prime Sports Center ,New Vision Badmindon Qatar, Hexatech Absolute Sports, Kings Sports Qatar and Green Stadium Qatar competing for the top honours.
Each team owner gets to spend 5000 points on selecting players, and has to first pick their captains during the captain auction, before completing their squad with the remaining players during the player auction. In total, 45 players will participate in the tournament, with 9 players in each team.
