KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Nadzmi Mohd Salleh has been encouraged to run for the presidency of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) by the head coach of China.
Current BWF President Kang Young-joong of South Korea said last month he would step down from the role in May after eight years at the helm and Indonesian Justian Suhandinata has already made clear his intentions to run for the post.
China head coach Li Yongbo feels that Nadzmi, the head of the Badminton Association of Malaysia, has what it takes to popularize and spread the sport beyond its main Asian base and pockets of Europe.
“Nadzmi is a good choice. He has the clout and credentials to increase the popularity of the sport to a wider base,” Li was quoted as saying by the Malaysian Star newspaper yesterday.
“He has been in the badminton circle for many years and is supportive of the game.” Badminton came under fire during the London Olympics last July when four women’s doubles pairs from South Korea, China and Indonesia deliberately played to lose their matches in order to get a more favorable draw.
All four pairings were disqualified and banned after the farcical scenes putting in doubt the sports inclusion in future editions of the Games.
Despite the problems, London saw a record 51 countries participating in the sport with the BWF saying all sessions were sold out.
“Our sport has the potential to be popular beyond the Asian and European region and we need to aggressively promote it,” Li said.
It is compulsory for players ranked in the top 10 of the BWF rankings to compete in Super Series Premier events but Chinese players have become infamous for retiring midway through matches or pulling out from tournaments due to injuries.
According to Li, the newly elected BWF president will have to take a serious look and prune down the hectic badminton calendar to solve the problem.
“There are just too many tournaments. We need to cut it down. I would suggest that we limit the number of competitions and increase the prize money,” he added.
“Better income will surely widen the participation of the players and motivate them even more.”
China head coach backs Malaysian for BWF top post
China head coach backs Malaysian for BWF top post
Defending champ Andreeva reaches last 8 of Dubai Tennis Championships
- Top seed Elena Rybakina retires ill as Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic progresses to quarterfinals
- Second seed Amanda Anisimova secures passage to last 8 with 70-minute win
DUBAI: Defending champion Mirra Andreeva was among a raft of top seeds that moved menacingly into striking position at this week’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, with a star-studded quarterfinal lineup setting up a thrilling denouement to the WTA 1000 event.
With nine seeded players swelling the competition in today’s round of 16, and only two matches pitting seed against seed, five daylight matches ultimately saw most fancied favorites progress to the quarterfinals.
In the opening match on Centre Court, Amanda Anisimova, the tournament’s second seed and the World No. 6, took only 70 minutes to dispose of Indonesian wildcard Janice Tjen 6-1, 6-3, in what was the reigning Wimbledon champion’s first match of the tournament.
After receiving a bye in the round of 64, Anisimova was subsequently handed a walkover in the round of 32 when Barbora Krejcikova withdrew due to injury. The well-rested American’s reward for her ruthless dismantling of Tjen is a quarterfinal clash with fifth seed Mirra Andreeva, who edged out Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian 7-5, 6-3, in the second match on Centre Court.
Similarly, Andreeva’s win came a mere 24 hours after Daria Kasatkina’s withdrawal handed the fifth seed a second round walkover — on top of her first round bye — into the round of 32. Ahead of their last eight showdown, Andreeva said: “It’s the second time it ever happened to me, that the girl withdrew before the match. I had one more day of practice, but I feel like it’s kind of breaking the rhythm of your play a little bit.
“I feel like I was pretty far from perfect today, from how I want to play, so I’m just really happy that I stayed focused and tried to reset for every single point, I’m super happy with that. I’m sure tomorrow is going to be better because I’m going to get into this rhythm.”
Now only three matches away from defending her Dubai title — which would make the Russian the first back-to-back winner since Elina Svitolina in 2018 — Andreeva added: “I know I’m a defending champion, but I have so many nice and great memories from Dubai from last year. I feel all the support from the people. And honestly, it’s insane because I feel so much more motivation here than any tournament, so I’m just so excited to try and defend my title. I’m going to give it all tomorrow and we’ll see how it’s going to go.”
The final daylight match on Centre Court saw top seed Elena Rybakina, the world No. 3, retire during her match with Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic. Despite surrendering six inches in height and reach to the two-time Grand Slam winner, Ruzic showed few signs of fatigue after navigating two punishing three-set matches over the past two days.
After losing a topsy-turvy first set where she broke Rybakina in the very first game, Ruzic, ranked 64 places below her opponent, bravely battled back to clinch the second set 6-4. Then, only seconds into the decider, and moments after Ruzic broke Rybakina again to go 1-0 up, Rybakina’s race was run — the 26-year-old retiring due to illness.
On New Court 1, last year’s defeated finalist, Dane Clara Tauson, maintained her confident form with a comprehensive 6-4, 6-2 victory over Magda Linette. Having eliminated eighth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the round of 32, the Pole had no answer to the impressive Tauson, who will face her third American opponent in four matches in Thursday’s quarterfinal.
Her last eight opponent was decided in the second match on Dubai Tennis Stadium’s newest court, which saw an all-American clash between rising star and 16th seed Iva Jovic, and 2024 US Open finalist Jessica Pegula, the fourth seed.
After a tight opening set, the seasoned Pegula upped the ante and eventually overpowered her younger rival 6-4, 6-2. The Pegula-Tauson quarterfinal looks delicately balanced, with both players yet to drop a set in Dubai this year.
