Entries are now being called for the EPBA All-Island Open Badminton Championships scheduled to be held from January 23rd to 27th at the WABER Indoor Stadium in Batticaloa. Sanctioned by Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB) as a National Ranking Level 1 competition, the five-day tournament is organised by the Eastern Province Badminton Association (NPBA) with all top ranked local shuttlers expected to compete under different categories.
The championship will feature a wide range of events from Under-11 to Under-19 in the Junior category and Over-30 to Over-70 in the Senior category, with an addition of three Combined Age segment of 100+. The main attraction of the competition will be the Open events comprising Men’s and Women’s Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles, with an addition of a Plate Championship for the losers in Men’s and Women’s Singles.
The opening ceremony will take place on January 23rd at 9:00am, followed by the preliminary rounds, leading up to the climax on January 26th with the quarter-finals and semi-finals. The excitement will continue on January 27th with the highly anticipated semi-finals and final matches, followed by the Closing Ceremony to mark the culmination of this championship.
The main draw seeding will be determined based on SLB Ranking as of January 15th, followed by the draw on January 17th at 11:00am at No.2, Cambridge Terrace, Colombo 7. Entries will close on January 12th at noon.
A prize money of Rs.750,000 for all events based on the number of entries will be on offer, in addition to trophies, medals and certificates guaranteed for winners, runners-up and semi-finalists of each event of the tournament. Junior winners will receive appropriate gifts instead of prize money, according to the decision taken by the tournament organisers.
Entries can be submitted online or by contacting Sadeesha Adithya on 0761759017 and further details of the tournament can be obtained by calling the organisers on 0773605967, 0772177479 or 0774937955. All details pertaining to the EPBA All-Island Open Badminton Championship are available in the prospectus published in the SLB website. The tournament is sponsored by Mobil, Li Ning, McFoil, 3M, GAC and FIMA.
