World Badminton next week
The 2018 BWF World Championships is a badminton tournament, which will be held from 30 July to 5 August at Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre in Nanjing, China. Five events will be played. These are Men’s single, Women’s single, Men’s double, Women’s double and Mixed double.
In 2017 World Championship held in Scotland, China won two gold, two silver and three bronze medals; Japan 1 gold, one silver and two bronzes; Indonesia one gold and one silver; while Denmark one gold and one bronze.
Victor Axelsen from Denmark beat China’s Lin Dan to win Men’s single title, while Nozomi Okuhara from Japan outclassed India’s P.V. Sindhu to capture gold in Women’s single event. China became champions in Men and Women’s double events, while Mixed double title went to Indonesia.
This year also like the past, China are expected to face tough challenge from Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, India, Spain and Denmark.
Once badminton was very popular in Bangladesh, played in the winter season, both in the rural and the urban areas. Nowadays, students and youths are seldom seen to go to the badminton courts with cork, nets and rackets.
Bangladesh Badminton Federation should take initiative to re-ignite badminton popularity.
Abid Hossain
Dhaka
