Indonesia’s women’s team set to defend title
Malaysia look set to defend their title following today’s favourable draw but three-time champion Indonesia are bent on exacting revenge on the host in the upcoming Selangor Badminton Asia Team Championships 2024 (SELBATC 2024) scheduled from 13-18 February at the Setia City Convention Centre here.
In today’s SELBATC 2024 official draw, host Malaysia have been drawn in a relatively easy Group B with sixth-ranked Chinese-Taipei, Kazakhstan and Brunei Darussalam.
Indonesia, winner of the 2016, 2018 and 2020 championships, are expected to send a strong squad to regain their domination after being grouped with three-time semifinalist South Korea, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in Group D.
Top seed China lead the charge in Group A with India and Hong Kong China while third seed Japan, semifinalist in 2020, will have to contend against Thailand, Singapore and Myanmar in Group C.
The women’s team competition is also expected to be an exciting affair as Indonesia attempt to defend their 2022 crown after being drawn with Hong Kong China and Kazakhstan in Group X.
Top seed and favourites China will have sole contender India in Group W while host Malaysia, semifinalist in the previous edition, have third seed Thailand as main challenger and United Arab Emirates in Group Y. Second seed and two-time champion, Japan are expected to qualify for the knockout stage after being drawn with Chinese Taipei and Singapore.
Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) national director of coaching Rexy Mainaky, expects quality encounters and stiff competition as teams scramble for Olympics qualifying points and automatic spots in the upcoming Thomas and Uber Cup finals in China.
“I’d say it’s a good draw for us, both in the men’s and women’s competition…hopefully, the players can perform well in front of the home fans to make up for the disappointment of not doing well in the recent Petronas Malaysia Open 2024.
“We’re now preparing both the men’s and women’s intensively…with only a few tournaments left before the end of the Olympic qualifying period, I’m certain all players and teams will give their all and fans can look forward to lots of interesting matches in the tournament,” said Rexy.
The Badminton Asia Team Championships is among the biggest badminton events held under the sanction of Badminton Asia (BA), the governing body for badminton in Asia, currently represented by 43 member associations from five sub-regions across Asia.
This will be the third time that the Championships is hosted in Malaysia. The first tournament was held in Alor Setar, followed by Selangor in 2022.
Apart from being a qualifier for the Thomas and Uber Cup 2024 scheduled in Chengdu, China in May, SELBATC 2024 is sure to attract attention from the world’s top players as it offers ranking points for qualification to this year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
MEN’S TEAM
GROUP A: (1) China, India, Hong Kong China
GROUP B: (4) Malaysia, Chinese-Taipei, Kazakhstan, Brunei
GROUP C: (3) Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Myanmar
GROUP D: (4) Indonesia, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia
WOMEN’S TEAM
GROUP W: (1) China, India
GROUP X: (4) Indonesia, Hong Kong China, Kazakhstan
GROUP Y: (3) Thailand, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates
GROUP Z: (2) Japan, Chinese Taipei, Singapore
*Numbers in brackets denote seedings
