MINGORA: Three young emerging badminton players from Swat left for Kuala Lampur on Wednesday to undergo month-long professional training there, with the hope that the tour will enable them to polish their skills for cut-throat international contests.

The initiative of sending the players — Abdul Basit, Faisal Saeed and Shahid Ahmed — to Malaysia on self-help basis was taken by Zafar Ali, president of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Badminton Association.

“After observing the government’s sports structure I came to the conclusion that there is so much mismanagement and misuse of funds and facilities in the system, a scenario which results in most of the talent getting wasted,” said Zafar.

Zafar added that while acknowledging the badminton talent he decided to take the step of sending the players to Kuala Lumpur on self-help basis.

Tour arranged on self-help basis by KP association president

“I motivated some friends and collected money from them to sponsor the three talented players for sending them to Malaysia for training. If we succeed in this experiment, we will extend the programme and send more promising players abroad for training,” he added.

Zafar said though badminton was a popular sport across Pakistan but there were no professional training opportunities in the country for aspiring players.

“Unlike Pakistan, India is giving significant importance to badminton for the promotion of which it hired international coaches for their players. It has also constructed international-level badminton courts,” he said. “As a result of these measures a number of Indian players have clinched top positions in international rankings.”

“Pakistan can reach international standard in badminton only if international-level coaches are hired on permanent basis; Pakistani players are sent to participate in events abroad and also international competitions are organised in Pakistan,” Zafar insisted.

“We have heaps of talent in every sport, including badminton; if promising players are given opportunities then no doubt they can excel in other countries,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, the badminton players leaving for Malaysia were excited to get training in the country which is one of the best places for the sport.

“We hope that after receiving professional training in Malaysia we will get the chance to represent our country at international level,” said Faisal and Shahid.

Basit, who once represented Pakistan in the Asian Junior Championship in Thailand, said badminton players in Pakistan needed top-level professional training.

“Without getting professional training and featuring in regular camps playing badminton at international level is not possible. I am sure the training [in Kuala Lumpur] will enable us to compete in international tournaments and earn good name for our country,” said Basit.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2016