ISLAMABAD: Shuttlers from 15 countries will compete at the International Series Badminton Tournament in Islamabad this year to receive qualification points for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a senior official of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) said on Tuesday.

“The tournament, which has been approved by Badminton Asia and the Badminton World Federation (BWF), will be held at the Pakistan Sports Complex here from Nov 7 to 11,” Mohammad Azam Dar, PSB deputy director general (technical), told APP.

He said Pakistan Badminton Federation (PBF) secretary Wajid Ali Chaudhry had called on Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination (IPC) Dr Fehmida Mirza to brief her about the preparations to hold the event. “The IPC minister has assured him that the PSB will provide all-out support to the PBF to host the event in a befitting manner,” Azam said.

Azam added that the tournament would offer a perfect chance to Pakistan players to gather maximum points and earn spots in the Olympics.

The 52-week qualifying period for the Olympic contenders that began on April 29, 2019 would end on April 26, 2020. The BWF World Ranking lists as of April 28, 2020 will be used to allocate 34 individuals for singles and 16 pairs for doubles quota places per gender to the highest ranked athletes.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2019