SRI LANKAN BADMINTON LEAGUE FINAL IN HARROW

-By Irshad Wahab-

Eight months of Badminton league games came to a close today (17/04/2016) for 2015-2016 season. The league final attracted many supporters, well wishers and community members from Harrow.

HSL Sports club started the Badminton leagues in 2014 with 10 teams. In 2015, there were 16 teams. After the final eight games the top eight teams were awarded trophies and the next eight were awarded medals. The top four positions are as follows:

1. Azhar Salahudeen + Bakir Arifdeen (Airflex Badminton Club)

2. Mubarak Hussain + Imran Ithkan (HSL Sports Club)

3. Sajad Najimudeen + Adham Safraz  (Airflex Badminton Club)

4. Hamees Munaf +Iflan Ithkan (HSL Sports Club)

After the final sets of league games, the top eight teams played a knock-out tournament and the following top 3 teams were awarded with trophies:

Champions :  Azhar Salahudeen + Bakir Arifdeen  (Airflex Badminton Club)

Runners up : Mubarak Hussain + Imran Ithkan  (HSL Sports Club)

Third Place : Basil Irshad Wahab + Rustam Shukri  (Airflex Badminton Club)

The presentation was conducted by Irshad Wahab and Bakir Arifdeen. Special guests who were present were invited to award the presentations. Brothers Junaideen Mubarak, Anas Ilyas, Fulail Cassim, Jazal Marzook, Zafry Uzair, Nafi Juwardeen, Mohamed Razick, Muzammil Faleeldeen, Jawahir Marikkar and Moulavi Anas awarded the trophies and the medals to the winning teams.

Due to the growing demands in the Harrow community, the number participating teams has been increased to 24 for the next season. Badminton is a game that could be played by anyone without the age barrier. As people are becoming health conscious, more people are getting involved in Badminton. In the last 5 years, we have seen a sharp rise in adults including ladies, playing badminton. At present, there are four Sri Lankan Badminton clubs based in Harrow.

Next league season (2016-2017) will commence in September this year with two sets of teams which will be called League 1 and League 2. Each league will have 12 teams. From the present 16 teams, the top 12 will be moved to League1 and the balance 4 will be in League2. There are 8 more spaces which will be filled by new teams. After the final in 2017, the bottom 4 teams from League1 will be relegated to League2 and the top four of League2 will be promoted to League1. 

Throughout the league games, all team members extended their fullest cooperation and support to the league administration which assisted the admin to conduct the matches smoother and in a professional manner. A special award was presented to Mubarak Hussain for his dedication and efforts in organising and conducting this Badminton league. Mubarak had been the backbone of this league who had contributed much of his time from the inception. A special note of thank was extended to him on behalf of all the players and the community members for his selfless service in uniting the community through sports.