Excitement is building with two international badminton tournaments bring held within two weeks in the beautiful Northern Mariana Islands. As Badminton Oceania’s northern most member country and part of the Mariana Archipelago, the capital – Saipa – will host the Northern Marianas Open followed by the Saipan International. Due to a BWF regulation change in late 2022 allowing a country to host two Grade 3 international tournaments of the same level in the same year, the Northern Marianas will be the first Oceania country to stage back-to-back International Challenge tournaments in the same country.
It has been less than a year since the Northern Marianas hosted the Pacific Mini Games in June 2022. Off the back of this successful event, Badminton Oceania has worked with the Northern Marianas Badminton Association to continue to develop their tournaments utlising the equipment and expertise acquired because of the Pacific Mini Games. This has resulted in this motivated badminton nation staging two of the highest level BWF Grade 3 tournaments in two weeks, during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games qualification period.
The first of the two tournaments is the Northern Marianas Open, which will be held from June 6 to 11, followed by the Saipan International from June 13 to 18. With players chasing valuable Olympic qualification points, organisers are hoping for both a large and strong entry of players from key tourism markets including Korea and Japan, but also from other countries throughout Asia, Oceania and possibly Europe.
Badminton Oceania Secretary General, Julie Carrel, said; “I congratulate the Northern Marianas
Badminton Association for being bold and taking on these two tournaments; this is a leading
example of a legacy benefit from staging the Pacific Mini-Games in 2022. I am confident they will get a good entry [numbers], the tournaments will run well, and the players will have a positive and memorable experience in this stunning location.”
President of the Northern Marianas Badminton Association, Merlie Tolentino, added; “We are excited to welcome these athletes to the Northern Mariana Islands as they vie for qualifying points for the 2024 Paris Olympics. We saw a high-level competition last year when we hosted the 2022 Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games, and expect an even higher level of games come this June.”
Players who participated in the Pacific Mini Games will fondly remember the hospitality shown toward them from the event organisers and local community.
“I am sure the players [coming] for the two badminton tournaments we will be hosting are excited to have the same experience,” Tolentino said.
Article adapted from the Saipan Tribune.