{"id":410735,"date":"2024-07-02T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=410735"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"CNMI-welcomes-200-athletes-for-two-int-l-badminton-tourneys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/CNMI-welcomes-200-athletes-for-two-int-l-badminton-tourneys\/","title":{"rendered":"CNMI welcomes 200 athletes for two int\u2019l badminton tourneys"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two more international badminton tournaments are bringing athletes from all over the world to the shores of Saipan\u2014the Crowne Plaza Northern Marianas Open 2024 that starts today, July 2, until July 7\u2014and the Dove Saipan International 2024 from July 9-13.<\/p>\n

The Badminton World Federation Grade 3 International Challenge tournament will feature athletes from 16 different countries at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium and is open to the public.<\/p>\n

In a press conference yesterday at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan\u2019s Azucena Hall, local media met some of the tournament\u2019s top competitors\u2014Edward Lau, Viren Nettashinghe, Hye Jeong Kim, and Riko Gunji\u2014as well the two tournaments\u2019 major sponsors\u2014Max Kretzers, D&Q resident manager and Martin Jambor, Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan Resort manager; organizers from the Northern Marianas Badminton Association including president Merlie Tolentino and Nate Guerrero; Badminton Oceania CEO Julie Carrel; and Northern Marianas Sports Association president Jerry Tan.<\/p>\n

For Edward Lau of New Zealand, as the recent Oceania champion, he said, \u201cI\u2019m very excited to be here. I\u2019ve always just played with players in the Oceania region, so I\u2019m looking forward to experiencing playing against different players not from the Oceania region.\u201d<\/p>\n

His advice to the youth who aspire to achieve what he had in badminton, is to stay disciplined and be consistent in their training.<\/p>\n

The tourney\u2019s top ranked player at world\u2019s No. 74, Viren Nettashinghe from Sri Lanka, who qualified for his first Olympics\u2014the 2024 Paris Olympics, said that the competition here will be challenging but that he is also excited and looking forward to it.<\/p>\n

Former world No. 3 Kim of South Korea and 2019 World Junior Championship winner Gunji of Japan, who has won two of her last three tournaments this year, also shared their excitement for the tourneys.<\/p>\n

Guerrero, who is a CNMI athlete\/coach, said that the international tourneys on island are beneficial to the youth and up-and-coming badminton athletes because they get to be exposed to different skill levels and experience a different level of play than what they are used to on just the local scale. \u201cIt\u2019s a really great experience and opportunity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Jambor welcomed the athletes to the island and said that Crowne Plaza is always proud to sponsor the international tournaments, just as they did last year. \u201cI want to wish the best of luck to the participants,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

For Kretzers, he also welcomed the athletes to Saipan and hopes that everyone enjoys the tournament.<\/p>\n

Carrel, who was also here last year for the two Olympic badminton qualifiers the TakeCare Saipan International 2023 and the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan Northern Marianas Open 2023, said that it\u2019s great to be back following the success of those tournaments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we find really exciting is the amount of local interest\u2026 Every time we host a tournament, we get more and more people coming to the tournament and watch. We\u2019re also seeing significant growth in badminton here in the NMI and that really has got to do with the interscholastic program,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She also mentioned that NMBA won the BWF Member Association Participation Award last April for its Interscholastic Badminton League program that was first introduced in the islands in 2021, in partnership with the CNMI Public School System and TakeCare Insurance Company, Inc. NMBA was the first member of Badminton Oceania to win the award and is also the first national sports federation in the NMI to win an award from a world governing body of sports.<\/p>\n

For Tan, he thanked Carrel for the support of Oceania Badminton and congratulated Tolentino for their award.<\/p>\n

He then welcomed the 200 badminton players that\u2019s playing in the two tournaments. \u201cIf they are a repeater, welcome back\u2014if this is their first time, we hope you all enjoy it and keep coming back. But I just want to wish them the best of luck in the next two weeks,\u201d he said. He then thanked the tournaments\u2019 sponsors and said, \u201cWithout the two title sponsors, it\u2019ll be a lot more difficult to organize.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tolentino, for her part, also thanked the sponsors for their support and said that the NMBA is always honored and grateful for the opportunity to host an international badminton tourney. \u201cWe\u2019re really thankful to the players for considering our country for your international ranking tournament,\u201d she said. \u201cWe always treat this as an important moment for the community, not just for our badminton players on the island because we\u2019re happy to have visitors from different countries, and hopefully, they also get to enjoy our island.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

From left, Northern Marianas Sports Association president Jerry Tan, D&Q resident manager Max Kretzers, Badminton Oceania CEO Julie Carrel, badminton top athletes Edward Lau, Viren Nettashinghe, Hye Jeong Kim, and Riko Gunji, Northern Marianas Badminton Association president Merlie Tolentino, CNMI player\/coach Nate Guerrero, and Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan Resort manager Martin Jambor, during the Crowne Plaza Northern Marianas Open 2024 and Dove Saipan International 2024 press conference yesterday at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan.<\/p>\n

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Northern Marianas Sports Association president Jerry Tan welcomes the 200 badminton players and thanked the sponsors of the Crowne Plaza Northern Marianas Open 2024 that starts today, July 2, until July 7\u2014and the Dove Saipan International 2024 from July 9 to 13.<\/p>\n

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Northern Marianas Badminton Association president Merlie Tolentino speaks in the press conference of the Crowne Plaza Northern Marianas Open 2024 and Dove Saipan International 2024 yesterday at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan.<\/p>\n

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Title sponsor of the Dove Saipan International 2024, Max Kretzers, D&Q resident manager, during the press conference of the Crowne Plaza Northern Marianas Open 2024 and Dove Saipan International 2024 yesterday at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan.<\/p>\n

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Title sponsor of the Crowne Plaza Northern Marianas Open 2024, Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan\u2019s Resort manager Martin Jambor, during the press conference of the Crowne Plaza Northern Marianas Open 2024 and Dove Saipan International 2024 yesterday at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan.<\/p>\n

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