Allan (front, right) and Janih after completing the MoU signing witnessed by Asneh (centre, back), Osman (back, left) and Rechine.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Badminton Association’s (SBA) effort in the development of badminton in the state has just got better after securing sponsorship with the world-renowned badminton brand Flypower.
The sponsorship deal will see SBA partnering with Flypower for a period of three years.
Flypower founder Hariyanto Arbi, who was the world men’s singles champion in 1995, said they were honoured to channel the sponsorship with the hope that Sabah will continue to grow and achieve new heights in the sport.
“First of all I want to apologise for not being able to join you all in Sabah due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said during a meeting via Zoom recently.
“However, it is hoped that the Flypower sponsorship will greatly help SBA.
“We at Flypower certainly hope that the badminton sport in Sabah will continue to grow.
“The plan is when the Covid-19 situation has improved, I hope to bring the Flypower icons to visit Sabah and play in exhibition matches as well as conduct badminton clinic,” added the former Indonesian top shuttler.
Former world and Olympics mixed doubles winner Tontowi Ahmad, who is one of Flypower icons, also expressed his hope via a pre-recorded video and wanted to see Sabah to be successful in the sport and produce world class shuttlers.
The signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Flypower and SBA was conducted last Friday.
Flypower was represented by AST Sports Centre managing director Allan Tan Boon Bin while SBA was represented by its president Janih Bangud.
Sabah Sports Council (SSC) director Mohd Asneh Mohd Noor was the guest of honour with Sabah Sports Board (SSB) chairman Osman Aganduk and SBA vice president Rechine Jikah were also present.
Asneh, in his speech, thanked Hariyanto and Flypower and he also praised Allan, whom he said as a former player, a coach and now his role in the sponsorship deal has contributed much to the development of Sabah badminton.
“I hope this Flypower sponsorship will push SBA in further enhancing the players’ development and encourage the players to train even harder.
“The Sabah Sports Council has high hope on SBA to contribute gold medals in Sukma (Malaysia Games) in Johor next year and thus to realise the Youth and Sports Ministry target of 40 gold in the games,” he said.
Asneh hoped that the sponsorship from Flypower will continue for more years to come and both the ministry and SSC would like to see more companies and corporate bodies to come forward and follow the footstep of Flypower, he added.
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