DAMMAM — The Expatriate Badminton Association of Saudi Arabia (EBASA) put on an impressive two-day show bringing in more than 550 players from at least nine nationalities here recently. The players from Jeddah, Riyadh, Eastern Province and Bahrain competed in 8 flights — from beginners to professionals — for men, 6 flights for ladies, 5 in combination events and 3 for juniors. Players from India, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Canada, US, China and Pakistan took part in the event. In the men's Premier Flight, Shahim Koothradan & Shihab Mohammed came out on top, while their opponents from Riyadh-Jeddah Ralph & Rayan put up a good fight to finish runner-up. Ladies Flight 1 champions were: Princess Marielle De Silva & JV Nicole Bacayo in a round-robin match format. Combination doubles championship was won by Salvador Kapunan & Josephine Dupet, while Ryan Delos Reyes & Princess Marielle De Silva the runner-up. The major sponsors of the tournament were: Alhamrani Fuchs Petroleum, Zahid Tractor, Sinmar, Gulf Hydraulic and Pneumatic Tamimi Industrial Services and United Biscuits. Eng. Muhammed Ilyas Fazal, regional manager of Fuchs, gave away the trophies in the top flights. The president of Badminton Federation Saudi Arabia (BFSA), George PuthenMadhom, congratulated the winners and runners-up and thanked the sponsors for their support. As per the instruction from Dr. Yousef Al-Thobaithi, general secretary of Saudi Badminton Committee, the BFSA, which is active for the last 18 years, has been renamed as Expatriate Badminton Association of Saudi Arabia. Russel Isaiah, ABC president, along with his committee supported EBASA in hosting the event at Abqaiq indoor courts. Andrew Smith, Abqaiq Recreation Services supervisor, was instrumental in helping organize the event. Russel Isaiah was the organizing committee chairman. The chairmen of various tournament committees were; Babu Varughese, Sameer Baikadi, K.I. Ansari, Renin Wilson, Arif Shamsuddin, Sajan Babu, Cherian George, Sabeer Shamsudeen and Surendran Nair. The tournament director was George PuthenMadhom, while deputy directors were A.M. Aziz and N. Lakshmaiah. Results Men Flight 6B: Michael Soriano & Donnel Bufi beat Varun Karthik & Rayyan Rahoof; Flight 6A: Hafsal Naduvilakkandy & Azeem Ali beat Lord Jeffrey C. & Raymund Reta; Flight 5B: Siju John & Manikandhan P. beat Rafeekh U. Usman & M. Muneeb; Flight 5A: Cris Munoz & Jeffrey Bartolome beat Chris Kevin Jaranilla & Randy Garcia; Flight 4B: Githin George & Sivaram Ramamurthy beat Zainudeen Mohammed & Jaffar Shaan; Flight 4A: Rizal Agianno & Agus beat Shijin Kuriakose & Shafeeq Ali; Flight 3B: Sijo Francis & Kannan Shaji beat Mark Anoso & Urbin Baracao; Flight 3A: Mujeeb Poovathil & Sakeer Kuttu Bava beat Mujeeb Rahman & Midhun Mohanan; Flight 2: Ashik Abdul Razack & M. Ilyas Fazal beat M. Mamadra & Johar Chiva; Flight 1: Eduard Rupisan & Joseph Vincent R. beat Nawab Khan & Noufal Nasser. Champ B: Sakariya Isac & Hari Rajendran beat Sabeer Shamsudeen & Biju Mathew; Champ A: Shahid Rasti & Yasir Arafat beat Murukan Kasinathan & Nowfal Khan; Premier: Shaheem Koothradan & Shihab Mohammed beat Ralph Nelson C. & Ryan D. Reyes. Junior Boys Under-12: Madhur Sreekanth & Milan Sreekanth beat Genesis Noor & Huego Martin E. Under-14: Ethan Josh Dupet & Gabriel Noor L. beat Faizan Abdul Rafay & Fayyaz Khalid. Ladies Flight 6: Joana Marie M. & Joyce Serrano beat Farida Arif & Salma Mohamed Brodhas; Flight 4&5: Grace Lumbang & Coneflor Lumbang beat Danielle Eugenio & Jicell Napiza; Flight 2&3: Marianne Monge & Angelica Garcia beat Cerilyn Damian & Lei Abines; Flight 1: Princess Marielle & J.V. Nicole Bacayo (no runner-up). Junior Girls Under-14: Malavika Harish & Reya Fathima beat Regdha Moosakutty & Nizah Latheef. Combination Doubles Flight 6: Raymund Reta & Analyn Reta beat Leo Hina & Joyce Serrano; Flight 5: Raemuel T. Dupet & Coneflor Lumbang beat Elgen Lomongo & Danielle Eugenio; Flight 4: Urbin Baracao & Jayne Dela Vega beat Shan Avunchipuram & Shanitha Latheef; Flight 3: (No event); Flight 2: Ashik Abdul Raza & Zehra Yezdani beat Shahid Rasti & Afshan Khan; Flight 1: (No Event); Champ Flight: Salvador Kapunan & Josephine Dupet beat Ryan Delos Reyes & Princess Marielle.
