Only two African officials to officiate at the tournament
LETLHOGILE MPUANG
The Botswana Badminton Association (BBA) have revealed that 2018 BNSC Sports Person of the year Emmanuel Kgaboetsile has been selected as one of the officials from around the world who will officiate at this year’s Malaysia Masters.
The Malaysia Masters 2019 is a world class badminton tournament under the BWF World Tour Super 500 series. The tournament will be held in Kuala Lumpur, from 15 (today) till 20 January. It is one of th biggest events in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and has a total purse of $350,000. Last year the tournament attracted a total of 380 players from around the globe.
“This serves to confirm and advise the Badminton fraternity, it’s stakeholders and members of Media that 2018 Botswana Sports Awards Sports Person of the year Mr Emmanuel Kgaboetsile (BWF Accredited Umpire) have been invited to officiate as an umpire at the Malaysia Masters 2019, to be held from 15 – 20 January, 2019 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,” reads a statement from the BBA.
BBA Spokesperson Barulaganye Ncube says Kgaboetsile’s nomination for this tournament is yet another testament of his hard work and commitment to the game.
“The tournament is one of the biggest tournaments in the BWF calendar, bigger than our local tournaments it is a Master tournament. Last year around this time he was already off to Indonesia officiating at another Master tournament. This really proves that the man is working hard and very committed in what he does. He is getting better and better every time,” said Ncube.
“He is one of the two Africans that will be officiating at this event. He is a BWF accredited official, and this is why he has the opportunity of officiating in such kind of events. It also reflects well on us as BBA as it proves that we are not only focusing on developing players only, but also officials of repute. We hope to see more officials break through the ranks as well in the near future.”
Kgaboetsile rose to fame last year after bagging two awards at the BNSC Sports awards ( Sports Person of the year and Umpire of the year). He won P100 000 for being the 2018 Sports Person of the year.
Nonetheless Ncube said the association is looking forward to 2019. He said one of their biggest focus this year is coaches development and empowerment.
“Our calendar of events should be out by next week, but as an association one of our key areas of focus this year is coaches development. We want produce well qualified and trained coaches, which will go a long way in making sure that we produce good players. We also want to see more of officials officiating in international competitions and also gain BWF recognition,” he revealed.