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MOKOKCHUNG — To foster badminton talents from Ungma village, the Soyim Shuttlers have upgraded their courts, which were inaugurated on May 28 by Martoshi Jamir, president of the Mokokchung District Badminton Association (MDBA) at Yimtsungda Arok Sabang in Mokokchung.
In his address, Martoshi congratulated the Soyim Shuttlers for upgrading its courts to professional standards and commended the club's dedication to promoting and nurturing young talents.
He expressed hope that these courts will cultivate more promising young talents for Mokokchung district. The president also announced that at the end of the year, MDBA will scout players from the age group of 9 to 17 years, providing world-class coaching by bringing in internationally renowned coaches.
He further announced that in June, during the summer break, MDBA will conduct a 20-day coaching camp by hiring coaches from badminton academies in the north-east. This will be followed by the Mokokchung District Badminton Tournament, where selected players will represent the district in the upcoming state-level badminton tournament.
He added that the selected players in the state-level tournament will have the opportunity to represent the north-east region at the national-level as well.
Alimayang Jamir, the president of Soyim Shuttlers, informed on the occasion that the history of the badminton courts dates back to 2019, when Ungma village did not have a badminton court of its own. Subsequently, Soyim Shuttlers initiated the construction of two wooden badminton court floors.
He, however, stated that over the years, the wooden courts weathered away due to being locally built and having many engineering flaws. Therefore, in 2023, the club decided to upgrade the courts with technical support from experts.
They constructed the first-of-its-kind courts, where the floor is concrete but applied with foam approved by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) before laying down the badminton court mat. This ensures safety, performance, and durability and requires less maintenance.
The Village Council Ungma assured the Soyim Shuttlers that a strict rule would be announced to ensure that the club's facility is not damaged by people who use this space for various purposes.
According to the construction committee report, the twin court was completed with an approximate cost of INR 15,00,000, including a donation of INR 1,50,000 from the village council, two badminton court mats donated by NLA Speaker Sharigain Longkumer, and technical assistance from Dr. Watizulu Süzümeren Jamir, senior vice president of Nagaland Badminton Association, vice president of the Badminton Association of India, and chairman of Development Authority Nagaland.