Badminton Malta launch inaugural Small States of Europe Badminton Team Championships

Badminton Malta launched on Wednesday the inaugural edition of the Small States of Europe Badminton Team Championships, taking place between November 3 and 5 at the Cottonera Sports Complex.

The championships ‘promises to showcase the sport’ with the participation of eight of the smaller badminton countries in Europe, Malta’s badminton association said in a statement.

“Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Greenland, Iceland, Isle of Man, Liechtenstein, and Malta will enjoy a weekend of intense and exciting competition in the first ever international team event hosted in Malta,” the statement read.

Participating teams are set to be divided into two groups playing each other on a round-robin basis. According to their placings in the groups, the event will change format to a playoff format, where teams will then play for a place in the final and determine their final standings.

Each tie will be made up of five matches, Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles, and Mixed Doubles.

“Our Association is working hard to ensure that the first edition of the Small States of Europe Badminton Team Championships is a successful one,” Owen Grech, President of Badminton Malta, said.

“The idea to bring together the small European states for a badminton event first came about in 2017 during a Badminton Europe Congress in Prague.

“Malta, Cyprus, and Monaco discussed the fact that badminton is not one of the sports considered for the Games Of The Small States of Europe (GSSE), held every two years, and we agreed that we should try to organise an event independently, engaging with the other countries.

“So, six years down the line, the event is finally happening, and we are eagerly looking forward to welcoming our badminton friends from the other small European nations for the start of the tournament in two months’ time.”

Mr Grech thanked SportMalta and the Maltese Olympic Committee for their continuous assistance, VisitMalta, J. Portelli, AX Group, and Victor Malta for the support given to host this event.

Badminton Malta also encouraged the general public to join them in celebrating the Small States of Europe Badminton Team Championships, the very first international badminton team event in our country, and supporting Team Malta.