International badminton will once again be in the limelight on the local sports scene with the fifth edition of the Friendship Trophy. This is being held at St. Martin’s College, Swatar, over the coming weekend; the entrance is free.

In its previous four editions, this tournament has seen the participation of club teams from Italy, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Sweden and Germany.

This year, the tournament will feature four separate teams from England who will be playing against two Maltese squads. These are the six participating clubs:

Wimbledon BC, Horsforth BC, Clandon BC, Pawla Wolves BC, Comets BC and Msida Arrows BC

The tournament will be run in strict accordance with the Rules of the International Badminton Federation. It will start with a practice session on Friday evening during which the foreign players will familiarise themselves with the sports hall where the competition will subsequently take place.

The actual competition will start on Saturday. The six squads will be divided into two groups of three teams each and will play each other on a league basis over a single round. Each fixture will consist of five separate games: Men’s Singles, Ladies’ Singles, Men’s Doubles, Ladies’ Doubles and Mixed Doubles.

The winners of each group will then play each other for first / second place; the runners-up will play for third / fourth place…and so on.

On Sunday, all the participating players will take part in separate Men’s Singles and Ladies’ Singles competitions, to be played on a knockout basis.

This international Badminton weekend is scheduled to come to its competitive end at around 3.30pm on Sunday with the prize-giving ceremony.

While inviting the local sporting public to attend and support the Maltese teams, the local Badminton Association has expressed its gratitude to the Malta Olympic Committee for its valuable support in making this event a reality. The association also thanked St. Martin’s College for their assistance in staging the event.