NMBA met milestones in 2022

Janelle Pangilinan, right, and Jenine Savellano completed the NMI’s medal tally for all nine games after they won bronze in the badminton women’s doubles against Tahiti in the Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games 2022 last June.(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

The Northern Marianas Badminton Association successfully met milestones in 2022, according to its  president Merlie Tolentino.

As to what milestones, she said one is the successful hosting of the badminton competition during the 2022 Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games. 

“Through the help of the Pacific Mini Games Organizing Committee, Northern Marianas Sports Association, Badminton Oceania, and our countless volunteers, we’re able to provide a safe, convenient, and nicely set up competition venue not just for participating athletes and officials, but as well as spectators,” said Tolentino.

With that, thanks to everyone’s efforts, NMBA has received positive feedback on the venue and the competition management from the visiting delegations and Badminton Oceania.

Secondly, on the last day of the Games, the badminton women’s doubles team of Janelle Pangilinan and Jenine Savellano won the bronze medal against Tahiti, allowing the NMI to medal in all nine sports of the Mini Games. “This was also our first medal in a regional competition,” said Tolentino.

Also in 2022, on the interscholastic level, they had the inaugural season of the TakeCare Interscholastic Badminton League and had a good turnout from both the public and private schools well represented in the competition for middle and high school divisions, with nearly 200 students participating in the program. 

“We have our partners, the CNMI Public School System and Athletics director Nick Gross and staff, coaches/teachers, school officials, and parents of players to thank for the success of the program,” she said.

While the biggest highlight of the year, Tolentino said, was the Mini Games, NMBA would still want to mention the success of the inaugural interscholastic league, “because that’s our grassroots program. This is where we will get and train our future national team players.” 

For what 2023 has in store, she said that NMBA is “looking at resuming our local competitions since last year we had to give way to the PMG and the preparations of our national team.”

Also, this Feb. 8-15, the NMI National Badminton team will compete in regional tournaments—the Pacific U15 Junior Team Competition, and in the Victor Oceania Individual and Team Championships from Feb. 13 to 19—both in New Zealand.

And, for the first time, CNMI will host not just one but two badminton Olympic qualifiers. The first one is the Northern Marianas Open 2023, which will be held at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium from June 6 to 11. The second one is the Saipan International 2023, which is scheduled for June 13 to 18. 

“We are looking at drawing 100 players from Pacific Oceania, Asia, and other countries that would gun for Olympic ranking points to have a chance to play in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. We also have our ongoing second season of Interscholastic Badminton League and this time we have more teams and more students participating. It’s been our goal since the establishment of the NMBA for badminton to be included in the interscholastic program,” she said.

Tolentino and the NMBA then thanked everyone who has contributed to the success of NMI badminton, “not just in 2022, but through the years. Special thanks to the Tan Siu Lin Foundation, which has supported it since Day 1. Badminton can still be considered as a relatively new sport in the NMI and even in Pacific Oceania, but through everyone’s support, we are able to make significant strides.” 

She said that this year will be another special year for badminton, as the NMI hosts two Olympic qualifiers. “We are requesting support from our community. This is an opportunity for our players to compete in a very high-level tournament and also an opportunity for the community to witness games from top players in the region. We will continue to bring our programs to our youth through Shuttle Time and the interscholastic competitions, as we are looking at badminton and other related activities as platforms to encourage our community to stay active and live a healthier lifestyle through sports.”