Mahloof's club to share learned international experiences

Many officials from former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's government went on to run for the People's Majlis or engaged in some other political activity. However, that governments Minister of Youth and Sports Ahmed Mahloof opted to try and bring her daughters badminton career to greater heights.

His daughter, Laiba Ahmed Mahloof (Ellie) has seen success in various international tournaments. She also competed and won at a junior badminton tournament in Armenia last month.

Mahloof himself has learned many things from his trips with Ellie. His intent is to share what he has learned and as a result, he created "The Badminton Club", which will be hosting their first competition in September 2025.

Named the Maldives Junior Open, the competition will allow competitors aged 9 and under, and also competitors aged 19 and under.

When asked why did he create a club specifically for badminton, he said, "I've been working on this for the past six months. Even though the establishment is called The Badminton Club, it has been registered in such a way that other sports competitions will also be held."

Mahloof had a thought that if Laiba were to share her experiences and what she learned during her badminton-competition travels, other Maldivian junior badminton players and enthusiasts might benefit and learn as well.

"For example, one of the things Maldivian badminton tournaments do in their junior competitions are knock-out matches in the first round. And so as a consequence, players that travel all the way from Addu may only play one match, only to get knocked out and have to go back," said Mahloof.

"Parents of these players have also expressed their concern over this. The tournament The Badminton Club will host is not going to have knock-out matches within the first round. Every competitor will get to play three to four matches."

He also stated that many European and Asian countries have a system where junior and youth tournaments have it structured so that players can participate in multiple matches, allowing them to garner experience.

Players in the junior age category rarely get the chance to play at the international level.

Mahloof has said that tournaments from The Badminton Club will also allow international players to join and that the organization is working towards that.

"We are working on trying to bring international junior level players as well," Mahloof stated.

If this effort bears fruit, this is a win for Maldives' junior players.