Bolkiah a candidate for IBF presidency

Bolkiah a candidate for IBF presidency

JAKARTA (JP): Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei is one of
three candidates vying to become president of the International
Badminton Federation (IBF).

The other two candidates are current IBF vice president
Justian Suhandinata of Indonesia and Asian Badminton
Confederation chairman Korn Dabbaransi of Thailand.

No European badminton officials were named as candidates, with
the nominations closing on Feb. 2, according to an IBF press
release.

The election will take place on June 3 during the IBF's annual
general meeting in Seville, Spain, which is being held in
conjunction with the World Championships. This is the first time
in the history of the federation that the presidency has been
contested.

The new president, who will replace current president and
International Olympics Committee member Lu Shengrong of China,
will be voted on by the 141 full-member associations of the IBF.

Should Justian be elected IBF president, he will be the third
Indonesian to hold that post, following Ferry Sonneville and
Sudirman, whose name graces the biennial mixed team event.

Two people -- Jeff Robson and Punch Gunalan -- have been named
as candidates for vice president.

Raj Gaya of Mauritius, Kim Hak-suk of South Korea, Mya Lay
Sein of Myanmar, Paisan Rangsikitpho of the United States,
Martijn van Dooremalen of the Netherlands, Joseph Clarke of
Jamaica and Jean Brunet of France are the nominees for council
representatives.

Torsten Berg of Denmark is the sole candidate to become the
European continental representative, while Cedric Baxter is the
candidate to become the Oceania representative. (yan)