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)