National badminton team
Timor-Leste |
Association | Federação de Badminton de Timor Leste (FBTL) |
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Confederation | BA (Asia) |
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President | Francisco Yong |
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Current ranking | 99 12 (2 January 2024) |
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Highest ranking | 99 (2 January 2024) |
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The Timor-Leste national badminton team (Portuguese: Equipa nacional de badminton de Timor-Leste; Tetum: Ekipa badminton nasionál Timor-Leste) represents East Timor in international badminton competitions.[1][2] While badminton is not a popular sport in East Timor, the nation has competed in tournaments such as the Asian Games and the BWF World Junior Championships.
East Timor has also made its presence in para-badminton. National para-badminton player, Anibal Gusmao Pereira was the first Timorese para-badminton player to play in the Asian Games. According to Pereira, badminton is highly unrecognized in East Timor and locals enjoy football more than badminton.[3]
History
Although East Timor used to be part of Indonesia which is one of the countries with a prestigious history in badminton, the sport was unrecognized in the region until 2002.[4] The Timor Leste Badminton Federation was then established in 2002 and sent its first two athletes to compete at the 2002 Asian Games, the two being Francisco Yong and Tes Fac Sing.[5][6]
The Timor Leste Badminton Federation took part in partnering with Badminton Asia and the Badminton World Federation and organized the Badminton for Peace campaign (Tetum: Badminton ba Dame) to teach peace culture to young people in Timor-Leste by facilitating dialogue and social cohesion as well as to promote the sport in the country.[7] In 2017, East Timor sent its junior players to the PB Djarum training camp as preparation for the 2017 BWF World Junior Championships in Yogyakarta.[8][9]
Mixed team
The Timorese mixed team competed in the mixed team event at the 2023 SEA Games.[10][11] In the quarter-final stage, the team lost 3–0 to hosts Cambodia.[12][13]