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Nkosilathi Sibanda

LOCAL badminton sensation Thabani Mathe has embarked on an international tour as he sets sight on qualifying for the Olympics and the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Championships later this year. 

The Olympics are set for Paris, France from July 26 to August 11, while the World Championships are slated for August 21 to 27 in Copenhagen, Denmark. 

Mathe, who is 26 is confident that he will qualify for both events as he seeks to achieve a top 100 world ranking and a top three position in Africa. 

At the moment, he is ranked 431 in the world, out of 2 000 players and is at 16 out of 80 players on the continental rankings. 

Through the international tours that he started last year, Mathe aims at attaining the qualifying requirements. 

“I started my international tournaments consistently from last year with a three-month training camp in Chengdu, China. I will participate in a minimum of 10 tournaments before the middle of 2024 and another 10 thereafter. I aim at participating in at least 20 tournaments. All this is in a bid to qualify for both the Summer Olympics in Paris, France and The Annual BWF World Championships towards the end of the year. 

“I have toured quite a number of countries since the start of my career, some of which are Uganda, Algeria and Nigeria. I have also played in the Southern African countries that include Zambia, South Africa, Botswana and Mauritius. Outside the continent, China, The United Arab Emirates and Qatar are the only countries I have toured so far,” said Mathe.

Mathe started playing badminton at the age of 13 in Hatfield, Harare where he played for Mazowe and Prince Edward High Schools. 

“I started from humble beginnings in a pretty small neighbourhood called Hatfield. I played and excelled in as many sports codes both at primary and high school. I found a soft spot for badminton when I was 13 years and made it a career when I turned 16. At that stage I had won a bronze medal at the All-Africa Schools Championship in Port Louis, Mauritius. After that, I added two more continental junior titles on my belt in South Africa in 2016,” said Mathe. 

The Olympic aspirant said he is impressed by the growth of badminton in the country. 

“Badminton in the country, in my view, is one of the fastest growing sports disciplines at the moment. As a country, we recently hosted the continental schools’ championships and with that it shows and brings the wealth of experience we possess and the growth we are exhibiting to the world. 

“With many stakeholders taking notice and more players touring and participating globally like myself, only good things can come out of it in the future,” he said.