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AKARTA: 2000 Sidney Olympics badminton gold medalist Candra Wijaya announced Thursday that a youth badminton tournament named after him will be held in Jakarta from May 10-14.

The third Candra Wijaya Men’s Doubles Championships 2011, which is sanctioned by the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI), is a US$25,000 event featuring under-15, under-17 and under-19 players.

“This is the one thing I can do to help develop qualified shuttlers. We need to maintain the country’s tradition in winning gold medal in the Olympics,” Candra said Thursday, adding that he hoped the PBSI national training camp main athletes could participate.

Apart from local players, Candra said shuttlers from Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore were confirmed to participate in his event.

Candra will also present badminton lifetime awards to the sport’s legends, including Lim Swie King — the All England men’s singles champion in 1978, 1979 and 1981 who led the Indonesian team to Thomas Cup victories in 1976, 1979 and 1984 and was inducted into the International Badminton Federation Badminton Hall of Fame in 2002.

Apart from the matches, the event will also showcase a charity auction of several badminton rackets — including Candra’s — and a painting to raise money for the earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan. — JP