KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 — Don’t miss the opportunity to meet your badminton idols when the Piala KTS Challenge Trophy kicks off on October 29 and 30.

The competition held in conjunction with KTS Cellular Sdn Bhd 30th anniversary celebrations will see ex and current national players participate in a round-robin format over two days competing for a share of RM17,000 in prize money.

Former national singles shuttler Ng Mee Fen, former world No. 1 Roslin Hashim, current men’s doubles Lim Kim Wah-Goh V Shem and perhaps even Tan Boon Heong will be competing.

“It’s great to see us having more competitions now that things are settling down pre-covid and I hope sports fans take advantage of this opportunity to check out their idols,” Mee Fen said when met at the event launch today.

“I recall how it was difficult to meet your idols when I was younger and only met the taiko’s or seniors when I joined the national team way back and (Ong) Ewe Hock was one of them.

“It’s also been great for the corporate sector. With all the ex-players coming to play it’s a great opportunity for them to network and get plenty of exposure.”

KTS chief operating officer Johnny Lim said they took up the challenge of promoting sports to help Rotary Club of Rahman Putra raise funds for their Leadership Transformation Programme (LTP).

“We love this programme as it helps the B40 group to elevate them from poverty. It’s good to see national and ex-players participate and we hope to have more collaborations with them in the future,” he said.

Apart from them, former Malaysia No. 1 singles shuttler Ong is also a stalwart of the LTP programme and is an avid supporter of Rotary Club of Rahman Putra.

Ong will play doubles and said with the event in Selangor it would be nice to see fans come and watch the competition.

“The last three months we’ve had a few events with plenty of participation from ex and international players,” Ong told Malay Mail.

“We encourage all the corporate to come in so we can further this LTP programme, help more kids in need and if the event gets traction it opens up some marketing opportunities for the corporate sector as well as the athletes.”

Ong too echoed Mee Fen’s sentiments that as an open tournament with no entrance fee or tickets, it’s an excellent opportunity to shake your idol’s hands and maybe take a picture or two.

Meanwhile, Patrick Neoh the organising chairman for this event expressed his gratitude towards KTS Cellular for sponsoring the event adding that he hoped to collaborate with them again in the future.

“With legends like Ong Ewe Hock, Foo Kok Keong and many current state players joining it promises to be an entertaining event with lots of prize money up for grabs,” he said.

Piala KTS will be a team event with four groups comprising four teams each in each group for a total of 16 teams. It will be open to pro and social players.

The categories will be mixed doubles, men’s doubles both in the open category and men’s doubles with a combined age above 100. The registration fee per team is RM1,000.

The champion will take home RM8,000, runner-up RM4,000, semifinalists RM2,000 and plate champion RM1,000.

It will run from October 29-30 at Setia Alam Badminton Arena.