BWF Corporate
By the end of the nomination period on 20 October 2017 five eligible nominations had been received for the elections of the Para badminton Athletes’ Commission. The nominees, in order of the first names are:
- Anand Kumar (India)
- Bello Rafiu Oyebanji (Nigeria)
- Daniel Chan (Hong Kong)
- Raúl Eduardo Anguiano Araujo
- Richard Perot (France)
There are five (5) positions available and the commission members will serve a four (4) year term to 2021.
Since there are exactly five nominations for five positions, there is no need to have an election at the Para badminton World Championships in Ulsan Korea on Friday 24th November as planned.
The new Athletes’ Commission will come into effect on Saturday 25th November. Once main task at their first meeting is to select a chair of the commission, and to make a recommendation to the Council for a Vice Chair.
Bore Gowda Anand Kumar (IND)
At aged 39 years of age, Anand Kumar is one of the most senior and experienced Para badminton players in India. Anand has been representing India for the last 17 years and has witnessed all the phases of growth of Para badminton in India and internationally. He is friendly, helpful and has good communication skills which makes him popular among Indian and foreign Para badminton players alike.
He was the gold medalist at the BWF Para badminton World Championship 2015 in SL3-SL4 men’s doubles category and currently is ranked world no.7.
Even at his age, he is still proving his worth as a player and strongly representing India in International Para badminton events. During coaching camps he is actively contributing his best for the development of Indian Para badminton in India.
Bello Rafiu Oyebanji (NGR)
Although Bello has been a national para-badminton player since 2000, he only competed in his first BWF sanctioned international para-badminton tournament earlier this year in Uganda.
Bello is ranked 31 in Sport Class SL 4 and is one of the highest ranked player in Africa.
He wishes to contribute to the development of Para badminton around the world and to Africa in particular.
Daniel Chan Ho Yuen (HKG)
Daniel Chan is from Hong Kong and has been an active Para badminton player for nearly 10 years. Ranked world number 2 in WH 2, Daniel has a goal to qualify in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Daniel hopes that Para badminton develops globally and he hopes that all regions can develop para-badminton programmes.
As a member of the Athlete’s Commission, Daniel looks forward to representing the player’s ideas and doing his best for all players. He wants to help spread the development of the sport and improve the quality of the experience for players at tournaments. After his playing career, Daniel hopes to be a coach.
Raúl Eduardo Anguiano Araujo (GUA)
At age 42, Raúl Anguiano has represented Guatemala in both badminton and Para badminton since the age 10. He has been a pioneer athlete in the Pan Am region for Para badminton. He started to compete in 2005. He has a passion for Para badminton and everything to do with it. He has also coached Para badminton athletes in Guatemala since 2010.
Raúl was part of the organising committee for the BWF Para badminton World Championships 2011 in Guatemala.
His achievements as a player have been varied however he says that there is nothing more wonderful than to help others get to know para-badminton in Guatemala, the Pan-Am region and worldwide.
As a commission member Raúl would like to assist in the development and improvement of Para badminton in general.
Richard Perot (FRA)
Since the age of 6, Richard has been playing ice hockey at a national level. He has been a skier, and basket-baller. Richard moved into table tennis after his accident. Richard discovered badminton in 2010, and since then, he has been involved in most international and national events as a player.
Richard has a long involvement in para badminton as an administrator. He is currently chair of the BWF Para-Badminton Athletes’ Commission and is President and founder of FRAP (France Para badminton). Richard has been working in France with the French Badminton Federation to establish and develop a national team and structure for our sport.
Richard is also a member of the Badminton Europe Para Commission (2014-2017) and he has contributed to developing an interest in Europe around Para badminton, helping to create coach education seminars and in the near future, an elite players boot-camp.
As chair of BWF PAC (Para badminton Athletes’ Commission) for the past 4 years, Richard has put in place the athletes Facebook, organized player’s meetings, represented athletes at the IPC and at BWF Para commissions & events.
He has been involved in the discussions and proposals for the Tokyo 2020 programme and qualification process and lately, he has requested a “new PAC” structure, so the commission is more representative of our community.
