Kota Kinabalu: Nur Zulaikha Ismail achieved a historic milestone as the first Sabahan woman and the second from the State after Datuk Anthony C. Linggian to earn the Badminton Asia (BA) Certificated Umpire Status after successfully passing her final exam in Ningbo, China recently.
The 31-year-old Beaufort lass began the journey at the age of 15, when she developed a keen interest in umpiring under the mentorship of Teo Han Chai, with encouragement from SM St. John’s Principal Seah Soo Lin.
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She demonstrated her commitment and passion by being actively involved in local tournaments in the early days and made steady progress then on to pass her BAM Level One Umpire Certification in 2012 followed by Level Two in 2012 before attaining Level Three, the highest national umpiring qualification in 2014.
She was then appointed to officiate both national and international tournaments before earning her selection for international appraisal under BA, then known as Badminton Asia Confederation.
Some of the major tournaments officiated by her include Malaysia Masters Open 2024 (Kuala Lumpur), Macau Open 2025 and the 13th ASEAN Para Games Badminton (Korat, Thailand) early this year.
She revealed that it was not a smooth journey as a married woman and attributed her achievements to sheer passion and unwavering determination, and her next target is to pass the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Umpire Certification, the highest global recognition in badminton officiating.
She also expressed her gratitude to her mentor Anthony for his guidance throughout her career as well as all the assistance received from BA, BAM, Sabah Badminton Association.
Meanwhile, Anthony presented her with his personal BWF toss-coin as a gesture of encouragement.
According to him, the coin was specially presented to him by BWF back in 2001, when he achieved his BWF Umpire status in Spain.
