Benin will host the upcoming Bénin AirBadminton International 2026 tournament from November 12 to 14, 2026, at the Daho Beach Club in Cotonou, as announced by the Fédération béninoise de badminton. The three-day competition introduces outdoor badminton to a wider audience in the country, building on the national team’s recent continental appearances.
Cotonou Prepares for Outdoor Badminton Action
The Daho Beach Club in Cotonou serves as the official venue for the three-day international showcase. The Fédération béninoise de badminton organized the event to bring the rapidly growing outdoor variant of the sport directly to local spectators and athletes. While the national governing body has not yet released the complete roster of participating nations, official tournament categories, or the day-by-day match schedule, the competition highlights the country’s rising profile in the sport.
AirBadminton differs fundamentally from traditional indoor badminton by moving competition to outdoor surfaces such as sand, grass, and hard courts. The discipline utilizes a specially engineered shuttlecock known as the AirShuttle, which is built to withstand exterior environmental factors like wind resistance. Matches can be contested in singles, doubles, and triples formats under guidelines established by the Badminton World Federation to increase accessibility across diverse outdoor environments.
Building on Continental Momentum in Entebbe
The upcoming tournament in Cotonou follows Benin’s active campaign at the 2026 African AirBadminton Championships, held from September 16 to 19 in Entebbe, Uganda. During the Uganda tournament, the Beninese men’s triples squad captured the continental title by defeating Mauritius in the final. That championship-winning lineup featured Oswald Fano-Dosh, Carlos Kpanou, Julien Totin, and Preferet Adomahou.
Benin also secured multiple podium finishes across other divisions in Entebbe. Oswald Fano-Dosh and Carlos Kpanou reached the men’s doubles final before falling to an Egyptian pair, while Anna Gladys Akakpo and Flora Kpogbemabou earned silver in the women’s doubles after a hard-fought match against Burkina Faso’s L. Belem and S. Maiga.
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