TheStar SINGAPORE: An international men’s badminton league, involving 16 countries, will take flight in 2009. International Badminton Federation (IBF) deputy president Datuk Punch Gunalan announced yesterday that teams would be divided into two groups of eight each and ties would be played on a home-and-away basis over a three-month period. “We have not decided on the format of the tie but it could be played in the Thomas Cup format of three singles and two doubles,” Gunalan told a press conference, which was also attended by the IBF president, Dr Kang Young Joon of South Korea. “To make it more attractive, each country can have the services of foreign players but they must have two local players in the team.” He added that they were in negotiations with an American company to work out a deal for the league. “They (the company) will not only give financial support to the league but also advertise it on a big scale. Badminton is getting big in America and there is already an offer from someone in New York to host the league in New York instead of Los Angeles,” he said. Gunalan said that California’s hosting of the world championships next month spoke of the game’s development in the United States. “We are announcing the league early to give the countries ample time to prepare. This will give the countries about four years to work things out. We will send out the details soon,” he said. He added two more centres to train and develop badminton talent would be set up – in Houston and either Kuala Lumpur or Singapore. The IBF already have three centres – in Guangzhou, Sofia (Bulgaria) and Saarbruecken (Germany). “You may say that badminton is already big in China and they are number one in the world. But those who train in Guangzhou are all non-China players,” said Gunalan.
Hmm..good news.. but they shouldn't do it in Thomas cup format,some other different format would be good. and they should call it 'Badminton Super League' or something like that. A three month period sounds Too good.Finally some really long tournament. And as i understand, will it be held in different countries simuntaneously???
