Badzine just reported that Denmark badminton revealed that 9 out of 12 SS will be safe: KOR SS MAS SS AE SS INA SS SINGAPORE SS DENMARK SS French SS China SS Japan SS ( 3 or 4 will be promoted to Grand SS in 2011) And China SS, Hongkong and Switzerland are under examination including INDIA who wanted to have SS USA, MACAU, Australia and Vietnam are redeemed as NOT READY
China SS under examination? Hmm...they are one of the powerhouses. Their tournament standard can't be lowered... Or is that examination for Grand SS?
Australia wants to have a SS now?!? Well, at least they have the ambition to think that way... I never thought it was necessary to have TWO SS in China, THREE if you include HK SS... [note: HK is part of the People's Republic of China, is it not?] Spread the SS to more countries please! This is what BWF should do: 1. give China Open the Elite SS status... along with All England, Indonesia Open... 3 Elite SS for now... Wait for 1 more located in the USA... [need 6 more years or so ] 2. change China Masters concept to become like Copenhagen Masters (the Asian version)... 3. give India Open the SS status! 4. drop HK Open and SS Open... thus lowering the number of SS events to 7, along with the 3 Elite SS... total: 10. DONE!
I will agree to the suggestion of having 3-4 Elite SS and at most 6-7 more spread out. Jan 2 SS (Malaysia & Korea) Feb Qualification period for Thomas/Uber Cup in even years blank for Asian countries in odd years for now (??) but European Mixed Team Championships for European countries Mar German Open (GP/GP Gold) All-England Elite SS Swiss Open (GP Gold) Apr Badminton Asia Championships European Championships in even years May Sudirman Cup in odd years Thomas/Uber Cup in even years June Singapore SS Indonesia Elite SS Malaysia GP Gold July Thailand GP Gold Australia GP/GP Gold New Zealand GP US Open GP/GP Gold August World Championships or Olympics September India SS Japan SS Indonesia GP Gold October Dutch GP Denmark SS French GP Gold November China Elite SS Hong Kong SS So: 1 World Championships/Olympics 3 Elite SS 7 SS a bunch of other GP/GP Gold tourneys
Dr.Kang will make sure that KOREA will get SS Elite! BAM will fight to get SS Elite ( they will not be happy if INA gets it) Japan seems so quiet and they may surprise us...after all Yonex wont be outdone by Li Ning if China gets it.
Yonex should just continue to sponsor All England and increase the prize money there... I cannot imagine All England not being one of the Elite SS. So: Yonex All England Elite SS Li Ning China Open Elite SS Djarum Indonesia Open Elite SS ...and maybe either one of: Victor Korea Open Elite SS Proton Malaysia Open Elite SS
All England already a prestigious tournament. I dont think it will be an Elite SS. Malaysia already has hosted 2 Grand SSs. Im not sure if Malaysia will be upgraded to an Elite SS. I do hope so. China is a powerhouse... but it is still a ? and what benefit can China bring to badminton if SS to be upgraded to an Elite SS. INA would have to upgrade the facilities and standard of the court/environment if they want to host ELITE SS. I guess all countries including Malaysia should learn from AE organisers on hosting an event and bring its badminton standard/value and prestige to the viewers.
..it sounds like it'll go back to square one again (same old, same old)..with most likely India in the mix to replace China Masters SS.. The way i see it, the Grand SS tag will be more about who can come up with the most cash for the prize money, rather than the historical value.. ...a lot of politics, as usual..
.....All brands are badminton gears producer besides Djarum and Proton.. By the way, MAS is now with ING as main sponsor, not Proton....
Nah, that's the point! Being an elite SS host means those countries must handle bdm tourney professionally and well organized. Yup, Elite SS may provide bigger WR points than current SS
India's badminton following may be bigger now. But the publicity for last year's World Championships wasn't great, and the stadium wasn't filled (we are talking 3000-5000 capacity only here). You probably won't know there was an event on if not for the roadblocks at the roads leading to the stadium. Could have been caused by the ticket price against population purchasing power, I am not sure. But if it were in Indonesia, the crowd would have overflowed (as long as there is INA representation in the final).
My take on the Elite SS. 1 in Europe - All-England, no question. 1 in East Asia - CHN in terms of strength, JPN in terms of organisation (I go for JPN) 1 in South East Asia - MAS and INA would clamour for it, but SIN has the right facilities, neutrality, organisation and location (between MAS and INA). So, I would suggest ENG, JPN and SIN for the 3 Elite SS, none of the big guns. It's obvious I'm aiming for organisation and neutrality.
Related news.. http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82868 ========================================================= Source: Reuters India http://in.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idINIndia-47179420100324 Super Series hosts named, Australia and U.S. lose out
Agree with you on the three venues for the Grand Slams. However, I 'd like to suggest a fourth and that is France, another neutral place. There should be two in Asia and two in Europe. Singapore is meaningful also because it's Li Ning territory. The objective of the GS is to get the top players to play as many tournaments as possible. It's no good if they just play in their home or near home tournaments. With the four GS outside the top players' home ground, at least there's some assurance that they will play four tournaments without home advantage. I hope India gets to host SS. It has tremendous market potential. They did a great job with the WC. Security has never felt better and India deserves the 'promotion' for achieving that.
Correction: the objective of the Premier Super Series [a.k.a. Grand Slam] is to create even more excitement for badminton worldwide... not to get the top players to play as many tournaments as possible. I also do hope India get the SS. Eliminate China Masters! Oh, I heard BWF is giving priorities to the so called markets with high commercial value potential for badminton... At last, they understand business and strategy!
Europe - 1*England, Denmark, France Asia - China, Korea, 2*Japan South East Asia - Malaysia, Idonesia, 3*Singapore IMO, the 4th Premier SS and the 10th SS should be given to USA. I know it might not be ready now but I can foresee the potential in terms of sponsorship in the future. Just my 2cent. So, we have 4 "Grand Slams" in 4 neutral places.
+1 with the statement and I agree that China Master should eliminate from SS. IMO, they should host the SS bi-annually between Hong kong, Swiss, India, and USA (possibly France and Singapore too) to get the most exposure. I think North American should be included somehow to further promote the sport.