I think BWF merely tries to copy what Tennis has: Grand Slams (SSP events & World Championships) Masters 1000 Events (SS events) ATP 500 Events (GPG events) ATP 250 Events (GP events). In terms of geographical distribution: Grand Slams -- 4 tourneys, with 1 in Australia (can be considered Asia too), 2 in Europe, and 1 in America Masters 1000 -- 9 tourneys, with 4 in the US/Canada, 1 in Asia, and the other 4 in Europe. ATP 500 - 11 tourneys, with 3 in Asia, 5 in Europe, 3 in America (including 1 in Acapulco, Mexico) ATP 250 - 40 tourneys, spread out all over the world. At the moment, Badminton has too few GP events (only 1 in Asia and 3 outside Asia) but lots of European IC tourneys organized by the Badminton Europe. I think some of these might need to be upgraded to GP events with prize money of at least US$50k to attract more interests from Europeans!
I think having a fixed-set of SSP & SS events will help to maintain the prestige of some tourneys. I propose: 1. Downgrading Korea SSP to just Korea SS. Although it offers the largest prize money and Korea is a traditionally strong country in badminton, attendance is pretty poor compared to the other SSP events. I hope they will replace Korea SSP with either Malaysia or Japan; and maintain the current 4 SSP events. 2. The other 8 SS events should be just right but the problem is, all except one are in Asia. We may need to promote one or two European events back to SS-levels and increase the number of SS events to 9 or 10. 3. Increase more GP events across Asia, Europe, America, Latin America, and even Africa!
The name of "IC" isn't very good. It gives the impression of an amateur competition with less formality. But yes, more GP events in other continents would be welcome. And should attendance really be a criteria with so much weighting? Point 2 illustrates my view perfectly...how do you promote the European event back to SS level? You might have lost the previous sponsor as they have gone to another sport... OK. Get a new sponsor? Not so easy in Europe..
with regard to GuangZhou, I meant GZ should have its own regular SS or GPG, like HK Open or Macau Open. A SS or GPG should be held in GZ every year (at around the same time of year). A GZ Open can attract enough sponsors, spectators, and world-class players. Of course it's a good idea to have at least one SS in every continent. But can Africa or Latin America attract enough sponsors, spectators, and world-class players? At the end of the day, the 12 countries/cities who can come up with the most money (from sponsorship, ticket sales and broadcasting rights) should be granted PSS and SS status. Same goes for GP and GPG events. The problem with the current two Chinese SS's is that they are held at or near Shanghai (ie, JiangSu). It's not fair to the people in the north or the south. That's why I think there should be a Guangzhou (or GuangDong) GPG event every year. Guangzhou, which is in the south, can easily come up with enough money or spectators. Liaoning (with LYB, ZhangNing and YuYang), which is in the north, should get its own GP event as well.
yes, GuangZhou has demonstrated its ability to run world class events. It should have its own regular SS or GP event.
Many cities can run world class events. I think using former players as a basis for holding a SS/GP event is very weak and only holds more interest on the personal level. It would give a negative image of the sport in the areas that we want to promote. Rather than hold a GP event, the China league does very well in promoting badminton as does the All China Games. I wouldn't discount Latin America too lightly. They can grow.
I am simply saying this. A regular annual SS or GP should be held in GuangZhou for two reasons: (1) they have an impeccable track record of running world-class badminton events. It has held Thomas/Uber Cup and Asian Games. And it will hold the World Championship in 2013. Name one other city with that kind of record, but without a regular SS or GP event. (2) Guangzhou can easily attract sponsors, spectators and top ranked players to come. We all want badminton to spread in the Americas (be it north or south). But they have a lot of work to do in attracting sponsors and top ranked players.
FYI, Liu Feng Yan, LYB's boss ( now Asia badminton representatives) actually asking BWF to reduce SS from 12 to 6 only... Basically we wanted more tournaments for other players in different continents to participate and CHINA wanted less tournaments because they are thinking about their players may get injuries more often.... Now this will complicate the situation..... BWF wanted to put higher prize money but Europe asking BWF to reduce so they can afford it... Please note that Korea Open once offered US$ 1.2 million now US$ 1 Million....
It had been brought up a year or 2 yrs ago that Mens Single and Mens Double have their own tour...but since women players refuse to wear skirts,..many sponsors may not have WS and WD double...and also MIXED double is very popular after MS and MD..where does XD belong to? Mens or Womens tour??for sure...we may have more Mens tours than Womens tours..... It is not easy and we still have a long way to go unfortunately.... Look at people criticise when company of Axiata offers US$ 1 million prize money....this shows that we are far away in term of thinking about this sport....
BWF might as well reduce the SS tournaments to 5 . To reduce SS from 12 to 6 is a good idea, but we know that 5 of the SS are SSP. Therefore, BWF might as well reduce the SS tournaments to 5. Turn the other 7 SS to GPG. IMHO, many players participate in tournaments to gain world ranking points. BWF need to make changes to their ranking points (being awarded in tournaments); Make BIGGER difference of points being awarded to tournaments (in the SS, GP, IC and IS). My suggestion is for the ranking points to be awarded based on the ratio of tournament prize monies. Note: Since the Thomas Cup, Uber Cup and Sudirman Cup are Teams Events (without prize monies), no ranking points shall be awarded to players of teams. .
Definitely don't agree with the reduction in number of tournaments. It just means that China players (and managers) will have to pick and choose better which tournaments to enter. It also levels the field for all players. So if China players don't go to for example 3 SS tournaments, then those points will be shared amongst the other entries. Having a variety of winners on the podium has to be a fair process and creates national interest. Imagine if Kevin Cordon won a SS title but without the strongest chinese players there. For himself, there's the motivation to continue on a personal level, he may attract more funding from his national body, interest in his own country definitely gets a boost - and it's all fair because there was no restriction on chinese players - it was because they chose not to send players to that particular tournament. So I would definitely be against a reduction. If China want to protect their players from injury, then they have to either a) alter their training programme, or b) play in fewer tournaments.
the way i see is simple. The higher the fewer. For example, the most important individual event on the calendar is Olympics and WC. There is only 1 such event per year. The most important team event is TUC and Sudirman. There is only 1 such event per year. The next important events are PSS and SS Finals. Currently there are six such events. The next are SS event. There are seven such events. GPG: there are 12 GP: there are 4 So there are 13 PSS/SS event and 16 GP/GPG event, a total of 29. Without changing the number of total tournaments, i suggest that we change the calendar to the following instead: PSS: 3 SS: 6 GPG: 9 GP: 11 wouldn't the above be more logical?
Uhm, We can have 5 PSS 10 SS 15 GPG 50 GP ......but there is no obligation for ALL the Chinese to go to ALL tournaments... Lin Dan can go to the 5 PSS, 5 SS and 1 WC/OG and the SS Finals... Badminton is similar to tennis, but not exactly like tennis... In tennis it is very boring to watch MD, WD, and XD... In badminton, all 5 categories are excellent!!! Why would any idiot criticize a $ 1 million prize money?!? More money for the sport is excellent!!!
Whilst we hope for more tournaments and higher prize monies, surely there must be limitations to what can be achieved within just one calendar year without any decline in standards all round. It has been said that to entice the right kind of sponsors to support the tournaments for an extended period is not so easy. Sponsors have their own objectives and timeframes. On the other hand, BWF and the local NBAs also have their own which may not coincide entirely with the sponsors. So some form of accommodation have to be tolerated. To spearhead the popularity of badminton in new countries may need much more help and resources from BWF to be successful. Trained manpower, including not only the officials but also the backup staff, are also needed to ensure success. Ideally professional players should be paid for participation at least to compensate them for expenses on food, lodging and travel, and this should be included in at least the SS and GP events. Then there must be good attendance and media coverage, especially TV, to satisfy sponsors and fans. In this sense, although Macau can easily fork out the money but is unable to attract good attendance that makes it a bad choice. So success can only be achieved when all these ingredients fall into place to popularize badminton. We can't just wave the magic wand to turn Africa or Latin America into an overnight success! Lots more have to be done to prepare for ultimate success. So the allocation of the various BWF tournaments should be well-balanced to reward countries which truly deserve. And it is no point to increase the number of tournament without a concomitant increase in quality standards.
I hardly watch tennis live so can't really comment whether doubles event are boring. To me, I find that even the single matches are boring. As for badminton, I find WD boring because a lot of the pairs are winning through stamina(long rallies). If there is live TV broadcast, I sometimes watch or do other things when the WD doubles match start and watching only the last few points.
