TV-wise, tennis can do it because doubles is such an afterthought for both promoters and spectators. They can sell 3h finals to broadcasters because few really care whether they see the mixed doubles final or not. With badminton, though, it is doubles which give spectators some of the most exciting matches and definitely the most regional diversity among winners. Five sets of tennis is not equivalent to 5x21 in badminton, where 3 games of 21 already stretch fitness to the limit. If the oft-cited 1985 figures indeed still apply to modern matches with the rally-point system - which they probably do - a 75-minute badminton match already involves more actual playing time, more distance covered, and more intensity than a 3h Grand Slam tennis match, meaning that the equivalent might actually be to make all the other tournaments go to 3x17 points and keep the Premier SS at 3x21. Either that or Grand Slam tennis has to move to best of 7 sets to catch up to badminton.
so , it's confirmed then.. Korea, China, Indonesia, England and Denmark for the ' Grand Slam'.. lol...now the prize money for the Korea Premier SS is USD 90,000 for the singles champ n USD 94 K for the doubles.. for sure the entry will be top notch !!
Great news, can't wait to see Lin Dan holding the 90,000U$D prize.....That would be great........When are we possibly going to see a Badminton champion holding a prize of 1,000,000$$$
Krisna, How do rate S'pore and and HK if we look at them of how a tournament is run? Do you think they are poorly organised? Are they poorly attended by the top players? Are there any complaints by the players themselves? Basically, are the tournaments poorly run (bad umpiring/line calls) or not popular enough to mean they should be downgraded? In fact, I wonder why China cannot combine the Masters and the Open prize money to give an even richer prize. Then again, it may be a sponsorship clash. HK, well, technically part of China Then again, from a sports point a view (and badminton is a sport), HK has separate teams from China, even in the Olympics.
Again, the intention of BWF when they initiated this Premier Series is not to merely compare the ability of tournament organization. BWF wants badminton to grow worldwide... Soooo, even though Singapore and HK Open are well organized, these 2 cities are limited [I did not say they contribute nothing] in its ability to help grow badminton worldwide... not in terms of increasing more badminton fan excitement... not in terms of increasing badminton business... not in terms of improving the level of play... Yes, HK compete with a different team than China [for the next few decades until it is fully integrated], but...... if any other country dare to send its army to attack Hong Kong, guess who will agressively defend 'its territorial integrity': the People's Republic of China. Case closed. It is a city in China. Period.
well, money could....and probably the other reason is that LD will have to apply for another additional 'Passport' now... ( from XXF ......... )
..besides those unhappiness and other than India finally getting a SS event, i guess you're not really satisfied as your wish of seeing other potential baddy markets (e.g. Aussie, the Americas) hasn't been addressed whilst they still retain 3 big events in China...or maybe not yet??..
Next time around, fire China Masters, HK Open, and Singapore Open from the SS! Make way for Russia Open SS, USA Open SS, and Australia Open SS! =)
Here's a case study taken from a very popular HK event (popular as in worldwide). Perhaps this is an example we can move to? In you are wondering, this is the sport and event:
I think there is the wish, but can the level of sponsorship be maintained for the three years? And it's not BWF's role to lobby for sponsors in each individual country. That should be the role of the respective country's badminton association. What do you think?
And replace filled arenas with empty ones??? To give a country SS status does not make badminton popular in that country. But anyway, you are looking at it from the wrong side. First, badminton needs to be somewhat popular in that country. Only then will the sponsors be more willing to fork up more cash for the prize money. And only then can it qualify to be a SS or Premier event. A certain amount of prize money is BWF's requirement for SS and Premier. Now, will sponsors be willing to fork out USD 200,000 for the US Open when the interest is lukewarm?
Swiss got dropped as it is empty...not enugh spectators...badminton in russia is getting popular...i believe that in 2014, Russia will qualify as they have a major sponsotship this year but facilities are not qualified yet.
