Are you sure about this? In the past US Opens all the prize money and most of the tournament expenses came from the tournament sponsor, Yonex, except when the title sponsor was Hong Ta Shan in mid 1990s. If the prize money is provided by the OCBC then I wonder why the tournament title sponsorship has Yonex on it?????
I don't think you meant to say appearance fees to have Zhou Mi and Chen Hong play in the tournament as well???? Because according to the BWF Statutes no appearance fee can be payed to an athlete to play in any BWF sanctioned tournament except in an Exhibition Match.
Errmm, well.. ..i'm "not sure"..but as posted, it was "From what i gathered.." from a source at OCBC...Abt the 2nd query, well, it's called the OCBC/Yonex U.S. Open, so i would assume it's co-sponsored by OCBC and Yonex...Also do you suppose this yr's Korea Open as well as other tourneys(SS or Grand Prix tourneys), which use Yonex as the title sponsor, were/are actually being sponsored (prize-money) by Yonex themselves??..
Hmm.. ..back to the U.S. Open...I read a couple links on the history of the U.S. Open and apparently, prior to 2001, it was called the OCBC Open, with OCBC & K&D Graphics(Don Chew's companies) being the main sponsor. However in 2001, in the link below, after the inception of the name U.S. Open, i read Yonex has been a part or co-title sponsor with OCBC and K&D Graphics. And if not mistaken, at that yr, the prize money was $15,000 with $5,000 of which being sponsored by Yonex. Perhaps that's why they've been calling it "OCBC U.S. Open" ever since?!?...Now, whether the prize money is still being shared by both OCBC and Yonex, that i can't confirm. But my hunch says, at the least, Yonex is the equipments sponsor.. http://www.ocbadmintonclub.com/Media/USOpen2001/2001USOpenBook.pdf (pg. 16)
Maybe baddy is not a popular sport in USA but after soccer it is the 2nd most played sport in the world.
i don't what the share is between OCBC and Yonex. but i can tell you that if any of them is not sponsoring any money to the tournament, their name will be dropped from the title. so we can only guess that there is some sponsorship money (and definitely equipment coming from Yonex).
I like the sound of "BadmintonCentral.com Open". If all the BC'ers can throw in $5 each, it would be enough money for sponsorship
same thing said for women tennis, but they get paid for appearance...for badminton, it will be under table...trust me!!
This is not so. Except for the 2 years Hong Ta Shan sponsored the event, which was $200,000, OCBC has sponsored along with Yonex all the Opens held at OCBC. Of course it would be nice to get another sponsor like Hong Ta Shan.
DRAW is OUT ...published in BWF website http://www.internationalbadminton.org/draws.asp Not a bad turn out, no big names but some recognized players from World Championship... Pending referee's confirmation, the draw should be available soon at: http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draws.aspx?id=16281
thanks for the link. a mix of JPN, KOR, TPE, CAN, USA and MAS players. mostly second stringers from the stronger countries. it doesn't look like it is worth a trip to go down there.
Kwun: of course it's worth a trip down to SoCal. Don't you want to see a bamboo eating panda swing a NS9000-X?
From what i've read/gathered.. ..in one local newspaper in Surabaya, i didn't see any players from the U.S.A. listed in the list of players participating in the upcoming GGJPSC (Gudang Garam Jawa Pos Surabaya Challenge)...Unless there was a typo in the article....
he meant players from other countries. i imagine almost all eligible USA players will be playing in the US Open.
There are many junior players in the qualifying round, the youngest one I know is only is a 13 yr old girl Many parents said you have to pay $55 for admission and only $75 to play 2 events. For $20 bucks more, your have a chance to play with the higher level players, experience big tournament feeling. An hour private lession cost from $40 to $60. They said its a good deal if you dont feel embarassed
Hi Chris, I meant other countries..so far 15 countries confirmed including china,taiwan,malaysia, India,England to set to play Suarabaya challenge...I think most of them after WC, fly to Indonesia then India....I am curious which players China will send to Surabaya... I hope next year, US Open will not clash with any tournaments...
