What Is Future Of International Badminton

Discussion in 'General Forum' started by Zhao, Mar 15, 2005.

  1. Zhao

    Zhao Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2002
    Messages:
    123
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    stud
    Location:
    geneve
    HELLO
    If you look the results of the last IBF tournament, don't you think fewer contries made good results. And all from asia...
    If you except the danes in MD and and the MxD. Where are the new generation of single player from denmark, england, sweden, netherland, germany, ... I don't see players in top 15 in the future?
    I don't speak about the "european players" from asia !!!
    I don't think it's good to see this new badminton with only 5 or 6 asian countries !
    What do you think about that!
     
  2. aiyuuw

    aiyuuw Regular Member

    Joined:
    Oct 9, 2004
    Messages:
    469
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    good 'ol student
    Location:
    Indo
    i agree, even peter gade and susi susanti have spoken about this
    u know,lets not talk about asia v europe first,lets just see,in asia itself, china is too dominating, thats not really good, becos almost in every tournaments they always scoop the majority of the titles, and sometimes all, i am worried that someday it willl be a chinese game and not international anymore (exaggerating here, but u get the point), but as long as some countries like indonesia and korea, or malaysia can keep up, at least china still have some oppositions
    and now europe, theyre not producing as much youngsters as the asians do, they rely on the veterans, but they are already in their late 20s, and some even in their 30s, i dont see any good prospects for them, and as u can see now the champions, and top players from europe (except the danes) are almost all asian-born, that just emphasized asian domination in the sport
    i dont like it that way, badminton should be for everybody in the world, and not for people in some particular regions, if that is what happen, then i think badminton will be much less interesting to watch
     
    #2 aiyuuw, Mar 15, 2005
    Last edited: Mar 15, 2005
  3. Zhao

    Zhao Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2002
    Messages:
    123
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    stud
    Location:
    geneve
    I agree

    If this situation continue for a long time, it will be difficult for IBF to stay in the programme of the Olympics. And it will not be interesting for all the people, except people from the 5 or 6 countries, and today it's china, korea, malaysia, indonesia and denmarK. But for denmark, it will be very difficult for the next years.
    And look the results of the last Europen Champs in LS... ;)





     
  4. tranvi007

    tranvi007 Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2004
    Messages:
    101
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Student
    Location:
    Calgary, Alberta, Canada
    Agreed....

    Badminton is just like everyone other sports. The fact that its alot harder than it looks, make people thing its no sport. Thats recreation badminton, but competitive badminton is a sport, and requires both hand and foot coordination at the same time, just like baseketball and hockey.
     
  5. Zhao

    Zhao Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2002
    Messages:
    123
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    stud
    Location:
    geneve
    Really sad !

    :crying: :crying:
    YES badminton is less and less interesting to watch.
    We have always the same players with the same results and the difference between 5 asian countries and the rest of the world is more and more important. That's a shame...
    And if the MXD will not be in the programm of the 2012 OG, it'll be catastrofic!!!
    IBF have to find something to change that or it will be difficult for our sport to stay Olympic.
     
  6. seven

    seven New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2003
    Messages:
    2,841
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Computing Engineer
    Location:
    Toulouse, France
    I don't think badminton is less and less interesting to watch.

    Of course, I would like to see world class players from all five continents and less chinese hegemony but it doesn't mean the current badminton stars aren't interesting to watch!
    In fact, they are great! :D
     
  7. Zhao

    Zhao Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2002
    Messages:
    123
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    stud
    Location:
    geneve
    Of course badminton is interesting to watch but only for badminton player. But for all the people, i'm afraid it's not really interesting to see always China VS KOR or INA from 1/4f to final of all the IBF tournament.
    Look the result of the last All england, if you except the MX (thanks Nathan...), you have :
    MS : in the main draw 33 asian players and 31 non asian
    only 4 asian countries in 1/4 F...
    LS : 8 players from asia (please don't talk about mia and xu ;) )
    MD : 3 asian countries and den (thanks!!!)
    LD : 8 asian pairs

    And that's a european tournament...
    That's ridiculous to think badminton can stay in olympic program with this stats.
    And it will be worth and worth after the end of the old danish players. :crying:

     
  8. seven

    seven New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2003
    Messages:
    2,841
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Computing Engineer
    Location:
    Toulouse, France
    In fact, many olympic sports are just about only european (horse riding etc) and all the medals are shared between european countries.
    If you add the medals of all european countries in the olympics, you get something like 3/4 of the total number of medals.
    I find it is only just fair that a sport which is not dominated by Europeans can also be olympic, though you are probably right, IOC probably doesn't like it when Europeans don't win anything in an olympic sport...

    All this is political, nothing else : it doesn't seem to be a problem to anyone that Kenyans always get all the medals in 3000m steeple for example, but it might be more of a problem if chinese sportsmen win many medals in a sport, because China is a threat to U.S.A.'s first position in medals standings...
     
  9. Bbn

    Bbn Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2002
    Messages:
    3,004
    Likes Received:
    2
    Thank you for being so honest , Seven.

    I think money makes the world go round,

    I think 75 % of the total wealth in the world is in EU or

    US and the West pulls the money strings esp Olympics.

    How come Soccer is so successful ?

    Today Japan and Korea are world beaters, and when they lost they never whined but developed their own niche and strengths.

    I wonder why this can't be done in badminton.

    I think rich countries just like to band together and play with their own playmates and make life difficult for less wealthy people.

    If Asia is weakened in badminton and table tennis I think its even worse. Of course then they will lose their Olympic prestige.
     
  10. seven

    seven New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2003
    Messages:
    2,841
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Computing Engineer
    Location:
    Toulouse, France
    U.S.A. are the best example as they actually invent their own sports that no one else plays at except them (Baseball, American Football etc...) and play other sports with their own rules (NBA basket-ball ...) so they can say they are the best in the world.

    The irony is that they even start losing in these sports now! :p
     
  11. Bbn

    Bbn Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2002
    Messages:
    3,004
    Likes Received:
    2
    I think badminton has 2 challenges :

    To remain in olympics it needs to prove that it is played by a minimum no. of countries, not EU only, that's what Susi is saying.

    To encourage more European success the key should be the European badminton Union,

    EU has the money to organise closed tours or training for members by pooling resources, I think Germany is doing it.

    Once football was dominated by Europeans but they spent money in promoting it worldwide until othe people are better than them.

    China alone cannot afford to undertake such a huge investment.
     
  12. seven

    seven New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2003
    Messages:
    2,841
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Computing Engineer
    Location:
    Toulouse, France
    Badminton is played significantly in Europe, I think the development efforts must be put in Africa and Southern America mainly, as there is very little badminton in these regions.
    The problem is that media coverage and sponsoring depends mainly on badminton profile in USA and Europe, as this is where all the money is... (at the moment)
    And this will obviously take time... :rolleyes:
     
  13. Zhao

    Zhao Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2002
    Messages:
    123
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    stud
    Location:
    geneve
    But that's not a question of medals. That's a question of domination, look the stats. Domination of just a continent and it's getting worse.
    Of course some sports are winning by a continent but other continent can play a final. That's not Badminton for the future. Sad :crying:





     
  14. Bbn

    Bbn Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2002
    Messages:
    3,004
    Likes Received:
    2
    What then is the solution?

    At the moment the most TV exposure is in Msia, HK and

    China. More European participation is welcome,

    but I think most people in ,say Msia will stop watching badminton on TV if the tours feature say, Gade versus

    Jonassen, then there will be no more coverage.

    China for eg. skips the Swiss Open.
     
  15. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

    Joined:
    Oct 9, 2002
    Messages:
    17,757
    Likes Received:
    1,078
    Occupation:
    Semi-Retired
    Location:
    Singapore Also Can
    So in order to sustain interest, you need heroes in at least each continent, someone with whom you can identify. Then you get support from the masses and this in turn attracts sponsorship in all forms. And the enthusiasm feeds on itself. Perpetuity is ensured.

    But how can you strive for perpetuity? Who is to take the lead?

    So the responsibility falls back on the international body - the IBF who will set out the guidelines, the policies to achieve set goals and to provide the support infrastructure, the specialists and other manpower requirements to assist the national associations to do a better job of bringing up the standards and making badminton attractive, even to the extent of introducing controversial things like what it is now doing.

    The IBF has been in existence for quite a long time and probably became really active after World War II. When the leaders of different countries meet they unfortunately bring with them their own national interests and I think it must have taken them a long time to agree on even simple matters.

    Worst still, the world is divided into the haves and the have-nots, the rich, the not-so-rich and poor countries. So for the IBF to have come such a long way, despite its different economic and political orientations is quite an achievement, especially now that we know real efforts are being made to popularize the sport in as many countries as possible.

    Of course, merely introducing the game to the masses is not enough, the IBF has to ensure that world class players must be available in as many countries as possible and to ensure a more even distribution worldwide. This come back to our earlier point that people love to see their own heroes. Winning majors is a great source of pride and prestige for countries and can unify the people in times of distress and give them a great sense of identity.

    But how can a country produce world beaters in a reasonably short time? China and Indonesia are blessed in a way because of their huge population, while many others are not. The IBF must have seen this anomaly and has now planned 5 training centres in different parts of the world to try to address the problem but it will take time to take off and more time to 'polish the talented players into world class.

    So meanwhile, it is not actually a bad idea for China and Indonesia to release some of their talented players to countries where they are wanted and which the players themselves feel more at home. These talent exports must be mutually beneficial and to a certain extent, they can help diffuse the economic and political divide still existing. Until such recipient countries themselves are able to create their own heroes (and heroines) with or without IBF assistance, and it will take time, this talent exchange should be allowed to continue. So France can even identify with Pi Hongyan and the Netherlands with Mia Audina and not feel too badly about it.

    We just have to be patient and hope that both the IBF and the national badminton assoiciations of the member countries can expedite the processes and achieve their goals faster. Inevitably, the more enthusiastic and hardworking these NBAs are, the quicker the results. :)
     
    #15 Loh, Mar 25, 2005
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2005
  16. Zhao

    Zhao Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2002
    Messages:
    123
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    stud
    Location:
    geneve
    agree

    EXACTLY :"you need heroes in at least each continent, someone with whom you can identify"
    That's why i'm afraid for the future because i see nobody from europe, america, africa and oceania to take the the succession of players like Rikke Olsen, Gade, Jonassen, Robertson and in the past PG Jonson, C Magnusson, M Bengstonn and J Olsonn for Sweden, Nielsen, J Bradbury and Knowles for England, Dawson for canada, Van Dijk, M Hoogland for netherland, Lisa campbel for australia, Andropov for Russia, ...
    May be Mogensen and Boe and ????


     
  17. Growy

    Growy Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 5, 2004
    Messages:
    19
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Online Marketing Thingy
    Location:
    Derby UK
    Great post, Loh, although I'd like to pick up on this:

    even to the extent of introducing controversial things like what it is now doing.

    This is just a sign of impatience on the IBF's part and threatens to undo the good work that the training centres will be, indeed are doing. The very fact that huge numbers of people in Asia (and in Denmark, too, I believe) watch badminton on TV and at tournaments is a testament to the fact that there is nothing instrinsically wrong with the sport as a spectacle. As I have said on another thread, asking a bunch of Western TV execs and sponsors what they think is wrong is not the answer. A brief glance at some rich and successful sports is enough to tell you that there is no formula for success - people love sports for all their quirkiness and apparent weirdness. Cricket, baseball, american football, golf, rugby, formula one; how many of these would get TV execs excited if they weren't already hugely popular?

    In addition to the work it is already doing, the IBF would do well to study the game as it is and work out why it is so popular in terms of spectators in some places and not others. Denmark would be a good place to start, since it is so anomalous. The answer, I believe, will be complex and there will be no quick and easy answers. The IBF seem to think that by tinkering with the rules the global audience will see a dowdy librarian take off her glasses, shake loose her hair and suddenly become all sexy and alluring to them.

    It ain't going to happen.
     
  18. Bbn

    Bbn Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2002
    Messages:
    3,004
    Likes Received:
    2
    -

    The BA of England has lottery funding etc and it is showing results.

    I think it is a good model for Europeans to follow.

    Visit the ABC site and see the no. of programs conducted by ABC worldwide .

    If only more money is available.
     
  19. Bbn

    Bbn Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2002
    Messages:
    3,004
    Likes Received:
    2
    -

    The IBF then must have made a very bad mistake when it removed the EU office bearers for not raising enough sponsorship.

    It even had the gall to relocate to KL.

    I dont agree that one needs heros of one's kind,

    if so no one in Asia will support all those EU football teams.

    In the recent AE you can see EU youngsters supporting China players.
     
  20. V1lau

    V1lau Regular Member

    Joined:
    Aug 5, 2003
    Messages:
    385
    Likes Received:
    1
    Occupation:
    Net Play and Counter Attack
    Location:
    West Coast
    Prize Money

    I believe one of the main reason why badminton isn't pulling in new interest in other countries is the money. Who wants to work just as hard as a pro tennis player and make 1/100th the prize money. For the Chinese it isn't so much a problem as that prize money goes a long way, but for Western and more developed countries it is not much. Money is one of the main pulling factors in many sports to develop new young talent, will out it you just have a dedicated few.
    IBF has a huge problem as without new foreign talent their isn't going to be new sponsors, and without more sponsors their won't be any increase in prize money. And without money their is no new foreign talent. Also without money many promising athlete will move toward more lucrative sports.
    I don't believe the Chinese domination is a problem, they are not cheating, they are just doing what every athlete strives for and that is winning, you can not fault them for this and if the world is unable to accept an Asian Champion in a sport then its not the fault of the nationality it is the fault of the world.
     

Share This Page