why Sudirman Cup?

Btw,when is it going to be held?

 

The purpose (and continuation) of Sudirman Cup is really BWF's way to encourage Badminton associations to be all-rounded in their training system because many countries have the tendency of just focusing on (for example) grooming the men and neglecting the women. Sudirman Cup is the indication whether a country can truly pride itself as a nation capable of producing champions in all events and not just dominate one or two events.

Its similar to the idea behind Thomas Cup and Uber Cup, the difference however is that in Sudirman Cup, nations with less resources (economical or human capital etc) will have a decent fighting chance for the title, since they may only be capable of producing a limited number of top shots due to financial limitations or other reasons. For instance Thailand, has groomed very respectable though only one of each in the MS, XD and WD events that can give the title a shot on a good day. (What more this is the first Sudirman Cup under the uber unpredictable new points system!)

Also, the tournament is divided into divisions (think soccer league), so there is the premier league, 1st division, 2nd division etcetera. If you don't already know, a powerhouse like Malaysia only qualified to play in the 'premier league' only 3 times out of 9! Think about why soccer bother to have 1st and 2nd divisions leagues when all eyes are on the premier league. Well, didn't the then-unknown Senegal stunned the likes of Zizou, Henry and co. in 2002?

If badminton wants to raise its profile on the international scene (to put an end to all that lack of media & publicity which people oft complain) and not just be dubbed a "Chinese or Asian sport", then there need to be something to encourage other less able nations to participate in this sport, Sudirman Cup is a way to.

On paper, China appears the keenest contender but individual rankings don't speak a lot if you ask me because it boils down to how many tournaments your asso can afford to send you to play. And playing for a team is very very different from playing in an individual event, think about it The entire dynamics is different, psychologically especially.

Furthermore, there is no direct prize incentive (perhaps the government may reward players if they bring the cup home, who knows). The point is to promote the spirit of sport; if badminton is reduced to a totally commercialised sport where the players are only keen to play and perform when there is money and personal glory at stake, I think badminton has failed as a sport which would be a shame.

(Smichz: its held on June 11-18!)

 

After watching the Singapore Open, I come to realise why Sudirman is still very important.

The reason is the inclusion of mixed doubles in a team tournament. Unlike 20 years ago (when only the Europeans seem to be interested), mixed doubles is now being taken very seriously by all self-respecting badminton nations. This is the main reason why badminton is allowed to keep mixed doubles in the Olympics while table tennis and tennis have lost theirs.

I feel we need a platform for mixed doubles to play an equal role with the other disciplines in a team tournament. And Sudirman Cup fits right in.

 

thinking of it, wouldnt it be great if there's a china vs rest of the world tournament like we always have in football?? we could have a best of 5 matches like in surdiman cup.. imagine lindan vs taufik (or chongwei), cy/fhf vs tg/cw (or kkk/tbh), etc etc.. tat would all be explosive matches isnt it.. great entertainment, great matches which i'm sure will generate a huge response from badminton lovers around the world..

i'm not trying to say china is the best, but it's a fact tat they're dominating almost every single event at present.. which i reckon is BAD for the sport.. so, instead of surdiman cup.. why not make changes to it, IBF??

just my 2 cents..

 

Please..........

I don't think you can blame China being so dominant in Sudirman Cup.

How about INdonesia? Indonesia nearly dominate the badminton in 1991-1996. We had Susi Susanti,Mia, Alan, Ardi, Heriyanto and top notch MD Ricky, Rexy. Our MD is good and we had also good WD.

But we only win 1 Sudirman Cup title.

Although it look like China again with walk away with the title, about 90%. Other countries still had small chances to win it if they just fight all out.

 

ha ha ha! well, in sports, if associations want more funding or sponsorship etcetera, the only way to 'earn' it is by the ability to show credibility which is measured by titles and every title counts. its about looking at the big picture