as i know...zimbabwei(not sure spell right or not)is a fast growth country in recent year...but the resource are drying off soon...so...the economi of the country facing a huge jobless population...many ran to neighbour country...morning been send back...afternoon ran out of country again...afternoon been send back...night ran out again...:crying:...yes...they have gold resource...but now finish i think...sorry...off topic...
i think it has more to do with their useless dicator, Mugabe. he's enjoying caviar and champagne while the population starves.
From a reliable resource, Yonex is considering pushing US Badminton Open to a super ser. That mean, ESPN in US might pick up some broadcasting.
Fantastic!!!!! I hope it's true. If badminton on ESPN gets a big viewership, then the network will see there is a big demand to see the sport. Once a sport gets its foot in the door with ESPN, although it is premium station, maybe the networks will eventually follow, as well.
i so agree with u kwun. i am a person who will only use yonex equipment.since i started playing i have never use any other.
Yonex do make better quality products like many top Japanese sports companies eg ASICS and Mizuno.....but the Japanese marketing executives cannot match their western counterparts like Nike/Addidas in terms of their advertisements.
I have been thinking about badminton popularity and TV airing many times and my opinion is that badminton is not so attractive on TV as tennis for example. It is much easier one to keep eye on the yellow-green tennis ball, than the white shuttle. Also everything is too fast in badminton -- one has to be extremely concentrated on what is going on the court. And one who is tennis fan can go to the toilet and get some beer from the fridge, while Nadal is preparing to serve But all this does not matter! We all love badminton and have fun playing it -- that is what matters! Edit: Badminton is also more "3D" game -- it is great seeing it "live" but is difficult to be captured with camera. That's why I don't enjoy watching recordings -- watch only to see some strokes and footwork...
i have to agree with this. i get confused whenever i take my concentration off any badminton game on screen for any longer than 5-10secs.
I totally agree about the visibilty of the shuttle. A phosphorescent green, yellow, orange or pink show up up better on the screen [I can see, though, that techically, it might be difficult to make such a shuttle]. Living in the States, I can view badminton only on recordings, which are made from actual broadcasts. My big complaints regarding these recordings are 1) Poor commentary. Commentators who have little playing experience and blather on to fill up the air time. 2) The standard rear-overhead view which shows the whole court action, but loses most of the urgency and finesse of the play. Overhead views should be used more sparingly. Watching a game from that angle is about as exciting as viewing the game live from a cheap seat the other end of the stadium. Or watching a computer game. The 2008 All-England recording was an exception. There, one got instant replays with meaningful commentary. There were a lot of visuals at or close to COURT-LEVEL that showed the difficulty and artistry behind each stroke or rally. There were also a big variety of viewing angles, not just one or two. 3) Occasionally focusing on the players's faces is fine, as it gives the players an identity. Too much, though, is silly and misses the action, which is what viewers want to see. Better and more professional ways of visually documenting the game for TV might help to promote the televised sport among non-players, as well as players.
I agree that badminton companies should push to get more popularity, but only to some extent. Unless somehow all the companies (Black Knight, Yonex, etc.) join forces to push, then it'd would be really, really, really hard (not that it already is). But not only do companies have to push, but we as fans must also push. Spread some word around, get new people to play. I'd say this would be a better way because if we meet failure, at least more people can spread the word. Coloured shuttlecocks? Go for it. What do we have to lose (other than some money for making it coloured)? It would be easier to follow on recordings. Imagine tennis without a lime green ball! Recordings? What enthusiast said. I 100% agree. One day I dream of having badminton courts all around (like basketball courts, but indoors) so we could freely play. -John H.
Start asking for them. I believe some makers will respond. I have heard that Canary (Vietnam) may come out with one soon.
put more money into it. i heard on the news that if a certain player were to get knocked out of wimbledon (3rd round or so), they would still be guaranteed $60,000. now even the winner of the world championships in badminton wont get as much.
Wilson in the US have a lot of opens too in america. i just checked Wilson website. not popular in the US but they still take place. why don't you guys talk much about american players? there are some. lol
just want to add something to this thread. With the recent events, victor sponsoring korea, LN gonna sponsor china badminton (partly or fully), i can say that badminton is on the verge of making into the mainstream and big companies jumping in now is a pretty good proof. Yonex has done their part of nurturing badminton in asia (ie china, taiwan, korea), and come the time yonex should move on, onto new market that needed yonex to grow badminton.
other than corporations sponsoring and creating awareness of badminton. I think locally, individuals and small organizations can create awareness of the sport by having more programs and events related to badminton. we need to teach people about badminton and get them interested. i notice in Europe they create leagues and operate badminton leagues like they do for European soccer (football) leagues. like Peter Gade plays for a club and that club is part of a circuit that has clubs compete against each other. also, with these leagues and competition, it generates better players and soon better players will be demanding for equipment. where i am residing, the only circuits i am aware about are OBA, university, college and high school. which is not enough. yeah then we move on to the financial aspect... we need money in sponsoring and advertising. another way to look at it is... well look at demark, the population of that country is about 5.5 million however is able to produce top players in the international scene. that is amazing... whatever they do there, they should implement it here and the United States. i think they have competitive leagues there and able to generate great players. hmmmm i ran out of ranting...
Sorry didnt have the energy to read all pages so if this has been asked and answered just point me to that post Why doesnt more pros do this? I can understand if western pros dont do this since the sport isnt that big over here but in the asian countries its rather big right? Wouldnt companies down there be willing to sponsor players ther since its pretty good promotion thus more cash into the hopefully making the sport growing?
Lets put it this way, why would the company spend the effort to negotiate deal with individual players, when they can negotiate with the associations and covered all the players?
Ah, this is all the more reason to cut out the Shylockian middlemen. For what they are doing, such deals should more benefit the players.
Yes for the big name such as TH, LD, LCW,etc. For the middle tier players, they will just starve. Hopefully badminton will rivals tennis one of these days, but until that point, we can only hope.
