cxytdn
Regular Member
About Super Series
Badminton World Federation
Over the last decade or so, the Badminton World Federation (formerly known as the International Badminton Federation) has embarked on a series of changes that is slowly but surely giving the sport the recognition it truly deserves.
The introduction of the Super Series is just one of the major steps that the BWF hopes would generate more interest around the world.
The Super Series will consist of twelve Open events, which will each offer a minimum of US$ 200,000 in prize money. These will serve as the qualifiers for the season ending Super Series Finals.
The Finals itself will be the richest ever badminton tournament to be staged, offering a staggering US$ 500,000 in prize money for the first year.
The Proton Malaysian Open will be opening leg of the Super Series. Korea, England, Switzerland, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, Denmark, France and Hong Kong will each host one leg of the Super Series with China being given the right to host two legs.
Only the top eight singles and top eight pairs in each category would qualify for the Finals. However, only a maximum of two players per country would qualify for the Finals.
The BWF, in its effort to make the Series more exciting, has also restricted the number of entries for each category in the twelve events to just 32, of which only four will come from qualifiers.
To further add to the excitement, BWF has also decided to do away with the national separation ruling in all the Super Series events. This means that two players from the same country can meet as early as the first round.
There will also be an increased television coverage worldwide, with each host required to guarantee the live telecast of the semi-final and finals.
In addition, Sports Media Promotions, who are the marketing agents for the Super Series, has made a deal with IEC in Sports to produce 36 episodes of the World of Badminton half hour programme that will be telecast in major markets throughout the world.
The Super Series is certainly going to elevate the profile of badminton to a more deserving status.