Terrorists may target World Badminton tournament: Intelligence input

- Concur that any terrorist attack could happen anywhere in the world. At the same time, in this particular case, that region of the world is definitely more susceptible to such attacks.
- I would trust that the Indian security personnel are and should be ready, as they say they are.
- The reason why the terrorists are targeting Aug. 15th is because it is India's Independence Day.
- Hope the event will go smoothly without any major disturbances (terrorists or non-terrorists).

Btw, another news to share:
http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINBOM46511720090808
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Badminton-Indian officials allay security fears for worlds

Sat Aug 8, 2009 8:00pm IST Email | Print | Share| Single Page[-] Text [+] HYDERABAD, India, Aug 8 (Reuters) - One thousand police officials and commandos, including experts trained to deal with terror threats, have been assigned to the world badminton championships, the local police commissioner has said.

However, the authorities ruled out any militant threat targeting the championships, which start on Monday on the outskirts of India's southern IT hub of Hyderabad, after domestic media reports raised concerns.

"I'd like to dispel some of these rumours floating about," police commissioner Prabhakar Reddy told a news conference.

"There is no specific input (of an attack)," he said on Saturday. "However, Cyberabad police are geared up to meet any eventuality."

The locality around the venue is called Cyberabad.

Indian home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram also told local media there was no specific threat to the event and federal officials had only sent a general alert to local police.

The Badminton World Federation hired security consultants to inspect the venue in February before giving the go-ahead for the championships.

Security in the sub-continent has been bolstered following the ambush of the Sri Lanka cricket team bus in Lahore, Pakistan in March, killing seven Pakistanis and wounding six players.

That incident triggered concerns sport could become a target for more attacks in south Asia. India also remains nervous after Islamist militants killed 166 people in a strike on Mumbai in November.

Security has been tightened across the nation to ward off any possible militant attacks leading up to India's Independence Day celebrations on Aug. 15. (Writing by Sanjay Rajan in Chennai; Editing by Alison Wildey; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com

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France's Chanteur Elisa walks past policemen after attending a practice session ahead of the badminton world championships in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad.
not to make light of the situation, but those guards have already been rendered useless by distractions
I hope everything goes well, dont terrorists have better things to target than one of the poorest international sports?
 
LOL... hello:confused::confused::confused:... Just because something can happen anywhere doesn't mean you have to go to the place that is more likely going to happen than anywhere else.

Do you stand still in the middle of a highway, since you know bad things happen in the world all the time?:rolleyes:

If those countries can't guarantee the safety of the athletes that go and compete over there, what gives them the right to hold such event and expect people to show up? Eg. Do you think the Olympics would have been held in anyone of the countries you listed above while they are in such a dangerous state at this moment??? Seriously.

OK, prior to the "news flash", did it even cross your mind that Hyderabad was a dangerous place for badminton? You were probably happily going through the WC threads with nary a thought about safety issues.

Now that this "news flash" has come out, you suddenly launch into the BWF and point fingers at them. It's not like they said "Hyderabad... yup, dangerous enough a venue. Let's endanger all the players' lives by making them play there". Don't you think they would have got some guarantees for safety before deciding on it?

Do you think that when Kennedy went to Dallas in 1963, he had any inkling of what was going to happen? Do you consider Dallas a dangerous place?

Think about 9-11, do you think all those who perished in the unfortunate incidents knew what was coming? Yet international sporting events still run like clockwork in the New York since then.

Since there are murders and accidents everywhere, everyday, the world must be too dangerous a place for you. Perhaps you should insulate yourself in the safety of your home in case anything untoward might happen.

Seriously.
 
not to make light of the situation, but those guards have already been rendered useless by distractions
I hope everything goes well, dont terrorists have better things to target than one of the poorest international sports?

:D LOL .. I concur with your sharp observation...:D...I was "distracted" too..
 
For a great follower of cricket like me, when I heard the WC is held in India and hyderabad, the first thing that flashes across my mind is terrorist attacks.

There has been some many bombings in India in the past few months it's not a joke.
The australia davis cup team refuse to play there, the IPL was nearly not held there because of security issues ( it was moved to SA anyway cos of elections). The mumbai hostage thing etc etc.
 
For a great follower of cricket like me, when I heard the WC is held in India and hyderabad, the first thing that flashes across my mind is terrorist attacks.

There has been some many bombings in India in the past few months it's not a joke.
The australia davis cup team refuse to play there, the IPL was nearly not held there because of security issues ( it was moved to SA anyway cos of elections). The mumbai hostage thing etc etc.

Sorry, off-topic... you must be enjoying AUS's current position in the 4th Ashes Test. With a win imminent, this sets up an intriguing 5th Test at the Oval. ENG's batting has been woeful.
 
If i m not mistaken, the 2008 India Open was cancelled because of terrorist attack in Hyderabad........am i right...?
 
Sorry, off-topic... you must be enjoying AUS's current position in the 4th Ashes Test. With a win imminent, this sets up an intriguing 5th Test at the Oval. ENG's batting has been woeful.
Yah haha...
I can't believe England went into the test with 5 bowlers and Broad batting at 7....
England have a unhealthy obsession with Harmisson and hoping he can reclaim some kind of for he had in 04-05...
And Bopara I feel is just not up to standard... sure he scored 3 centuries against the pretty woeful West Indies... but that is also after numerous dropped catches and chances.
He is more appalling than Owais Shah for me and seems more mentally disintegrated by Warnes comments, which I totally agree with.
 
I find it a bit puzzling that England of all nations pulls out of the Championship...

I am pretty sure there will be "terrorist threats" 2012 in London Olympics as well.. Do the UK fellows think everyone should not participate in their olympics then...

If they feel that the organisation has not proper security they should raise that as an objection imop..

Life is full of risks.. just by taking the taxi back to the airport, they will take a risk..

Personally I cannot really respect their decision..

/Twobeer
 
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By badminton standards this is really massive news in the UK i.e. it has actually made the news, in a fairly big way as well. If anything good has come out of this at least people may know that the badminton world champs exist and are actually taking place as it won't have got any coverage otherwise.
 
It's pretty sad that this is the first time Badminton has hit the mainstream news over here since the Olympics last year...
 
Indeed, it seems bizarre. Unless the team itself received a threat :confused:

Clark and Nathan will surely miss their chance of being WC Champion although the MD competition seems to be the most competitive initially, until the WR1 of INA's Kido and Setiawan withdrew because of Kido's sickness. :(
 
British Withdrawal...

With all due respects to English Team about the safety of their players, I wonder how are they going to deal with London Olympics in three years time. :eek:
Do they expect to all terrorists have a heart change by then? They will be handling tens of thousands of athletes, staffs and many hundreds of fans entering their country.
Anyway with British involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan etc. any place they go, they will remain big targets. :-(
Anyway, let's hope this is another of those false alert and with Commonwealth Game just a year away, I am sure Indian security will not take any risk at all.
 
Hours ago I heard from our TV news that apparently there were personal threats supposedly against certain members of the England team.

That perhaps was the main reason why England pulled out on the eve of this WC.

"Better late than never" if indeed this was the case rather than regret if something really bad should happen.

Security seems to be very tight at the badminton venue now as we get to see pictures not only of the courts inside the stadium but outside as well when visitors were thoroughly seached at the entrance and armed guards with dogs are stationed in the vicinity.
 
A message to terrorists reading this

Security seems to be very tight at the badminton venue now as we get to see pictures not only of the courts inside the stadium but outside as well when visitors were thoroughly searched at the entrance and armed guards with dogs are stationed in the vicinity.
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A message to terrorists reading this:

It's sad that our world has changed so much over the last 8 years or so.
OK... to the terrorists it's War, War, War. But why should innocent and non-political people be targeted? :mad::mad::mad:

Let's have some peace... chris@ccc
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