Independent sports website, Sportingo, has run an article asserting that Asian dominance within the Badminton is holding the sport back.
Sportingo quotes,
“Despite the fast-paced action and tremendous excitement it offers, badminton does not enjoy the same popularity and media coverage as basketball, soccer, boxing, tennis or even mixed martial arts.
Badminton combines stamina, strength and speed which make it perfect as a spectator sport.
It is an Olympic sport that has five disciplines – men’s and women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles.
It boasts of greater explosive athleticism than most racket sports as players are required to jump for height to execute those game-winning smashes.
On record, the fastest tennis stroke is Andy Roddick’s 153mph serve while the fastest badminton stroke is Fu Haifeng’s 206mph smash.
Bill Gates watched a badminton match at the Beijing Olympics and was quoted as saying that he liked what he saw. What, then, could explain the sport’s lack of ample media coverage, viewership and patronage? [..]
Badminton fans had more than one reason to bring the roof down with their loud cheers as Malaysian shuttlers swept three of the five titles at stake in the USD500,000 (RM1.75 million) Super Series Masters Finals at the City Council Indoor stadium here Sunday.
Malaysian shuttlers who entered three finals to mark a memorable day for Malaysian badminton, made it a 100 percent record win, to match their feat in last year’s final at Kota Kinabalu, by clinching the women’s singles, women’s doubles and men’s singles titles, although the absence of Chinese shuttlers did take away much of the glamour.
Celebrations started early for the thousands who filled the stadium to the brim when women’s national number Wong Mew Choo set the ball rolling by providing the early cheers with a 21-15, 21-7 win over Germany’s Juliane Schenk.
“I am so happy and the winner’s cheque for US$40,000 is a gift from heaven really. Don’t forget I was not supposed to be playing in the championship because I did not qualify, until the top players started pulling out.
“Anyway I am here and I told myself I got nothing to lose. So I went out there and enjoyed myself and I played some of the best badminton of my career, including the final,” said Mew Choo. [..]
Badminton sensation Gail Emms will receive an MBE from the Princess Royal for her outstanding sporting career.
Emms, 32, made her debut for England in 1995 and went on to win national, international, Commonwealth, European and world titles with only Olympic gold eluding her.
With her playing partner Nathan Robertson she won silver at the Athens games in 2004 and together two years later they took the World Championships title.
But after defeat in their quarter-finals match in last year’s Beijing Olympics, the 32-year-old announced her retirement and later became the first ambassador for Badminton England.
Also receiving honours during the Buckingham Palace investiture ceremony are two soldiers who will be awarded the Military Cross for courageous acts while fighting in Afghanistan.
Gunner Grant Guy, Royal Artillery, will be awarded the prestigious medal for crossing open ground three times while under enemy fire to help a wounded Marine and relay information to help in a fire fight.
Lance Corporal Gajendra Rai, the Royal Gurkha Rifles, showed exceptional courage after his unit was caught in an ambush by helping to extract a seriously wounded soldier and saving the life of another.
Designer Christopher Bailey, who is Burberry’s chief creative officer, will be receive an MBE for services to the fashion industry.
Following a week of intense meetings, Badminton’s governing body is unanimously opposed to the staging of London 2012 badminton at Wembley Arena, saying it is too far from the east London Olympic site.
Last week the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved a plan to hold badminton events at the arena.
But the Badminton World Federation said it did not want the sport to be in a “stand alone” west London venue.
It said: “We are of the opinion that this will affect the Olympic experience for players and spectators.”
Sporting ‘pinnacle’
Last week the IOC approved holding badminton and rhythmic gymnastics events at Wembley Arena instead of a £40m temporary venue that had been planned for Greenwich.
Wembley Arena was supported by London Mayor Boris Johnson and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog).
Locog chairman Sebastian Coe said: “It’s a combination of cost – everyone recognises the world has changed dramatically since when we bid – but it’s also about legacy and athlete experience.”
But Badminton World Federation (BWF) President Dr Kang Young Joong said: “The Olympic Games is the pinnacle of sporting achievement and the BWF owes our athletes and its members the responsibility to showcase badminton to the media and the world in the best possible way.”
The BWF said it would “vigorously engage” in venue negotiations with the IOC and hoped to find a solution at its next board meeting in March and have appointed Gregory Verpoorten, Vice-President of IOC Relations to lead the discussions on this topic.
