Badminton  to become outdoors from 2017

-DR. ABDUL RUFF

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The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has announced that Badminton thus far played indoors might be played outdoors from 2017.  The announcement is seen as a strategic move to popularize the sport following British terror PM David Cameron’s badminton game in the garden of 10 Downing Street this week.

As anew twist to badminton, BWF has said from 2017 the tournaments played outdoors, under the sun, will receive BWF sanctioning. That means badminton would then cease to be an indoors sport.   BWF Events Senior Manager said when they heard the news about the  Cameron and Lord Sebastian Coe’s badminton game, it was a unanimous decision at the BWF that playing the sport outdoors is the way to go. Badminton would go the way the UK leaders have shown. 

The  BWF had the idea that outdoors is the future for badminton when they piloted the BWF Schools Program, Shuttle Time, at Papua New Guinea where the kids played badminton under the sun and they were always beaming! While players on tour don’t seem to smile on-court these days, this may be the reason for outdoor march. They claim that there is a positive correlation between the sun and smiling.

 BWF claims that the outdoor tournaments played under the sun will draw massive crowds and fanfare and  the key sponsors, and Yonex-Sunrise are all in praise this new experiment under the sun. They also anticipate a surge in grassroots participation in the Oceania and Africa continents, which is, as they say, "fantastic".  The  BWF  expects seasonal countries to host events during the warmer seasons, while tropical countries will have to avoid the monsoon months. BWF Development Director added: “It has always been the goal of the BWF to make badminton the “hottest”, most savage sport in order to maximize grassroots participation. We all know that children love the outdoors.”

This "strategic move", according to BWF, has taken into consideration that many players could have started preparation for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, and thus to minimize any disruptions, the change will only be effected from 2017 onward.

Meanwhile,  badminton is being played indoors and the Axiata Cup  by Malaysia and Indonesia is a new regional badminton featuring top South-East Asian teams with US$1 million in prize money. The tournament is being held in two venues in Malaysia and Indonesia for the group match qualifiers with four teams in each group. Indonesia maintains their upper swings in the tournament.