WORLD SHUTTLOCTOBER 2015 - JANUARY 2016 / EDITION ENO. 12 ‘CLeAn’ CommItment: Badminton stars (clockwise from left) – Carolina Marin (Spain), Kamilla Rytter Juhl/Christinna Pedersen (Denmark), Hendra Setiawan/ Mohammad Ahsan (Indonesia) and Chen Long (China) – sign the “i am badminton” commitment board at the Dubai World Superseries Finals in December. HIGHLIGHTS RIO 2016 BADMINTON - PUT TO THE TEST (PAGE 6) i am ‘IntegrIty’ badminton SHUTTLING THROUGH 2015 honest clean (PAGES 8-9) AmbAssAdors ComIng The Badminton World Federation will soon announce understand, from an early age, how they should the names of ten ambassadors for its new integrity conduct themselves as budding professionals; the KEY DATES programme – ‘i am badminton’. reasons they should avoid any misconduct which would compromise their integrity and that of our 19-24 January Malaysia Masters 2016 These persons, who will be selected from across sport – and of course, the risks and consequences (Grand Prix Gold) - Penang the sport’s international spectrum, will represent they potentially face if their integrity is compromised,” and promote the campaign’s values, serving as role explained Lund. 26-31 January Syed Modi International Badminton models for the badminton world. Championships 2016 (Grand Prix Gold) - Lucknow (India) “We need to help them be aware of the different Announcing this significant step, BWF Secretary forms in which these threats exist. These messages 08-13 February Princess Sirivannavari Thailand Masters General Thomas Lund revealed three ambassadors also apply to coaches, managers, and a host of other 2016 (Grand Prix Gold) - Bangkok have already been chosen, with the remaining personnel involved in the world of professional sport. 15-21 February Pan Am Team Continental Championship seven to be representatives of players and technical This programme encompass all of them.” 2016 - Guadalajara (Mexico) officials. 15-21 February Africa Continental Team Championships The remaining seven ambassadors will be unveiled by “We feel it fitting that our President - Poul-Erik Høyer mid-year and will be spokespersons for the campaign - Rose Hill (Mauritius) – leads this list of distinguished persons. In addition, which was first introduced to top junior players at last as Chairs of the BWF Athletes’ Commission and 15-21 February Badminton Asia Team Championships year’s YONEX BWF World Junior Championships in 2016 - Hyderabad (India) the BWF Para-Badminton Athletes’ Commission respectively, we have also selected Yuhan Tan Lima, Peru. Thereafter, it was rolled out to badminton’s 16-18 February 2016 Oceania Continental Mixed and Richard Perot, to be ambassadors for this very elite athletes at the season finale, the Dubai World Team Championships Superseries Finals, in December. - North Harbour (New Zealand) important initiative,” he said. 16-21 February 2016 European Men’s & Women’s Team The ‘i am badminton’ programme focuses on Noting that players have already been introduced to Championships - Kazan (Russia) championing badminton as a clean, fair and the campaign slogan - i am clean; i am honest; i am badminton – and been sporting wristbands with that 19-21 February 2016 Oceania Continental Men’s & honourable sport and addresses various threats Women’s Team Championships such as doping, match fixing, illegal betting and slogan in various languages, Lund said: “We want - TBC (New Zealand) corruption. players to commit to upholding their integrity and thereby that of our sport. It’s an opportunity for them 01-06 March Yonex German Open 2016 (Grand Prix Gold) - Mulheim an der Ruhr “There is sometimes a climate of temptation around to let the world know what they stand for – that they sport, so it is important that we help our athletes are clean and honest athletes who love badminton.” 08-13 March Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships 2016 (Superseries Premier) - Birmingham 15-20 March Swiss Open 2016 (Grand Prix Gold) - Basel 22-27 March Skycity New Zealand Open 2016 (Grand Prix Gold) - Auckland HAPPy 29 March-3 April Yonex Sunrise India Open 2016 (Superseries) - New Delhi neW yeAr BADMINTON WORLD FEDERATION 2016www.bwfbadminton.org PAGE 2 editoriaL Dear Colleagues and Friends Happy New Year to you all – it is the start of one of the most anticipated years in sport and we at the Badminton World Federation are truly looking forward to it. However, before we vault into the future, allow me to pause a moment and reflect on the achievements of 2015, especially those of our players who closed the season in excellent style at the second Dubai World Superseries Finals. Congratulations to the winners of this showpiece event as well as to our Players of the Year, both in badminton and para- badminton, and to the Most Promising Player of the Year. You have done yourselves, your member associations and your sport proud. I would also like to recognise all nominees in these five categories for having stood out during the past 12 months as badminton continued to reach new horizons. This second instalment of our four-year partnership with Dubai again reached impressive heights as players, sponsors and guests were treated to truly world-class standards. As we sought to enhance the player experience at this tournament – a reward for those Poul-Erik Høyer who excelled during the past year – we added some special features which our players BWF President will long remember, including trips to Burj Khalifa (world’s tallest building), Ski Dubai, helicopter tours and a hot-air balloon ride. Thanks to our partners, the Dubai Sports Council as well as Falcon and Associates, for collaborating with us on another successful finale to the international badminton season. Now, as we look ahead, the words on the sporting world’s lips are “Rio 2016” as fans anticipate an amazing celebration of competition among the best athletes across the global landscape – and badminton will be right there, in the thick of the action! As 2016 gets underway, players will be focused on securing as many points as possible in the first four months before our Olympic Qualification Period ends on 1 May. Thereafter, we will await the confirmation of those will compete for the most coveted prize in our sport – an Olympic medal. This much-heralded spectacle will be the first Summer Olympics in South America and our team at BWF is working hard, in conjunction with the International Olympic Committee and our project partners in Rio, to ensure an excellent badminton showing. Additionally, in preparation for our debut in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, the BWF will also be paying close attention to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games as our athletes with impairments gear up for their introduction to the highest level of competition. On the development front, I am pleased to note we will soon celebrate the 100th implementation of Shuttle Time, our schools-based, grassroots programme which is available in 17 languages. Over the past 12 months, demand for our development resources has gathered pace and has been further bolstered by partnerships (highlighted elsewhere in this newsletter) with entities such as Special Olympics and the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP). Latvia and Tajikistan have become the 98th and 99th member associations to implement Shuttle Time, with other implementations pending within the coming weeks. Add to this the recent unveiling of Shuttle Time’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/bwfshuttletime/) and the imminent Shuttle Time website and Shuttle Time app and you can see just how far we have progressed since 2011 when this initiative was piloted in Tonga to introduce safe and fun badminton to children. Inspired by these achievements, BWF is committed to making continued strides across the badminton spectrum as we prepare for another hectic season in which the TOTAL BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals in Kunshan, China, will figure prominently as will the annual MetLife BWF World Superseries tour which starts in March with the prestigious YONEX All England Badminton Open Championships. As we embark on our 2016 journey, I wish to thank all BWF’s corporate partners, as well as our media partner (IMG Media) and our commercial partner (Enterprise Sports Group; ESG), for their wonderful support. We certainly look forward to working with them in the months ahead for mutual benefit and, of course, for the overall betterment of badminton globally. Thank you. Poul-Erik Høyer BADMINTON WORLD FEDERATION www.bwfbadminton.org PAGE 3 Lee And sAgoy In HIstorIC WIns The unsung heroes of badminton finally shared the spotlight with their better-known siblings, during the Players’ Reception and Gala Dinner in honour of the participants of the Dubai World Superseries Finals 2015. For the first time, the ‘Player of the Year’ awards recognised the achievements of male and female para-badminton athletes. The Male Para-Badminton Player of the Year had three nominees: Malaysia’s Cheah Liek How (SU 5 sport class), Korea’s Lee Sam Seop (WH 1) and Poland’s Bartlomiej Mroz (SU 5). Lee, winner of three gold medals at the Para-Badminton World Championships 2015 and a two-time gold medallist at the China International 2015, received the award ahead of the other nominees. Lee, who suffered disability in an accident and spent the first two years in self-doubt, was rejuvenated after he discovered badminton. “It’s been ten years since I dedicated myself to para-badminton, and I want to thank BWF for inviting me to this event,” said the elated Korean. “I’m honoured to receive this award. I was emotional when I won it because this was the first such award for para-badminton.” Lee said it has been a difficult but ultimately rewarding journey. “It was difficult for the first two years. Then I went outside and started looking at others, and realised that there are people who are worse off than me but happy.