Badminton All England 2010: Nathan Robertson rues sport's wasted opportunities Nathan Robertson has urged British badminton not to waste any more opportunities to sell the sport to the country. Published: 10:00AM GMT 09 Mar 2010 Robertson and the now retired Gail Emms are still badminton's only household names in Britain six years after winning Olympic silver together in Athens. That success gave the sport's profile a huge lift but Robertson feels a big chance was missed to boost participation levels and develop a new generation of stars. The 32-year-old has taken part in an outlandish photoshoot with fellow professionals - who pose in some quirky outfits or covered in bodypaint - in an attempt to raise awareness ahead of this week's All England Championships in Birmingham, but he does not want it to stop there. "I think we have missed opportunities after Olympic medals and world titles," said Robertson. "We need to be getting the kids along to see more live action and we have to try to get the best players playing more in England. "There are only one or two events a year where people can come to watch their badminton heroes - the All England is one and the National Championships another, although this year we have the European individual championships in Manchester as well. "I think the opportunities were there to try to set something up and get more top-class badminton around the country. "I think we really do need a national club championships for the kids to follow and get involved in that way. "If people can see that at the top level they get into it, but we can't really look back now. We have to look forward and try to make the most Robertson returns to the All England this week after being forced to miss last year's event through illness. He plays in the men's doubles with fellow veteran Anthony Clark - with whom he won the national title last month - and new mixed doubles partner Jenny Wallwork. The qualifying rounds at the National Indoor Arena begin today with the competition proper starting tomorrow. China won titles in all five disciplines last year and their challenge will again be spearheaded by men's champion Lin Dan, who is bidding for his fifth win in seven years.
Badminton All England 2010: GB's 'lost generation' need success Doubles specialist Anthony Clark believes England have “lost a generation” of players as the squad assembles for the 100th All England Open, the sport’s oldest tournament. By Rod Gilmour Published: 5:40PM GMT 09 Mar 2010 The Championships start on Wednesday in Birmingham with the daunting thought of England having to compete with no seeded players for the first time and China, the sport’s dominant force, looking to repeat last year’s five-medal clean sweep. Clark, who will partner Nathan Robertson in the men’s badminton doubles as England bid to win a first home title since 2005, said: “Having no seeds isn’t a great state of where English badminton is at the moment. But we were unseeded at the Singapore Open last year and came away with the title. Hopefully we can slip under the radar. “The problem is that we have lost a generation. We’ve lost a decade where no players came through and now we are relying on youth after some high-profile retirements. “We’re at the age now where we don’t believe you can play at the top of your game for the entire season and you need to peak for the major tournaments such as the All England.” However it’s not all doom and gloom. Robertson and new mixed doubles partner Jenny Wallwork are beginning to blossom as a partnership while England’s youthful outlook is led by 23 year-old Rajiv Ouseph, the world No 23, in the men’s singles. That competition will also see two of the greatest players of the last decade, Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei and China's Lin Dan, go head-to-head. Clark said: “We have some good younger players and that is the challenge for our coaches. We have an Olympic Games coming up and UK Sport demands very high levels. That is the kind of pressure they are putting on sports such as ours. We haven’t delivered in the last few big events but we have to aim high.” Despite England being seedless, the National Indoor Arena is still expected to witness cacophonic outbursts from the sport’s traditionally-noisy spectators over the five days - especially from the Asian fans. Clark added: “I find that it always lifts me. If you can silence the crowd then you know you are doing well. “However many thousand Indonesian and Chinese fans turn up, though, they will always be outnumbered by the Brits.”
Not too shabby.. ..at least it's still alive and kickin'. Here in U.S./North America, i'd be surprised to see Asian fans being outnumbered by non-Asian fans in a baddy tourney.
badminton needs a maojor celebraity or two to boost up the image.especially in the western coutnries.maybe the BWF can ask that myley cyrus chick or that ashton kuitcher babe to start proimoting the sport.
I don't think I want badminton to be popular. Do we really need hordes of drunken hooligans, noisy as hell, drunk, starting fights, throwing beer bottles and shouting racist slogans at players?
No. I want it to grow popularity similar to Tennis in western countries. In Asian countries badminton is quite popular already, however in western countries many still see badminton as a backyard BBQ event
Be careful what you wish for. If badminton were more popular, courts would be more expensive and less available, and you'd have hooligans, violence, security checks and idiots spouting nationalist trash about 'their' teams. (I t always amuses me to hear football fans saying 'We won' - 'We'? what did you do to help in this victory? You were sitting on your couch drinking beer, what kind of contribution is that?) Personally I don't think sports are for watching, they are for doing. I might go watch a big event occasionally out of curiosity or even a local one where my son is playing, but as a general rule I'd rather be on the court in person. badminton popularity would be more of a hindrance to my access to court time than a help.
But if the popularity increase then you'd have more friends to play with no? If your co-workers played then you could arrange for some bonding time. As it stands all we do in North America is gym, tennis, or pick up. I'd like to add badminton to that.
On the topic of what will make the game popular. Some decent television coverage won't hurt. Look at the explosion of poker after television really took it up. It went from basement to international. I mean I've watched television for years where I live. I have yet to see one live badminton game on the three sports channels available in my area.
Money? money for whom? Sure there are professionals of badminton, Taufik, Lin Dan, Gade thru Mr. Yonex and the guy who runs my local club, I'm sure they'd be happier if badminton were more popular and their wallets were a little fatter. But what would the rest of us just plain players get out of it? I don't want to have to wait in line an hour for a court. I don't want to be obliged to reserve a court 3 months in advance. I don't want to waste time and money driving in circles for 20 minutes trying to find a spot to park.
Does Tennis have "hooligans, violence, idiots spouting nationalist trash"? Im not too sure about that. What i can see on TV is that tennis spectators are very nice/fun/supportive, far away from football supporter image. Just look at Roland Garros and Wimbeldon, wouldn't it be nicer if it was a bird feather rather than a green ball Being as popular as tennis would bring at least a few benefit to badminton game. To mentioned a few; more media (TV, internet, magazine, etc) coverage, wider and easier availability of badminton stuffs (racket, shoes, clothing, etc), more funds go to junior/school player development, etc. In regards to court availability, i wouldn't think it would be a big problem. At least not here in Australia, there are tons of un-use schools sport hall that potentially can be turned into badminton court easily.
Not only the pros will benefit from the increased in popularity. For example, stringers/coaches/clubs/associations/workers and the whole badminton sports industry will all be benefited from it. These people will get extra income/work/business. Then where the money comes from? 1. Players like us: we spend money to pay for the courts/rackets/etc. We will spend the same amount of money but since there are more of us therefore more money. 2. Parents: More investment from parents for their children 3. Corporate: At the moment Yonex (perhaps also Li Ning and Victor) is the main sponsor/s in badminton. In comparison, tennis gets a lot more sponsorship from different corporate sources 4. Goverenment: perhaps through youth and sport programs