BAE aims for August WC!

Discussion in 'World Championships 2003' started by dlp, May 6, 2003.

  1. dlp

    dlp Regular Member

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    6th May BAofE website


    England to submit new World Championship plan

    England will go to the International Badminton Federation shortly to seek agreement in principle for the staging of the 13th World Badminton Championships.

    Within a week of the event being postponed because of fears over SARS, the Badminton Association of England have been in detailed talks with their partners and are assessing the feasibility of staging the championships in August.

    The National Indoor Arena, who were to have staged the championships from May 12-18, are eager for the show to go on and have offered the BA of E a choice of dates within a three-week window from July 25-August 18, the only dates they have available between now and the end of 2003.

    And UK Sport, despite being critical of the IBF’s Executive Board’s ‘bizarre and illogical’ decision to postpone the championships in the first place, have confirmed that they are ready for the original lottery grant to ‘roll over’ to the new date.

    The third, and possibly most essential, element is already being tackled as well. Within 24 hours of postponement the BA of E wrote to their army of volunteer workers asking if they were still available if the championships are rearranged. The initial reaction, as you would expect, is extremely positive.

    BA of E chief executive Stephen Baddeley said today: “The response from our partners has been terrific. Both the NEC group, who run the NIA, and UK Sport contacted us to say they were behind us all the way.

    “We all want this prestige event to go ahead. All we want now is confirmation from the IBF. I intend to contact the IBF chief executive Neil Cameron in Cheltenham and ask him to forward our proposal to the President, Korn Dabbaransi, and his Executive Board.

    “We are seeking instant approval for an agreement in principle so that detailed work on the contractual arrangements can progress.

    “We can see no reason why this should not be granted and once it is the BA of E staff can get back to work with the IBF on the staging of the event and other vital elements, not least worldwide television coverage.

    “It is ironic that within three days of the Executive Board’s decision, Britain has been taken off the World Health Organisation’s list of countries affected by SARS.

    “That merely confirms what we originally believed – that the championships could have gone ahead safely.

    “But it certainly means that once we have IBF authorisation, we can get straight on with preparing for the 13th World Championships.

    “The IBF have already confirmed the championships are still ours to stage and that’s precisely what we want to do.

    “When I addressed the IBF member nations over the scoring system at the EGM in Eindhoven in March, I said I hoped the meeting marked the start of a spirit of co-operation without which our sport will not prosper.

    “And the BA of E’s own partners, the NEC group and UK Sport, have already taken that on board with their renewed support.

    “Now, within seven weeks of Eindhoven, I am urging the IBF’s Executive Board to capture that spirit and confirm that in another 12 weeks or so the QI IBF World Championships will be taking place at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.”


    *The World Championships will involve 350 players from 47 nations and will be a key event in the one-year Olympic qualifying programme, which started on May 1.
     
  2. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    August is possibly the earliest that can be considered if all goes well with control of SARS.

    I am surprised that they did not try to push the decision on the timing fo the tourney to a few weeks later considering that the circmstances on which the decision was based to delay have not changed much within this week. Probably, this was forced upon by the limited dates the NIA had available.

    3 scenarios possible:
    1) SARS situation improves - no problem
    2) SARS situation status quo - would IBF delay again?
    3) SARS situation worsens - hold the tournament at all?

    If delay to later in the year, then an alternative venue would have to be sought.
    How about Millenium dome? Is that adequate?
    Or Manchester NEC?
     
  3. dlp

    dlp Regular Member

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    The IBF site suggests that it is likely to be a delay of more than 2 months and that this means a whole new list of qualifiers will be drawn up. This seems tough, some players will have missed events resting for the WC, others will be affected by SARS. This will be a long running saga!
     
  4. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    From Star online

    World Championships will have to be held before year ends

    By LIM TEIK HUAT
    PETALING JAYA: The badminton World Championships will have to be held before the end of the year as the International Badminton Federation (IBF) do not want it to play havoc with the Olympic qualifying period.

    IBF vice-president Datuk Punch Gunalan said there will not be an extension for the Olympic qualifying period which started this month and ends on April 30 next year.

    “The Olympic qualifying period is decided by the International Olympic Council (IOC) and not IBF,” said Punch.

    “As such, we cannot delay the staging of the World Championships for too long. If it is held next year, it is going to affect the ranking points a lot as we have to reschedule the whole ranking system again.”

    The world meet was supposed to take place in Birmingham from May 12-18 but has been called off by IBF last week because of the uncertainty surrounding the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus outbreak.

    Also deferred are IBF's annual general meeting and the world coaching conference.

    The seven-star competition in Birmingham was to be the first meet to offer major ranking points for players to qualify for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

    Punch said IBF executive board will be meeting by this weekend to discuss on this matter and also to decide on the status of the three back-to-back Grand Prix meets – the Singapore Open (June 17-22), Indonesian Open (June 24-29) and Malaysian Open (July 1-6).

    The three tournaments form part of the Asian circuit after the World Championships and is hanging in the balance, also because of the concern over SARS.

    “We hope to come out with some announcements on these issues after the meeting. On the status of the Asian meets, we will discuss it but will be up to the organisers themselves to make a final decision.”

    A factor that could be weighing heavily on the minds of the IBF executive board is to avoid putting off the world meet till next year.

    IBF will be organising two major events on their calendar next year – the Thomas Cup in May and Olympics in September.

    Certainly, the idea of having another major showpiece on the same calendar year will not be so appealing to the sport's sponsors.

    The annual badminton All-England championships taking place in Birmingham is also scheduled for March next year.

    October is touted as a likely replacement date for the World Championships as there is no major meets scheduled then.

    The Holland, Danish and German Opens have been scheduled for September while November will have the Hongkong, Taiwan and China Opens.

    However, Punch said factors like the availability of the venue for the competition will have to be considered too.
     

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