Is the Season Finale going to happen? if so, when and where? I heard that only the top eight players/pairs ranked in the Super Series are qualified to compete. It would be an exclusive tournament only for super stars, really exciting! Hope it will materialised.
At last the Grand Finale is here.. $500,000.00 in prize money is ups for grabs. It will be in the Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in Malaysia starting 18-21 of December. Only the Top Eight Qualifies and limited to 2 entries per country/member association per event. This is the Big one!
no, they cancelled it. I hope this year there is no cancel anymore. If CHN players is not attend, there is no problem, still have top players other than CHN...
I hope China goes, is there any official word on that? I think it will kind of ruin the whole point if they don't. It's hardly a final then... If there are more than 2 players ranked in the top 8, then does the association decide what 2 players to send, or does it just go by ranking?
Yup, I also notice that LD only participates 3 SS in this year so far -- KOR, All England and SUI and he had missed 7 SS, MAS-SIN-INA-CHN Masters-JPN-DEN-FRA. Thanx ants for the info! There's news article in BWF website -- SS Masters Finals is ON!
from thestar online.. Malaysia to host prestigious event — but there’s no Lin Dan By RAJES PAUL KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has been given the honour of hosting the long-awaited inaugural Super Series Masters Finals from Dec 18-21 in Kota Kinabalu. But there’s one setback. Olympic Games men’s singles champion Lin Dan of China will not grace the presitigous US$500,000 tournament after failing to meet the qualification requirement. Only the top eight singles players and top eight doubles players after 12 legs of the Super Series will feature in the lucrative Masters Finals. And even if a shuttler is ranked in the top eight, the player must have competed in eight Super Series events to be eligible for the Masters Finals. Lin Dan, who is currently ranked in the top eight, has only competed in three legs of the Super Series — South Korea (runner-up), All-England (runner-up) and Swiss Open (champion). All the qualifiers will be finalised after the last two legs in China (Nov 18-23) and Hong Kong (Nov 25-30). In fact, even Malaysia’s top players have yet to qualify although all of them are in the top eight bracket. National No. 1 men’s singles ace Lee Chong Wei has competed in only seven Super Series so far, including the on-going French Open while top women’s singles player Wong Mew Choo and top men’s doubles pair Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong have taken part in seven and six respectively. That means all of them can’t afford to skip the last two Super Series in China and Hong Kong. Badminton fans can now expect all the players to make a last-ditch effort to feature in the last two Opens to qualify for the Masters Finals. Yesterday, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) and Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced the appointment of Malaysia as the host at a joint press conference at Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara. The BWF said they were happy to finally be able to host the Masters Finals after having to scrap last year’s Super Series season finale due to financial difficulties. “We were disappointed last year. But we have some good partners to make it happen this year,” said BWF secretary general Stuart Borrie, who added that BAM, Yonex Sunrise and international television broadcast rights holder ISC were their key partners.
I think they really should revise their qualification requirements... Eight Super Series seems quite a lot. And for a number 2 in the world, Olympic Champion not to qualify? Ridiculous! I don't really understand the minimum of eight SS bit. I mean to get into the top eight in the first place they'd either have to enter a lot anyway, or do very well in the few they do enter... which to get into the top eight should more than prove their worth if others behind them can't achieve the same with more tournaments under their belt... So what's the point?
Its Super Series Finals. I think the requirements if fair. Its like the Tennis Masters. You have to fight it out to the next round or next Master Series no matter if you are top ranked player or not.
