India will host one of the seven prestigious Super Series badminton events in a revamped and lucrative tennis-style world badminton calendar that will also see the sport's first ever million dollar prize money tournament. The Badminton World Federation (BWF), at its executive council meeting in Kuala Lumpur Friday, gave the go ahead for the five new Premier Series tournaments, on the lines of the Grand Slams in tennis. The All England, which celebrated its 100th edition in March, the Korea Open, Indonesia Open, Denmark Open and China Open will comprise the new Premier Series. The Korean Open will have a purse of $1.2 million, four times as much as this year, and will become the first in the sport to offer over $1 million in prize money. The Super Series format, which was introduced in 2007, will now be the second-tier events with an increase in the prize money. BWF, after a review of its annual calendar at the end of 2009, had decided to introduce the two-tier system from 2011. The good news for India is that it has been awarded the rights to host a Super Series event 2011-13 which will boost the popularity of the sport in the country. The other hosts of the Super Series events, with a prize purse of $200,000, are France, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and China. The Super Series event features the world's top 32 players in men's and women's singles and doubles. The tournament, to be held immediately after the All England Championship each year, will take place at the Siri Fort badminton stadium here with Hyderabad and Mumbai as standby venues. "This is great news for us in India and in keeping with India's rise in world badminton," Badminton Association of India (BAI) president V.K. Verma said. Verma said BAI made a strong case for India to be elevated from a Grand Prix host to a Super Series host. "We won the vote against the Swiss Open 10-7 with all non-European nations supporting our bid," he said. "Our presentation to the WBF included our excellent hosting of the World Junior Championship in Pune in 2008, the World Championship in Hyderabad 2009 and Badminton Asia Championship in April 2010, the large and popular base for badminton, and BAI's financial strength based on the backing of sponsors and the large pool of technical officials and management team," he said. "We are now ranked seventh in the world in both men and women's sections, having been placed at 30th position five years ago." "As many as 16 players are ranked among the World's top 50, with Saina Nehwal sixth in the women's section. India also has a strong junior team, claiming two boys singles semifinal berths in the World Junior Championship 2010 in Mexico," said Verma, who is also a BWF vice president. National coach Pullela Gopichand, who won the All England title in 2001, said it would help the sport gain more popularity in the country. "I am happy that we are at a stage today to host such a prestigious event as a Super Series tournament. India has been put on the world badminton map well and truly and this will be a boon for the badminton fraternity in India." India's badminton great Prakash Padukone, who won the All England crown in 1980 and the World Cup in 1981, said he was delighted that India would host a Super Series tournament. "A lot of young players will get an opportunity to watch the top players of the world in action and improve their own game." The badminton calendar will be more lucrative now. The total prize money for the year, including the Premier tournaments, will rise from $3.3 million to $4.7 million. Prize money in Indonesia has been raised to $600,000 while the other three are offering a minimum of $350,000 each. BWF president Kang Young-Joong said: "There is more money in the sport, we have our first ever million dollar prize money tournament and above all the BWF received a strong interest from our member countries. The future is bright." There were 17 applications to host a Super Series event and eight to stage one of the Premier tournaments. "These are positives for the sport and I firmly believe we are heading in the right direction in terms of developing and promoting the sport." u00a0 u00a0

India will host one of the seven prestigious Super Series badminton events in a revamped and lucrative tennis-style world badminton calendar that will also see the sport's first ever million dollar prize money tournament.

Delhi to host Super Series badminton in revamped calendar

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Delhi to host Super Series badminton in revamped calendar

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