All England Championships awarded top-tier status 27/05/2010 |
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The All England Championships, badminton's oldest tournament, will break $1m in prize money over the next three years after being awarded top-tier status in a revamped Super Series.
The Daily Telegraph reports that, from next season, the All England will join the Korea Open, Indonesia Open, Denmark Open and China Open as one of five events comprising badminton's new Premier Series, effectively the first tennis-style grand slam.
There will be seven other second-tier Super Series events and total prize money for the year for the 12 events will rise to $4.7m.
Adrian Christy, Badminton England's chief executive, told the newspaper: "Having five focused events, this will be the equivalent of the Majors. It is definitely a step in the right direction and time that the top players were rewarded.
"This new format will see the best players playing the best events. We were fortunate that with the All England – the best tournament in the world – that the best players come to it."
The Super Series format was introduced in 2007 but after a review at the end of last year, the Badminton World Federation decided to introduce a two-tier system from 2011.
Christy added: "I don't think the Super Series went stale, it was just a tour without any focal events during the course of the year other than the finals at the end of the 12 months.
"The All England in 2012 will be part of the Olympic qualification process. It will be a real shop window for talent. Having three world-class events leading up to 2012 [two All Englands and the World Championships in 2011], I am not sure too many sports can say that."
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