By Dev S. Sukumar, IANS
Hyderabad : The postponement of the Yonex Sunrise India Open, which would have showcased some of the finest talent in the badminton world, has meant that around Rs.2.5 million and three months of hard work has gone down the drain. The event has been postponed to January following the twin blasts in the city.
Several stake holders, including sponsors Yonex, event management company NEB, and officials of the Andhra Pradesh Badminton Association, have lost money. The US $150,000 tournament was to be held from Sep 5 to 9 at the Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy Stadium.
“It’s all over,” said a disheartened Punnaiah Choudary, organising secretary of the event, part of the team that has been working for the tournament since June. “We don’t know the extent of the loss yet, but it is around Rs.25 lakh (Rs.2.5 million). We have called for a meeting tomorrow to decide the next course of action.”
The event would have been the most high profile Open tournament ever held in India. With several world champions – including 2007 title-holder Zhu Lin (women’s singles), Zhang Jiewen and Yang Wei (women’s doubles) and 2005 winner Taufik Hidayat – having confirmed, the tournament was expected to revive badminton’s media space in the country.
Event management company NEB, based in Bangalore, and sports equipment manufacturer Yonex have spent around Rs.1 million. Office-bearers of the Andhra Pradesh Badminton Association, including Punnaiah Choudary, Ramachandra Rao and Phani Rao, have spent around Rs.50,000 each.
Most of the money so far has been spent on publicity material, press events and international travel for officials connected with the event. A press meet in Mumbai was held on June 7 to announce the event, and it cost Rs.400,000. Another press meet, where the mascot was unveiled by R. Damodar Reddy, minister for sports and Information Technology on Saturday, cost Rs.200,000.
Pullela Gopichand, who had worked hard to get the event to Hyderabad, said the event hadn’t been insured yet.
A press statement from the Badminton World Federation said that Badminton Association of India president V.K. Verma had informed them of the postponement after consulting the government and sponsors.
The Badminton Association of Malaysia was the first to voice its fears over player safety, following which the Malaysian government refused to clear the team. Curiously, there have been no enquiries from China, although they had cleared an 18-member team for the event.
The twin bombings in the city on Saturday killed 43 people and injured 70.