Asia unable to field team against Europe
Author: Badminton Europe
Date: 26 Jul 2007
Category: General News
Badminton Europe was today
informed by IMG, on behalf of the organising committee of the 2007 MVP
Cup (Europe-Asia match), that the match would not be played on the
agreed dates of 21-23 August 2007, but be postponed to a yet unknown
date.
The official statement from IMG
was the Badminton Asia was unable to field a full team to compete
against a very strong European line up.
The European Team was very
close to be the strongest that Europe could muster as Kenneth Jonassen
(DEN), Dicky Palyama (NED), Xu Huaiwen (GER), Yao Jie (NED), Jens
Eriksen (DEN), Martin Lundgaard (DEN), Nathan Robertson (ENG), Gail
Emms (ENG) and Donna Kellogg (ENG) had all confirmed their
participation.
Hopefully all players will be able
to re-confirm their participation should the event be staged later in
2007. Badminton Europe understand that this might be a naive hope, as
we are in the Olympic Qualification period, but will do our utmost to
bring together as strong a team as possible should the match go ahead.
The entire press release can be read below:
--------------------
July 25, 2007
Manila, Philippines
To Whom It May Concern:
The MVP Cup has developed over the
past two years into one of the world’s most exciting events. Pitting
the two strongest badminton continents against each other in a Ryder
Cup-style event, Asia and Europe have fielded the best available
players in singles and doubles to compete against each other. As of
now, the series stands at Asia 1, Europe 1 and this year’s event will
see which continent can take the lead.
The World has seen numerous # 1
ranked players, World Champions and Olympic medallists at the MVP Cup,
such as Lin Dan, Nathan Robertson & Gail Emms, Taufik Hidayat,
Zhang Ning, Mia Audina and many other players who are well-known on the
BWF tour. In order to secure these top players each year at the MVP
Cup, the event organizers go through a difficult process finding the
right date on which to hold the event when players from both Europe and
Asia can commit.
This year’s date—which was just 3
days after the World Championships—proved to be too difficult for Asia
who was not able to field a full team on the scheduled dates of August
21 – 23. We are therefore forced to postpone the event until we can
find a date where both the BAC and BE are able to field strong teams to
compete for the 3rd MVP Cup.
Up to this moment, the event had
secured live TV coverage in 16 countries across Asia and
Europe. Interest in the event has grown substantially since the event’s
inception and we hope that this postponement will not affect overall
interest in the MVP Cup. Once the new date is set, the event will be
staged at the level to which broadcasters, sponsors and fans have
become accustomed: Second to None!
On behalf of the organizing committee of the MVP Cup, we would like to thank you for your understanding and continued support.
