New Super Series to raise prize money, profile

Kuala Lumpur, Dec 14 (Reuters) Badminton's most prestigious event, the All England Championship, will be part of a new cash-driven 12-tournament Super Series tour aimed at raising the sport's global appeal.

Governing body Badminton World Federation (BWF), formerly known as the International Badminton Federation, said today that the inaugural series in 2007 will offer minimum prize money of US200,000 dollar for each tournament.

''There will be more prize money, more television coverage and the opportunity for players to make a proper living out of the sport, just like tennis,'' BWF deputy president Punch Gunalan told Reuters.

''The important thing is to make badminton one of the leading racquet sports in the world.'' The Super Series, running from January to December, will feature tournaments in England, China, Denmark, France, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Switzerland.

China will stage two tournaments while a season-ending BWF Super Series Masters for the top eight in men's and women's singles and doubles will be played at a venue yet to be announced.

Badminton is hoping to make the most of recent rule changes that now sees 21-point rally sets, in which points can be scored no matter who is serving. Previously a point could only be scored by a serving player.

STEP FORWARD Canadian top-50 player Bobby Milroy said the series is a major step forward for the sport.

''This is what we were waiting for the past 10 years,'' he said.

''We knew it was the only way this sport could take off.

''Tennis has been doing this for 20 years. We are really excited about this. The new points system is great. Players were skeptical at first but now we can't imagine going back to the old system.'' Paisan Rangsikitpho, BWF's chairman of events, said he hopes the series will encourage more players from Europe, the Americas and Africa to challenge what has traditionally been an Asian-dominated sport.

''With more prize money, it would mean that players can make a living out of the sport, therefore, it may encourage more players from the US and Europe to play badminton,'' said Paisan.

While minimum prize money is US0,000, individual tournaments are allowed to offer purses above this amount.

BWF has also appointed Stockhold-based IEC in Sports to handle global television marketing and distribution.

''Badminton needs more stars. We expect players and federations to be more professional and change their mindsets,'' said Gunalan.

''We need a Tiger Woods or Andre Agassi. That's the direction we want to go in.'' REUTERS SAM ND1456