Badminton Asia inks five-year deal with Beyond Boundaries to host championships

2023 onwards, Dubai will be seen hosting the prestigious Badminton Asia Championships. This latest development came to light after Badminton Asia inked a five-year deal with Dubai-based leading sports management and consulting company Beyond Boundaries to conduct Badminton Asia Championships in Dubai for the next five years.

The deal that was signed on June 22 in Singapore, ahead of World Badminton Day on July 5 is a strong affirmation of Badminton Asia’s intentions to conduct international tournaments in one of the Middle East’s most popular and fastest-growing sports hubs — Dubai.

Badminton Asia is the governing body of the sport in Asia under the flagship of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), formerly known as the International Badminton Federation, founded in London on July 5, 1934.

The Badminton Asia Championship is held every year to crown the best badminton players in Asia. The tournament first took place in 1962 in Kuala Lumpur, and has been held every year since 1991.

Anton Subowo, president of Badminton Asia, Moosa Nashid, secretary general of Badminton Asia; Dr Sathya Menon, CEO of Beyond Boundaries, Jayesh George, director of partnerships and alliance at Beyond Boundaries and Prajeet Pareparambil, director of operations, represented their respective organisations at the signing ceremony. Also, present at the signing was Mahendra Kapoor, managing director of Lining Sports.

Expressing his delight, Subowo remarked: “Badminton is one of the most popular sports with an all-time high participation and fan base. It will be exciting to host the Badminton Asia Championships in a new arena.”

Nashid added: “Badminton as a sport offers great value in terms of mental and physical discipline. This agreement has sealed a great way of promoting the sport in the UAE and Middle East.”

Badminton Asia Championships is a very crucial event because it acts as the qualifying window to the prestigious Olympics Games. It also gives players the opportunity to qualify for world badminton championships like Sudirman Cup, Thomas and Uber Cups and other major tournaments.

Dubai is already equipped with highly advanced sports infrastructure and facilities, making the city a much-preferred destination for hosting different world-class sports events.

Dr Menon said: “This will be the first time that Badminton Asia Championships will be conducted in Dubai, and as their local sports management partner, our team of sports experts are very much looking forward to delivering world-class experiences for this international event.”

“Badminton Asia Championships has a huge fan base and we are pleased to work in close cooperation with an esteemed governing body like Badminton Asia,” added George.

Pareparambil further added, “The Badminton Asia and Beyond Boundaries partnership has sealed a great way of hosting this important sports event in Dubai.”

“Being a part of such a valuable agreement has been an absolute pleasure. Everyone is waiting for this new chapter to begin,” remarked Kapoor.

Many top shuttlers from all over Asia will be joining the competition to earn points to raise their Badminton World Federation (BWF) ranking. This will also give badminton fans the chance to cheer and rejoice for their favourite players.

Badminton has evolved into one of the most engaging and preferred sports to watch on television, with a global reach in excess of 600 million households and a potential reach in excess of 1.8 billion individual people across 115 countries. The Badminton Asia Championships are broadcasted in a large number of countries across the world.

Every year, badminton is gaining a significantly increased viewership record on TV. While football remains the number one sport watched on TV, badminton has rapidly spiked up to feature among the top four in the world. In Asia alone, badminton is the most-watched and played sport.

The Badminton Asia Championships are live-streamed across numerous prominent television channels. Several online streaming platforms also serve as mediums for viewing the tournaments. Short-form tournament-related videos like ‘Play of the Day’, and ‘Highlights’ are some of the most-watched sports content on digital platforms.

The Badminton Asia Championships consist of individual, team (men, women, both), and mixed team championships where top shuttlers from China, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Philippines, India, Singapore, Malaysia, and other Asian countries compete with each other for the much-coveted titles.

The last Badminton Asia Championships, which was the 39th edition, was held in the Philippines from April-May 2022, and witnessed world champions like Kidambi Srikanth, PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Lakshya Sen, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, and Chirag Shetty among several others.