Badminton Test Event Part of Larger Grassroots Effort

(ATR) Badminton World Federation Secretary General Thomas Lund tells Around the Rings the Yonex Brazil Open is one part of an "investment" to grow badminton in Brazil.

The event on Nov. 24-29 is serving as the official badminton test event for Rio 2016, although organized by the BWF. It is located in the Riocentro convention center, where badminton along with three Olympic and three Paralympic sports will be held in 2016.

According to Lund, the event is part of the "Descubra o Badminton" (Discover Badminton) program that the federation implemented to drum up interest for the sport in Brazil.

In addition to hosting the Brazil Open in 2014 and 2015, the federation has invested in grassroots efforts in schools in the Jacarepagua area, and pop-up tournaments in places like shopping malls around the city of Rio de Janeiro.

"Hopefully the result is when people come to the venue next year they get a little more enjoyment because it is not a totally unknown phenomenon," Lund said to ATR.

"That’s the strategy behind it. For us it is about developing the Game, the Brazilian Badminton Federation (CBBd) is doing a great job trying to develop the sport here and we hope the legacy after the Games will be that we have a totally different position here."

The Brazil Open presents a scaled down version of the event for Rio 2016, which allowed organizers to test many back of house operations.

Rio 2016 Director of Sport Rodrigo Garcia said at a press conference on Nov. 24 that the organizing committee is testing, "lighting, field of play, air conditioning and operations and volunteer teams."

"For us, it is an honor to have international athletes including Olympic champions," Garcia said.

"We have received good feedback from the international federation, but more importantly from our principal client in the Games which is the athletes."

During the Games, badminton will house 7,000 spectators at Riocentro. For organizers that creates a small challenge as the size of the test event makes it impossible to mimic the exact conditions that will feature in the Olympic Games.

"We are doing testing on things you don’t see frankly that will be important for the whole flow and operations of an Olympic Games," Lund said.

"Building a 7,000-spectator stand around the field of play will make conditions slightly different, so we’ll try to simulate that to get an impression of how the wind flow and stuff in this venue is, which is important."

The athletes participating had no qualms about the setup of the event, except for a few comments about the air conditioning in Riocentro.

"It will be perfect during the Games," Ygor Coelho, a Brazilian athlete, said.

"This venue is very spacious, and I liked the lighting, I adapted very well. The air conditioning that still a little strong, but it is little thing to fix.

For Jarolim Vicen, an athlete from Slovakia, the proximity of the hotel to the venue made preparations for the event "easy," and created very little stress.

"The AC is too loud, but it's not disturbing, and all venues are different," Vicen said to ATR.

"It is a good temperature.Sometimes venues are small, sometimes the light is problem, but I think everything is good here. "

Written by Aaron Bauer in Rio de Janeiro

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.