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Oldies Peter-Gade and Taufik lament about the ills in badminton
SHUTTLERS Peter-Gade Christensen and Taufik Hidayat may feel that they are as old as the All-England badminton tournament, which is celebrating its centenary this year.
After all, the Dane and Indonesian have been playing in the tournament for more than a decade. And the two old hands have no qualms about speaking their minds in the hope of bringing changes to the sport.
Christensen, the 1999 All-England champion, wants the World Badminton Federation (BWF) to take a more professional approach to make the sport a lucrative one for the players.
Christensen feels that, apart from the All-England, it's time for the BWF to up the stakes in Open tournaments.
"I was all game when the Super Series was introduced in 2007. Three years have gone by and the players are still taking home the same amount in prize money. In fact, I have been playing for the last 15 years and nothing much has changed for the players," said Christensen.
"Except for the All-England, which is professionally run, the players are faced with the same problems pertaining to practice time, warm-up court and transportation.
"I have fully supported the Super Series Mas ters Finals. Now, they want to introduce the new tier of four major tournaments. I hope that the welfare of the players will be given priority."
Meanwhile Taufik, the 1999 and 2000 All-England runner-up, has a bone to pick with the youngsters, saying he has given up hope of them taking over from the seniors for now.
"Probably, these new faces will only emerge when Peter, Lee Chong Wei, Lin Dan and I leave the scene one day. This should not be the way," said Taufik. "They should be driven to beat players like us, who have been there for a long time."
Source from The Star Online
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