Title Tournaments

World’s Largest Jr. Badminton Competition Visits Toronto Area for 1st Time

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The 2018 BWF World Junior Championships Will Be Played in Markham Nov. 5-18

 

TORONTO, ON, April 5, 2018 – Anything is possible when Canada hosts the 2018 Badminton World Federation World Junior Championships this November for the first time in 14 years. More than 600 athletes all under 19 and representing 55 countries are expected to converge on the Markham Pan Am Centre in the Greater Toronto Area November 5-18, 2018.

 

Will the next million-dollar professional athlete be showcasing his or her talents? Will China continue its dominance? Will host Canada, or any non-Asian country bring home a gold medal?

Those are some of the top story lines as the largest BWF World Championship tournament on the planet returns to Canada again after Richmond, BC last hosted the event in 2004.

  

“It is another opportunity to promote badminton in one of our developing confederations and I am sure Markham will be a great host,” Badminton World Federation President Poul-Erik Hoyer said in a statement. “It will be exciting to watch the young talents battling on court and I urge residents of Markham and the Greater Toronto Area to support this event.”

China has been the most successful in the World Junior Championships ever since its inception in 1992, winning 60 gold medals. The next closest is 12 for Malaysia and South Korea.

 

Chen Long won gold for China in the 2007 junior championships and went on to become the world’s top ranked player, winning gold in the 2016 Olympics. He’s currently ranked fourth and has earned more than $1 Million in prize money.

 

Long is one of many Chinese players who compete using Li-Ning equipment and apparel. Li-Ning is the official equipment sponsor of the event. LN Distribution, which has a major distribution centre near Markham, is the official distributor in Canada and the USA.

 

“Kudos to Badminton Canada and Badminton Ontario, the organizing committee, for bringing this world class event to the GTA,” said Len Carter, president of LN Distribution Inc. which will act as the official Li-Ning representative for the championships. “Badminton is the top participatory sport in Markham area schools and this is an opportunity for local club players to witness the sport at an extremely high level.”

 

The BWF World Junior Championships is a two-tiered tournament featuring the World Junior Mixed Team Championships to start the event. China has won Gold 12 times since the Suhandinata Cup began in 2000, including the past four years in a row. The individual World Junior Championships is the featured event.

ABOUT THE BWF WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS:

WHEN: Nov. 5-18, 2018

WHERE: Markham Pan Am Centre, 16 Main St Unionville, Unionville, ON L3R 2E4, Canada

 

STORY IDEAS:
Can host Canada capture its first gold medal ever?

• Can Canada - or any other country - join Denmark as the only non-Asian country to win a gold medal in the event’s 26-year history?

• The growing popularity of badminton in Canada. How has the influx of Asian immigrants influenced the sport?

• The venue. The Markham Pan Am Centre was built with badminton in mind and opened four years ago. It features eight competition courts, three warm up courts and seating for more than 1,000 spectators. The 2015 Pan Am & Parapan Am Games were held there.

• Will the next future million-dollar athlete be competing?

• Interview opportunities with members of the Chinese team.

  • What makes them so successful?

  • How does the junior championships prepare athletes for the professional tour / Olympics?

 

FAST FACTS:

• More than 600 athletes from 55 countries are participating

• According to the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, approximately 50 percent of Canada’s world immigration has come from Asia since the turn of the millennium – including the top two countries, China and India, where badminton is popular

• Markham, a suburb of Toronto, is the hometown of Michelle Li, Canada’s most accomplished singles player and defending Commonwealth Games champion

• Over 1500 tubes (18,000 pieces) of Li-Ning A+600 shuttlecocks will be used over a two week period to play the event. A shuttlecock can last a full game or just a few points. The shuttlecocks are made from the left wing of a goose feather inserted into a natural cork base.