Starting this year, the China Badminton Association has been actively promoting outdoor badminton across the country. Recently, outdoor badminton promotion events were held in Lingshui, Hainan, and Nanning, Guangxi, attracting the attention and participation of many local badminton enthusiasts, allowing them to experience the charm of outdoor badminton. On April 1st, the 2021 ‘Yuyue Cup’ outdoor badminton promotion event kicked off in Xiangshuwan, Lingshui, Hainan.
Leaders such as Zhang Jun, President of the China Badminton Association, Chen Chunmei, Deputy County Head of Lingshui Li Autonomous County, and Chen Shihong, Director of the Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television, and Sports Bureau of Lingshui Li Autonomous County, along with Deputy Director Liu Zhigang, attended the opening ceremony. National badminton team athletes Huang Kaixiang and Liu Cheng also participated. At the opening ceremony, Zhang Jun stated that our country is a major badminton nation with a broad mass base for the sport. The China Badminton Association has deeply implemented the national fitness strategy, launched the outdoor badminton project in collaboration with the Badminton World Federation in 2019, and promoted it nationwide this year. Outdoor badminton breaks through the limitations of venues and environments, allowing people of different ages and athletic abilities to enjoy the fun of badminton at any time. Zhang Jun pointed out that Lingshui has been undertaking the national badminton team’s training tasks all year round, providing a large amount of policy support for the team’s peaceful training. The Lingshui training base of the national badminton team has done a lot of work in training venues and logistics support, and has become another ‘home’ for us. At the same time, Lingshui has been hosting the China (Lingshui) International Badminton Masters and Challenge for six consecutive years, promoting the joint development of the city and badminton sports, and creating a ‘sports + tourism’ city card. Zhang Jun said that the Lingshui station was the first to combine outdoor hard ground, grass, and beach in three sports scenes, providing a model for subsequent promotion activities. Next, the China Badminton Association will actively promote outdoor badminton into schools, communities, and to the general public. A total of 34 pairs of players registered for the competition, and national badminton team athletes Liu Cheng and Huang Kaixiang, along with former national player and CCTV badminton event commentator Gong Weijie, staged a beach badminton men’s doubles warm-up performance match for the audience. After a short period of adaptation, the multi-round competition of the national team members attracted bursts of cheers from the audience. Liu Cheng said that the outdoor environment is very good, and the mood of playing is different from indoors. On the beach, you can ‘dive and leap’ without worrying about getting hurt. Finally, Zhang Jun donated outdoor badminton equipment to Guangpo Town, Lingshui Li Autonomous County, and awarded prizes to the winning athletes in each category along with team members Huang Kaixiang and Liu Cheng. On March 27th, the first Guangxi Outdoor Badminton Mixed Team Invitational and Outdoor Badminton Promotion Event were also held at Li-Ning Sports Park in Nanning City.Feng Pingshan, the Treasurer and Executive Deputy Secretary-General of the Badminton Association of China, Lu Yiwen, Deputy Director of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Sports Bureau, Wei Jianxun, Director of the Mass Sports Department of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Sports Bureau, Yang Xuemin, Director of the Nanning Sports Bureau, Huang Gang, General Manager of the Nanning Li-Ning Sports Park, and Liu Qian, Vice President of the Nanning Badminton Association, attended the event and jointly kicked off the activities.
Four representative teams from Nanning, consisting of approximately 40 players, engaged in an intense mixed team competition. Local badminton enthusiasts sweated on the field, experiencing the charm of this new outdoor sport firsthand. Badminton is one of the most beloved sports among the citizens of Nanning, and it has developed rapidly in recent years. Nanning is also considered a ‘lucky place’ for Chinese badminton. In 2019, the Chinese team defeated the Japanese team here, reclaiming the Sudirman Cup and boosting the morale of the nation. The Badminton Association of China chose Nanning as the first stop for this year’s outdoor badminton promotion activities, recognizing the city’s strong badminton sports atmosphere and cultural traditions.
