All England badminton championship: prestigious but not so at home

Riyadi Suparno, The Jakarta Post, Birmingham, England

The All England badminton championship is back in the city of Birmingham this week, and yet it hardly seems to be causing a ripple in the city.

There is no media fanfare, and few overt signs that the tournament is being staged, except at the tournament's venue, the National Indoor Arena (NIA), and a few tourist information centers.

It's also hard to find people in the street who know what the All England is all about. Some people questioned by The Jakarta Post on the roads leading to the NIA said they knew nothing about the tournament.

The All England is not so alien, though, to those Britons who have connections with Asia, and Indonesia in particular.

Nick Devas, a lecturer at the University of Birmingham who lived in Indonesia for several years, said earlier this week that he was aware the tournament was being staged but had not had the chance to visit yet.

Similarly, Jonathan Roberts, who teaches gamelan at the University of Central England, which is located quite close to the NIA, has not yet visited the tournament, but said he would like to do so in the future.

The All England, and badminton in general, does not appeal to British people because the sport has been dominated by Asian players for so long, says Suryawan Murtiadi, a Phd student and a badminton trainer at a university in Birmingham.

"Unless you have an English player winning this tournament, the BBC will not bother covering the event," he said.

However, in the nature of the chicken and the egg conundrum, it is open to debate as to whether the British are not interested because the sport is dominated by Asians, or rather whether the sport is dominated by Asians because the British, and most Europeans in general, are not interested.

Whatever the case, the All England is one of the oldest sporting tournaments in England, and dates back to its inception in 1899, just 22 years after the founding of the other All- England championships, i.e. the lawn tennis championships that later became well-known as Wimbledon.

English players dominated the badminton All England until the late 1930s, when players from other countries started to compete. In the 1940s, the crown for the most prestigious title, i.e. the men's singles, started to be claimed by players from outside England, namely Denmark, India and United States.

In the second half of the 20th century, the tournament came to be dominated by three Asian giants (China, Indonesia and Malaysia) and Denmark. Since the start of this century, the All England has belonged to China, something that may well be repeated this year.

Some have also speculated that the decline in the popularity of the All England in England itself is partly due to the change in the tournament's venue from the Wembley Arena in London to the NIA in Birmingham in 1994.

For years, Wembley was synonymous with the All England badminton championships, just like Wimbledon still is with the All England tennis championships. Wembley hosted the All England from 1957 through 1993. Although the All England has changed venues several times, Wembley is still special for many players.

"At Wembley, you get a feeling that is at the same time both magical and creepy," former Indonesian top shuttler Joko Supriyanto said on Tuesday at the NIA. Joko reached the men's singles finals twice at Wembley, in 1990 and 1993, but lost to Zhao Jianhua of China and his fellow Indonesian Heryanto Arbi respectively.

Indonesia's team manager Christian Hadinata, who won the men's doubles twice and reached the finals four times at Wembley in the 1970s, said Wembley was a legend but it was an old building. Most significantly, Wembley was getting more expensive. Therefore, it was time to move on.

For many Asians living in England, the All England remains popular whether held at Wembley or the NIA. Students from Malaysia, China and Indonesia in Birmingham have all encouraged their countrymen from outside Birmingham to travel to the venue to support their Badminton heroes.