On March 24, the launch ceremony of the 2015 Red Bull City Badminton Tournament "Badminton Masters," known as the "mini Sudirman Cup," was held in Beijing. Thomas Lund, Secretary-General of the Badminton World Federation, Li Yongbo, head coach of the Chinese national badminton team, and Zhang Qiong, sports marketing director of Red Bull, attended the press conference and delivered speeches. Fu Haifeng, 31, and Indonesian legend Taufik, 34, appeared as "team captains" and challenged Jakarta to a match. Special guest basketball star Stephon Marbury shared his personal insights to explain the event’s theme, "Seize the Moment." The champions of this year's "Badminton Masters" will have the honor of kicking off the finals of the World Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia in August, and will also play a friendly match against top amateur teams from Indonesia.
The 2015 "Badminton Masters" will cover 30 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions across China, including 115 cities at the prefecture level and above. The tournament adopts an "O2O model" with online registration and open regional selection, establishing a nationwide online team formation and registration platform. In line with the characteristics of mass amateur sports competitions, a new "double-elimination plus draw format" competition system has been introduced, making the matches more thrilling and suspenseful. The competition will officially kick off on April 25, divided into three stages: city tournaments, regional tournaments, and the finals. The overall champions will be decided in July, and in mid-August, the winning team will travel to Indonesia to kick off the 2015 Badminton World Championships and play a friendly match against a representative team from Taufik’s Indonesian club at the Istora Senayan stadium, the venue of the World Championships.
Chinese Badminton Stars Shoot Visual Film, Marbury Interprets “Seize the Moment”
At the press conference, the promotional video for the 2015 "Badminton Masters," starring five world champions — Chen Long, Fu Haifeng, Zhang Nan, Wang Shixian, and Wang Yihan — was refreshingly innovative. This visual film intercuts fast-paced life scenes with intense, competitive match footage to convey the event’s theme, "Seize the Moment." The computer-generated badminton court featured in the video resembles the "five-dimensional space" in the movie *Interstellar*, delivering a highly striking visual impact.
Basketball star Stephon Marbury, who recently led his team to win the CBA championship, made a surprise appearance as a "special guest" at the press conference. He demonstrated his basic badminton skills in front of Fu Haifeng. "I’ve learned a lot since coming to China, and I can play a bit of badminton too," said Marbury. "I hope the Chinese men's basketball team can become as strong as the Chinese badminton team." Regarding the event’s theme, "Seize the Moment," Marbury said it was also the topic he most wanted to share with fans. "Whether it’s basketball or badminton, if you want to win, you must seize every opportunity."
The band Fruit Day, praised by netizens as "China’s Beatles," performed the theme song of this year’s "Badminton Masters," titled "Seize the Moment." Along with the song, a creative music video shot using LEGO bricks was released. The MV tells an inspiring underdog story. Office worker Nini faces declining performance, blue-collar worker Dedede is rejected in love, civil servant Nengneng lives each day without novelty, and clerk Liangliang loves badminton but never achieves the results he hopes for. These everyday scenarios among urban youth are vividly portrayed through LEGO toys. The protagonists, each facing setbacks, form a "Loser Legion." By chance, they step onto the court of the Red Bull "Badminton Masters." Encouraged by their dream mentors Lin Dan, Fu Haifeng, and Wang Yihan, they ultimately rediscover themselves on the court.
Taufik and Fu Haifeng Serve as Team Captains, Champions to Kick Off World Championships
As a tradition of the "Badminton Masters" and the highest honor bestowed by the Badminton World Federation upon amateur players, the champions of the "Badminton Masters" will serve as the guests to kick off the finals of the World Championships. They will also play a friendly match against an amateur team from the host country of the World Championships, following the "Badminton Masters" competition format.
In 2012 and 2014, the "Badminton Masters" champions played against club teams from the UK and Denmark, respectively. The participating players were all national team reserves under the age of 20, who generally trained part-time while attending school or working. They received no income from the national team or clubs, making them true amateurs.
This year’s friendly match will take place in Jakarta, Indonesia. Following Danish legend Peter Gade, Taufik becomes the ...