The first million-dollar team event Axiata Cup in full swing – Badminton News
There is definitely going to be lot of action in Malaysian and Indonesian badminton circles as the first million-dollar team event of badminton history Axiata Cup comes in full swing from March 23, 2012.
The opening round will be staged from March 23 to 25 in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur while badminton giants like the World Number one Lee Chong Wei, former World and Olympic Champion Taufik Hidayat, Men’s doubles experts Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan will
be gracing the event with their presence.
The biggest event of badminton history, in terms of prize money, will be played under league type format just like Thomas Cup and Sudirman Cup.
The six countries from Southeast Asian region participating in the event are Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand.
The hosting countries Indonesia and Malaysia have decided to pocket the full benefits by fielding two teams in the tournament while Philippines has invited the German shuttler Marc Zwiebler and Mathias Boe from Denmark to elevate their chances for the crown.
The first Malaysian team is Malaysia Tigers which includes seniors like Lee Chong Wei, Hafiz Hashim, Daren Liew and Arif Abdul Latif while the second team named Malaysia Leopard comprises young singles shuttlers like Zulfadli Zulkifli, Iskandar Zulkarnain
and Misbun Ramdan Misbun.
Badminton Association of Malaysia has decided to keep Chong Wei’s name in the final squad despite of his recent injury just to raise their hopes for glory in the richest team event of the world.
Meanwhile, the two Indonesian teams Indonesia Rajawali and Indonesia Garuda also will be striving to claim the crown in the tournament.
All the contesting teams are divided into two groups. The first group K has Indonesia Rajawali, Malaysia Tigers, Philippines and Thailand in it while the second group J includes Indonesia Garuda, Malaysia Leopards, Singapore and Vietnam.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals by scoring higher points in group matches. The semi-final round will be played on a home and away basis and two surviving teams will lock horns for a big reward of $400,000 at the judgment
day of Axiata Cup.
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