Promoted to the world "Super Series" for the first time, the Aviva Open 2007 badminton tournament concluded on Sunday 6 May..
Promoted to the world "Super Series" for the first time, the Aviva Open 2007 badminton tournament concluded on Sunday 6 May.
Coverage for the final alone reached from The Daily Times of Pakistan to The People's Daily, China, as well as local and regional television coverage.
This year, the Aviva Open tournament joined the Badminton World Federation "Super Series", becoming one of just 12 premier events around the world.
At the same time, it became the first badminton event to offer qualifying points for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The event was supported by extensive branding and publicity campaigns, including press advertisements, street banners and bus and train visuals. The semi-finals and finals were broadcast live on Singapore's national TV station, Channel 5.
Chinese stars Fu Haifeng and Cai Yun (men's doubles), Zhang Ning (women's singles) and Zhang Yawen and Wei Yili (women's doubles) almost swept the board.
Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana (men's singles) and Indonesia's Flandy Limpele and Vita Marissa (mixed doubles) held China at bay.
Boonsak said of his £8,000 winnings: "I've never won so much money in my life. I'll give this money to my mum in Thailand."
The story of his victory was reported in international badminton magazine Badzine under the headline "Boonsak gets big insurance in Singapore."
Joining Keith Perkins, CEO Aviva Singapore and Hong Kong, at the awards ceremony was guest of honour Teo Chee Hean, Singapore's minister for defence.