Aviva Singapore is backing Team Singapore in the Aviva Open badminton tournament 2006 with cash prizes as incentives.
Aviva Singapore is backing Team Singapore in the Aviva Open badminton tournament 2006 with cash prizes as incentives.
Members of Team Singapore who achieve semi-finalist, finalist or champion status will receive big cash prizes from Aviva Singapore - up to a total of S$500,000 (£172,000).
As title sponsor for three years running, Aviva Singapore has already committed around S$3m (£1m) to badminton.
The five-star tournament on the International Badminton Federation Grand Prix circuit is to be held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, with a grand prize of S$279,000 (£96,000).
Lim Swee Say, president of the Singapore Badminton Association, said: "I am touched by Aviva's gesture of confidence in our national shuttlers. I am confident that interest in badminton in Singapore will continue to grow. I am also optimistic that the tournament will continue to grow in prestige."
The additional prize scheme for Singaporean shuttlers is named the Aviva Direct Challenge, supporting Singapore's mass market branding. Tim Beardsall, director of marketing, said: "The Aviva Open Singapore has become bigger and better over the years, and our hope is that the Aviva Direct Challenge will spur our players to perform better. And we look forward to presenting the winners' cheques to our players this June."
Jiang Yan Mei, Singapore's Commonwealth Games 2006 Women's Doubles silver medallist adds: "It's not easy to be a full-time athlete. Every motivation whether big or small is welcome, and Aviva's motivation is really big!"