Lessons for India, from Denmark

The Denmark Open has had a rich association with the history of badminton starting from 1935-36, and growing to be one of the three Grand Slam tournaments along with the All England and the Swedish Open. More than 70 years later, it continues to redefine itself and set the pace for a game that’s notoriously behind the times.

While the rest of the world has rarely strayed away from the template, the Danes have tried to be inventive. Early on, they realised the importance of moving the tournament to various locations across the country, to generate local interest. From 1980 it has constantly shifted, and since 1995 each city or town has hosted the event three or four years in succession. Odense — a town famous for being the home of the writer Hans Christian Andersen — has been the beneficiary on five occasions (1988, 1995, 2007, 2008, 2009).

The renovated Odense Idraetspark is this year’s venue. The hall is small — barely accommodating 2,200 spectators — but that is exactly what the organisers wanted. “The last two years it was at Arena Fyn, which had a capacity of around 4,500,” says John Hansen, in charge of conducting the event since 1980. “But on some days, the hall would look empty if people didn’t turn up. So we decided to have the event at a smaller, more intimate place, where the spectators could be close to the courts.”

These are important lessons for organisers in India, who always bemoan the insufficient number of big stadiums and low spectator turnout. The notion that world events always have to be held in massive stadiums does not hold water anymore, as does the argument that players have to be sectioned away from the audience by a good distance.

The Danes have realised that badminton will never be able to attract 10,000 or 15,000 people, especially in Europe — and have accordingly scaled down. Instead, they’re trying to reach out to the global audience through mainstream and alternate media.