Events

Germany in the final of the EMTC 2019 (Credit: Koen Mutton)
- It turned out to be a really good event
Date: 2/19/2019 1:36 PM
Published by : Annika Langrock
Brian Agerbak, General Secretary of Badminton Europe, summarises the 2019 European Mixed Team Championships in Copenhagen and refers to the successful outcome of the event.

Seven days of international badminton and team work – Last week’s European Mixed Team Championships, organised by Badminton Europe in cooperation with Badminton Denmark, has been a success, especially from an organisational point of view.
 
- I think it has been an event that we can be proud of. It has been a tough but fun experience for my team in many ways. When we look back at the event, we can look at it with satisfaction, Badminton Europe’s General Secretary, Brian Agerbak, said. 

- It has been a lot of hard and unusual work from our side. We were losing a few hosts on the way and this was a bit of an emergency situation to host the event here, in Copenhagen, meaning that we had to do more than usually, in terms of running the event, Agerbak added.

A full house for the finals

On Sunday, the Frederiksberg Hallerne were crowded – all tickets were sold out, everybody wanted to see the final matches between Denmark and Germany. In the end, Denmark was able to defend the title from 2017 on home soil and won straight with 3-0.

Also, the media had a huge interest in the event. The press center ran out of wests for photographers during the final - as well as all seats in the press room were occupied. 

- I was pleased to see that we had a full stadium for the finals. It has been a struggle to
make people aware of the event, after the crisis between Badminton Denmark and its team. We did not know which team would be playing, Agerbak said. 

- Commercially, it was difficult to find partners, because of this uncertainty. The ticket sale has been a bit difficult. But it turned out to be a really good event, he added.

Bringing the players to the public

Normally, the warm-up hall is a hidden area and not available for the public. Badminton Europe changed that by including a fan zone next to the warm-up courts at this year’s European Mixed Team Championships. 

- The fan-zone was a very interesting area to be in. It was also an advantage for the sponsors, who had an exhibition stand in this area, Agerbak said.

In the fan-zone players were also signing autographs and taking pictures with fans upon request. 

- Every sport is living from its fans. So, it is important to give the fans what they want. It takes a bit for some players to get used to being so close to the fans, but all in all it was a good experience, Agerbak said. 

A big thank you to all volunteers 

In total, there have been close to 40 volunteers helping to run the event in Copenhagen, including numerous players from Ringsted Badminton Club who worked hard throughout the week. 

- I want to say a few words to the many volunteers that helped us. I was very pleased with the people from our network. They helped us organizing the event and stood behind us. Our players from the Centre of Excellence in Holbæk also showed dedication to this task and helped us deliver this event to such a great extent, Agerbak said. 

Next to the volunteers, the Technical Officials were playing an important part in the event, so obviously Badminton Europe would like to say a big thank you to all referees, umpires and line judges for their efforts throughout the past week. 

Finally, Badminton Europe would like to express its appreciation and gratefulness to its professional event partners from YONEX, to its media partners from Sportradar and to its IT-service partners from SBT-ICT.
©badmintoneurope.com. All rights reserved.

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