China's Chen Long reacts during the preliminary match against Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana at the 2015 Sudirman Cup BWF World Mixed Team Championships in Dongguan, south China's Guangdong Province, May 12, 2015. (Xinhua/Meng Yongmin)
World badminton chief said on Thursday that he would try to promote the sport to the world's top 10 and help more players become millionaires.
"My goal is to make badminton to top 10 sport in Olympic Games," Poul-Erik Hoyer Larsen, President of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), told Xinhua before the Sudirman Cup quarter-finals.
"Sometimes, you have to raise the barrier. So top-10 sport, being more global, and has more people to pick up rackets. The more people, the more potential we have, go for it and try," added Larsen.
Unlike tennis, badminton, though it has been played for hundreds of years, it is still a less popular sport in the world.
Take example of the ongoing Sudirman Cup, held in Dongguan, Guangdong province of China, it has been only hosted by Europe or Asia since it was founded in 1989. Only in next edition in 2017, will it be first-ever held in Australia.
Less popular means less income for the professional players. But BWF President is ready to change it, aiming to attract more young people to know and choose the sport.
"If you want parents to say 'yes', go ahead to play badminton, be a winner and play professionally, there is something to play for," he said.
"If we don't give the players a chance being a millionaire, I think a lot of parents would say 'no' -- concentrate and focus on your study and that is better future.
"I want to see the development of the sport. We can do better to get more money to the game and give the players very good idea to play badminton on the highest level and I want to see more players try to achieve the ultimate goal to achieve the championships."
