Carolina Marin et Priyanshu Rajawat, grands winners of Orléans Masters Badminton, left Loiret with the same remuneration. Badminton is one of the few disciplines that places men and women on an equal footing. But Franck Laurent, the tournament director, went even further: he asked for an exemption to welcome as many men as women in the competition.
You may have attended during the Easter weekend the victories of Carolina Marin and of Priyanshu Rajawat at the Palais des Sports in Orleans. Both won the final of theOrléans Masters Badminton at the Sports Palace. Both also left Loiret with an identical sum on their checks. The same is true for doubles, ladies, men and mixed. Badminton has the particularity of not making a gender difference in terms of remuneration. Franck Laurent, tournament director and president of the organizing committee is delighted. He even went even further in the notion of equality between men and women.
“Responding to an anomaly in the design of tournaments”
For a long time already, the Orleans had raised a problem. His writings having remained unanswered, he preferred to act: We have added an additional component to respond to what for me is an anomaly in the design of our tournaments. In the “classical” organization, there is one more trick for men. If we had stayed within the strict rules, we would have had to welcome 16 men and 8 women in singles qualifications. We proposed to the BWF (Badminton World Federation) to receive 16 men and 16 women.«
He took advantage of the passage of the tournament in the Super 300 category to concretize his idea. Thus, for the first time in such an event, there were as many players as players. If this had never been the case before, it is because there are more men on the international circuit. But to this argument, Franck Laurent has a very simple answer: “ In the world top 100, there are as many men as women, so there is no reason not to offer equality.«
The initiative will inevitably have a great impact. Indeed, the Orleans Masters Badminton is now part of the top 30 tournaments in the world, so it has better visibility. The organizers have balanced the schedule of matches. Spectators were then able to discover even more champions.
Several actions of badminton actors in favor of diversity
The Spanish Carolina Marin, victorious during this 29e edition, will have been one of the attractions of the tournament. Several times European and world champion, Olympic champion in 2016 in Rio, she is one of the rare Europeans to dominate the Asians.
Beautiful matches in singles, spectacular exchanges in doubles, especially in mixed doubles. Gender diversity has also been highlighted by other operations on the sidelines of the competition. The French Federation and the Center Loire Valley League of badminton campaign for the commitment of all, on and around the grounds.
Thus the League, it is a tradition, brought together some of these volunteers for a time of exchange. The theme this year was the involvement of women in clubs and coaching positions. Lauriane Kieller, head of Sports in Centre-Val de Loire, also intervened alongside Cédric Grosjean, director of the League.
From left to right: Cédric Grosjean, director of the League, Lauriane Kieller, head of Sports in Centre-Val de Loire, Kim Nivault, president of the League, Franck Laurent, tournament director, Sylvain Benaïn, vice-president of the Federation French badminton
At the same time, around twenty young people, aged 13 to 17, were able to experience the Masters from the inside. They also met the actors of the event. All are part of the Junior Academy, set up by the French Federation. The objective is to train and support future young referees, coaches and managers. This “test promotion” advocates geographical and gender diversity. With a majority of girls, 12 for 9 boys, the ladies show their willingness to get involved. All hopes are allowed, the next generation is on the way…
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Sports Centre-Loire Valley
11.04.2023
