A little over three months after his epilogue, and a few days before the start of the Olympic Games for which he qualified, Franck Laurent, the president of the CLTO badminton event, returned Thursday, July 8 to the ninth Masters of Orleans.
Proportional to the difficulties encountered upstream, the happiness of having been able to organize the event (the health crisis had got the better of him in 2020) at the sports hall and the pride of having been able to contribute to the victory of a Frenchman (Toma Jr Popov), the first for twelve years, were reflected in the comments made, and the figures revealed: 241 players from (almost) the whole world, 220 matches played, 2,400 shuttlecocks used, 800 schoolchildren affected, and more than 100 volunteers mobilized.
7 million views on YouTube
Decided to thwart the closed session, the retransmission of “all the matches” on YouTube has far exceeded the million views hoped for. “We had reached it by Wednesday noon.” In total, seven million views have been counted, in particular “in Indonesia, India and Thailand”, indicated Franck Laurent. “With social networks, he continued, more than two million people have been affected. The Badminton Masters is Orleans’ most famous event in the world!”
From March 29 to April 3, 2022
The tenth edition, which promises “two or three novelties” (already the principle of a newsletter is recorded), is on track. The dates are known: from March 29 to April 3, 2022.
The contract with the International Federation renewed for one year, the Masters of Orleans will remain a tournament stamped BWF 100, endowed with 100,000 dollars. No longer remains to hope that it can be shared in public again…
Pascal Bourgeais
