AE 2011 – Badminton Stars launch Worldwide “Flashmob” appeal

Birmingham, March 9^th 2011 – Pi Hongyan, Nathan Robertson and other badminton stars launched today in Birmingham another crazy idea to support the Charity Organization they represent as Ambassadors – Solibad – Badminton without Borders. They’ve set June 5^th 2011 as the first “Solibad Day” and officially appealed to the world of badminton to gather all around the world in symbolic places to hold a giant “Flashmob”

“We want to make a difference. And we appeal for all badminton lovers and their friends and families around the world to gather, on June 5^th, for a Giant Flashmob in order to raise awareness for Solibad’s project and the sport in general” said Pi Hongyan, Chinese born French who is the Global Ambassador for Solibad – Badminton Without Borders, a French based Charity organization.

England’s former world champion and silver Medallist Nathan Robertson was side by side with Pi Hongyan during the 101th Yonex All England Championships to launch this idea, which comes at the right time for England, host of the Yonex World Championships next august and the Olympic Games in 2012. “I’ve thought about this project and I endorsed it as I believed it can create a real buzz for the sport and the foundation. I think it’s a world’s first for sports anyways and we hope to get a lot of crowd on June 5^th in London for this special event” said England’s most famous shuttler after his opening mixed double match. Robertson has been involved from the very start with Solibad and he just raised over 1000 euros for the foundation by selling his most famous badminton kits including his Olympic Silver Medal kit from Athens. For London’s Flashmob, the spot is yet to be revealed but will most likely be a symbolic place in the city.

Raise awareness for the projects and the sport.

The idea behind this Flashmob is to gather as many people and follow the Solibad Ambassadors (which count amongst the world’s best shuttlers including Taufik Hidayat, Lee Yong Dae, Koo Kien Keat, Nathan Robertson and 20 other top shuttlers) for a quick and simple choreography

All flashmobs will be videotaped and sent to the media around the world, and to the Guinness Book of World Records. To enter history as the world’s biggest Flashmob and to make a stand and promote Solibad as well as the sport itself.

The first of its kind happened in Paris, France, on June 4^th 2010 (click here to watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcPwhOSGyQE). Pi Hongyan and other players of the French National squad had led a 200 strong colorful contingent to dance under the Eiffel Tower, making the headlines in French media. Then for an hour, friends and families played badminton on the famous “Champs de Mars” – which brought eyebrows raised from the pedestrians and smiles to the participants. At the same time, in 10 different cities in France – including the Reunion Island some 10 000 km away – Badminton flashmobs had been held for what became a huge success in France.

World’s biggest Flashmob ever?

Pi Hongyan and the Solibad team are now targeting to get a similar event going in key cities around the world, on June 5^th 2011. Groups are already gathering all around the world and the word is spreading amongst badminton communities.

London, Sydney, Paris, Singapore, Jakarta, Tel Aviv and many other cities around the Globe are already preparing for this special day and the word has spread though social networking websites and Badminton forums for what could become the World’s biggest Flashmob. According to Wikipedia, the biggest Flashmob in numbers was held in New York City with 5000 people but unofficial reports later showed a crowd close to 14 000 gathered for Michael Jackson’s thriller homage in Mexico. In terms of records for the number of different places, the record is held by a Flashmob which took place in 2008 in 25 different cities.

Both these records may fall as countries like India and China have huge numbers of badminton fans and this could set Badminton and Solibad become the best supported cause for this new type of spontaneous gatherings.

“We just hope that a lot of people will have fun everywhere in the world, that Solibad will benefit from the promotion and that Badminton will get the recognition it deserves as well,” said Solibad founder Raphael Sachetat.

Contact : Solibad : Raphael Sachetat, founder : Raphael@solibad.net / +33 66068 2504

ABOUT SOLIBAD

SOLIBAD – Badminton Without Borders

The primary objective of SOLIBAD is to raise funds within the global community of badminton, using both amateur and professional players, and to donate the money raised to various local projects, some of which are badminton related, and that have been chosen carefully for their sustainability.

SOLIBAD’s Ambassadors are amongst the top badminton players in the world, including former Olympic champions Taufik Hidayat from Indonesia and current Olympic champion Lee Yong Dae of Korea and 25 world class players (Saina Nehwal, Jan O Jorgensen, Nathan Robertson, Kenichi Tago, Koo Kien Keat amongst others) while France’s  Pi Hongyan is the foundation’s global Ambassador.

SOLIBAD’s pledge : 100% of all funds or material collected will be assigned to the projects that have been selected as all of the administrative costs will be fully covered by our partners.

The second pledge : Epicurean with solidarity. SOLIBAD’s objectives will be carried out with generosity and a joyful spirit.

SOLIBAD was founded in 2009 by Raphael Sachetat, photo-reporter specialized in badminton and long time invested in Charity work.

Projects are going on in Malaysia, Indonesia, Haiti, Mauritius and soon in Vietnam, France and Brazil