Gade, Wong, Hoyer, Robertson and the others ready to party

Have you ever dreamt of having, in the same coaching session, the tips given by some of the world’s biggest stars such as Peter Gade, Wong Choong Hann, Pi Hongyan and many others? This is about to be a dream come true for 40 lucky participants, who will get to enjoy a 45-minute coaching session by all these amazing players on April 28th, 2013, in Geneva. The night before, all these stars will perform in the Swiss city for the second edition of One Night with Stars.

After the huge success of the first edition help in March 2011, another great night of amazing badminton exhibition will take place in the very same Queue d’Arve Hall, in the heart of Geneva, on April 27^th, 2013. Once again organized in style by the Badminton Club of Geneva with the help of the sport bureau of the City of Geneva, all benefits will be going to Solibad, Badminton without Borders, for its projects for children around the planet.

It will probably be one of the last chances to see Danish badminton legend Peter Gade to play at competitive level as the Dane officially retired a few weeks ago, beating none other than the Olympic champion Lin Dan at home in Copenhagen. Peter had a lot of fun in the first edition of One Night with Stars and was willing to come back.

“It’s a great pleasure to be back even if I have retired officially. This is a great cause and I’m looking forward to seeing old friends and having a good time with them,” said the Dane, who is a special Ambassador for Solibad.

Top flight and music for an amazing evening

Amongst his friends, Wong Choong Hann, former world number one from Malaysia and still very much active, will make the trip all the way from Malaysia to join the evening.

“I’m honoured and thrilled to be part of this incredible evening. We’ll certainly have fun and hope that the spectators will have fun too,” said the left-hander, who had to cross swords with Peter Gade on numerous occasions on the world stage. England’s legendary Nathan Robertson, world champion and silver medallist in the 2004 Olympic Games, will also be part of the show and will certainly add to the show with his sense of humour and great contact with the spectators, as he had shown for One Night with Stars I.

As a special guest, Poul-Erik Hoyer Larsen, who is the only European to have won an Olympic gold medal, in Atlanta in 1996, has agreed to come and play in spite of his busy schedule – the Dane is the current President of Badminton Europe, but he’s shown in recent months that he’s still very capable with a racket in hand.

A lot of other badminton stars will be joining the show, including three-time Olympian Pi Hongyan, France’s best player ever, as well as Agnese Allegrini, Italy’s best player, Matthieu Lo Ying Ping, one of France’s best talents, Petr Koukal – no. 1 in Czech Republic, one of Solibad’s most active Ambassadors, and a real showman – as well as some of Switzerland’s finest shuttlers.  15 players altogether will be joining this event, with France’s most capped coach Fabrice Vallet to organize the coaching session.

The evening will be a fun night, with many different combinations of different exhibition matches involving some of the best shuttlers in the world, but music will be part of the show as well, as Suzanne Rayappan, one of England’s best women’s doubles player will be featured to sing a few songs. The British athlete lives a double life and has started a singing career and should delight the public with her magnificent voice, with a few surprises on the way for the lucky spectators.

“Coached by the stars” – Unique in the world

Local players from France and Switzerland – and others who will make the trip especially – will have a unique opportunity, the next day, on Sunday, April 28th, to have a special coaching sessions with all these stars, who will take turns giving them tips on how to become a better player.

“This has never been done in the world of badminton, to have players like Peter, Nathan and all the others, to contribute to one coaching session. It will definitely be a great experience to learn tips from all these shuttlers on the same day. They have all agreed to spend some extra time for this coaching session and all the benefits will go to the foundation’s projects,” says Raphael Sachetat, founder of Solibad.

The lucky 40 people, any age, any nationality (on a first-come-first-served basis) will pay €100 (120 CHF) to enjoy one of the two 45-minute sessions, which includes a souvenir photo session with the stars. Peter Gade, Wong Choong Hann, Nathan Robertson and all other champions who will do the training sessions the next day have all agreed to give the money back entirely to Solibad, giving their free time for the projects of the French-based foundation.

These “coached by the stars” sessions are a unique feature created for this event, and probably a unique chance to be coached (in English), by some of the finest shuttlers the world of badminton has.

Information
Where: Geneva, Queue D’Arve Hall
When: Saturday, April 27^th, 7 PM
Price: €17 / 20 CHF

Click here for more information from the Solibad website

Click here to watch the One Night with Stars teaser

Click here to watch the 2011 edition of One Night with Stars