Preparation milestones

Dec 28, 2013

The Badminton World Federation voted for Dongguan to host the 2015 Sudirman Cup BWF World Mixed Team Championships.

Oct 9, 2014

The China Badminton Association, Guangdong provincial sports bureau and the city government of Dongguan held a press conference in Beijing to announce that the international badminton event would be held in Dongguan from May 10 to 17, 2015, and called for an emblem, slogan and mascot for the event to be designed.

Oct 23, 2014

The preparatory committee held a press conference in Dongguan to announce volunteer recruitment.

Dec 18, 2014

The preparatory committee announced that the city would host 34 culture and sports-themed activities to usher in the 2015 Sudirman Cup.

Jan 30, 2015

The preparatory committee organized a celebration event to mark the 100-day countdown to the 2015 Sudirman Cup and unveiled the mascot, emblem and slogan for the event. The mascot is named Guanxiang Baby, the emblem is a flying badminton shuttlecock and the slogan is "Cheer for Badminton, Shine with Dongguan". The preparatory committee also announced that local smartphone supplier Vivo won the title sponsorship role.

March 14 to 15, 2015

The preparatory committee started a training program for the 1,100 volunteers recruited for the event.

March 16, 2015

The BWF organized a live draw ceremony for the event and 35 teams from across the world were confirmed as competitors for this year's titles.

April 10 to 28, 2015

A promotional game called "Badminton Fighting" was launched on WeChat, a popular mobile messaging app in China. The game attracted 3.12 million hits and was shared by about one million WeChat users nationwide. The final game was aired live on an LED screen on Dongguan's highest skyscraper on the evening of April 28.

April 28, 2015

The organizing committee for the 2015 Sudirman Cup championships was founded.

April 29, 2015

Test matches were held at the Dongguan Basketball Center, also known as Dongfeng Nissan Recreation Center.

May 4, 2015

The host city organized a long-distance run as a prelude to the opening of the 2015 Sudirman Cup championships. About 10,000 people including Dongguan city leaders and several Chinese celebrities took part.

May 8, 2015

The organizing committee held the opening ceremony for the 2015 Sudirman Cup championships. Xu Jianhua, Party chief of Dongguan, delivered a welcome speech, while Xu Ruisheng, vice-governor of Guangdong, announced the opening of the event. Thomas Lund, secretary-general of BWF, spoke highly of the event and said that the level of organization as well as spectator and media interest and government support were exemplary. Performances to the event's theme song Come on, Sudirman Cup were staged by four local singers and local kindergarten children who did a badminton-themed dance.

(China Daily 05/12/2015 page7)