Brian Agerbak to European fans: “Come to Kyiv to combine great badminton and good holiday”
Since January 29th, the official ticket sales and media campaign for the 2020 European Badminton Championships have been launched. The tournament will take place in Kyiv on 21–26 April 2020.
Price per ticket starts from 100 Ukrainian hryvnias, which is less than 4 euros. Tickets are available online: https://kiev.ticketsbox.com/en/chempionat-vropi-z-badmintonu/
The President of the Ukrainian Badminton Federation, Mr. Oleksii Dniprov, presented the Logo of the tournament and made a public report about the current state of preparations. Mr. Brian Agerbak, the General Secretary at Badminton Europe, who has inspected Kyiv these days, also shared his opinion about the steps taken and the readiness of Ukraine to host the tournament.
The press conference took place at the National Sports University. After the official part, I had a chance to ask Mr. Brian a few questions. You are welcome to read our flash interview.
Dear Mr. Brian, first of all, on behalf of the Ukrainian badminton community, I would like to thank you for supporting Ukraine and giving our Badminton Federation a chance to bring European Championships to Kyiv.
What was the key argument for choosing Kyiv as the host city for the Championship? Was it a bit risky, to your mind?
Well, we did not see it risky at all, actually! We have come to know better the new leadership of the Ukrainian Badminton Federation and all the progressive changes over the last years. We have seen a big ambition and a lot of activities, which were already taken in the past two-three years. For me, it was just natural to go through and to make one of our major events allocated here, in Kyiv.
Also, I must say that you have presented a lot of support from the city of Kyiv, from the Olympic Committee. That kind of backing from the authorities and the Government, of course, made me confident that we would have a great event here.
…it was just natural to go through and to make one of our major events allocated here, in Kyiv...
So, we kept the way without feeling that it was risky. We are actually very happy to be here! Kyiv is the capital of Ukraine. We like to be in capitals, like to be in big cities with big populations. For us, Kyiv is a really good choice.
Based on your previous experience, how many spectators from Europe should we expect? Maybe, you can recall some numbers from the previous tournaments?
I think the audience is mainly going to be Ukrainians. There are people, badminton fans that are traveling, but there are no massive numbers of those who are coming. So, when you bring such kind of events to a country, you rely on the local audience first.
However, what we see is that stadiums are normally full. We had a very good attendance if I just go back to two previous years. In Spain, Huelva, we had a very full stadium with big capacities. In Denmark, we had also a full stadium.
That may be something that you call a risk here: can we convince Ukrainians to come to the stadium and to experience this competition. Hope that yes!
What would you like to say for those European fans who are still thinking if it worth coming to Ukraine?
I would say, “Of course, come for the tournament, come for the European Championships! There will be great badminton!”
Also, I think that Kyiv is an underestimated city in terms of tourism and I think that it’s really a worthwhile city to visit.
It has a lot of history and a lot of things to experience next to the badminton. So, I think it’s a good place to combine a holiday with a lot of good badminton!
Regarding the holidays, have you already had a chance to make sightseeing? What’s your favorite place in Kyiv, any recommendations from Mr. Brian to European fans?
I’ve seen the inner city, had the pleasure to take a boat ride on the river and to see Kyiv from that side. There are a lot of impressive buildings around. The city has a lot to offer for tourists, including nice local restaurants…
Great to hear that! One more question regarding the ambitions of the Ukrainian Badminton Federation. Will you support Kyiv if our Federation decides to apply for the right to host this tournament?
We are always very supportive and very pleased when our European Federations have the ability and the interest to bring the World Championships to Europe.
Interview with Oleksii Dniprov, The President of Ukrainian Badminton Federation: https://medium.com/this-is-badminton/dniprov-oleksii-european-champnionship-infrastracture-youth-eab57b6d07fd
For us, that’s a great chance again to promote the sport in Europe and, therefore, we are fully behind any interest to bid for the world’s event as well.
Great to hear that! I hope that our Federation will make the next step after the Championships. When are you going to be in Kyiv next time? Shall you inspect the preparations more?
We will see how the preparations are going. Also, we will have a chance to meet on other occasions. For instance, at the European Team championships next month in France. There will be quite a number of people coming from the organizing committee to learn a little bit more about major events.
We will have some meetings there. We also will meet at our annual contests at the beginning of April (that’s another chance to discuss). And then we will see if there’s a need to go again and to have a concrete discussion here, in Kyiv.
Peter Gade Interview: Academy in Ukraine? Why not? Read here.
I think you are really in a good way. I think that you are ahead of schedule; we feel that you’re ready. Of course, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done in the next period but I think everything is on schedule.
To make a short summary, you are happy with the current state of preparation? Am I right?
I’m very happy! I had no reason not to believe that you were doing a great job. I must say again that coming here, seeing all the facilities, understanding the progress that’s been made, seeing the logo revealed, seeing the video promotion prepared…
I think a lot of elements show that you are ready to officially launch the ticket sales and the next step there is to attract spectators so that we have a fantastic atmosphere at the stadium!
Mr. Brian, thanks a lot for the interview and see you in three months!
Thank you very much! And see you!
By Max Sydorenko,
special report for “This Is Badminton” blog, in cooperation with
The Ukrainian Badminton Federation https://ubf.com.ua/2020EuropeanChampionships/
Online sports magazine “Champion”
https://champion.com.ua/
Special thanks to photo reporter, Kate Ianuk
https://www.facebook.com/kate.ulisa
