Reuters reports that Solibad – or Badminton Sans Frontieres to give it its full name – was developed by French photo-journalist Raphael Sachetat. It already has two projects up and running, at orphanages in Bali, Indonesia, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It will also link with the charity Peace and Sport, on “1,000 Rackets for Haiti”, a programme to get badminton equipment for kids into Haitian earthquake refugee camps.
Sachetat said he thought Solibad had achieved something unique in getting so many top players from one sport involved.
“It's unique I think because it's the first time so many players in one sport and the overall community have come together to support one foundation or one cause,” he said.
“I may be wrong but I've not seen that in any other sports. It's usually one star that has his own foundation but everybody coming together from the top stars to the leisure players all for one cause, I think it's unique.”
Players attending the launch included former Olympic gold medallist Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia, England's Nathan Robertson, former All England women’s titleholder Zhou Mi of China, and world number one men's doubles player Koo Kien Keat of Malaysia. It took place in Birmingham, England, where the All England championships took place last week.
