2011-2015: On to the next anniversary with a new sponsor

After 20 years, we know how things are going - the tournament is flourishing and the organising committee of the Swiss Open is feeling its way towards staging its first major tournaments.

Linda Harzenmoser

The next few years of Swiss Open history begin with a change in tournament status: the Swiss Open is now considered an ‘International Grand Prix Gold Tournament’ and no longer a Super Series tournament - which means that, for the first time, no athletes from China are taking part in the Basel tournament. As a result, there was room for new stars who had previously been overshadowed, such as the Indian Saina Nehwal or the then 17-year-old, later world champion and Olympic champion Carolina Marin from Spain. Unfortunately, the 2011 tournament also came under a sad star - shortly beforehand, the great tsunami disaster occurred in Japan and many of the Japanese players did not know if and when they would be able to fly home during the Swiss Open.

One year later, a new era begins for the Swiss Open: Yonex is now the new main sponsor at the start and present at the tournament. The colours are now all green and blue, and new lighting in the hall improves the playing conditions: The audience now sits in the dark and the courts are individually illuminated. From a sporting point of view, the 2012 event is being organised to coincide with the Olympic Games, which are taking place in the same year. As always, well-known names play in the tournament, such as the Swiss player Sabrina Jaquet or the then still very young but already popular Viktor Axelsen.

After the 2012 Olympic Games in London, there is another major tournament in 2013 for which points are collected at the Swiss Open: The Jubilee World Championship in China, where the 20th edition of this tournament will be celebrated. And things are also getting exciting for the Swiss Open organising committee: they have been asked whether they would like to host the 2014 European Team and U15 Championships in Basel. Ratchanok Intanon shows just how important the Swiss Open is for the athletes' sporting year: the Thai player wins the silver medal in Basel and shortly afterwards is crowned the youngest badminton world champion of all time as an eighteen-year-old in China.

In 2014, the St. Jakobshalle will not only host the Swiss Open, but also the European Team and U15 Championships. The European Championships will take place just four weeks before the Swiss Open, but due to other events taking place in between, the entire infrastructure will be dismantled and rebuilt. Unfortunately, the Swiss Open once again falls on the same week as the Basel Carnival, and this, combined with the spring-like weather, leads to a slight drop in spectators. Nevertheless, attractive matches are played: For the first time in 16 years, Viktor Axelsen (DEN), a European, wins the men's singles, and the mixed doubles also goes to a European pairing with Chris and Gabby Adcock (ENG).

In the following year, the Swiss Open will celebrate another anniversary, namely the 25th edition. In addition, initial talks are taking place that point to a Basel candidature for the 2019 Badminton World Championships - exciting! In 2015, an Indian athlete, Srikanth Kidambi, stood on the podium in the men's singles for the first time - all other disciplines went to China. In keeping with the anniversary, the medal ceremonies will be specially organised and badminton greats from the entire 25 years of the Swiss Open will take part in the awards.