2016-2020: Hawk eye, world championships and global pandemic

In the years leading up to the covid19-pandemic, the Swiss Open organising committee keeps showing innovation spirit, improves the infrastructure and even brings the badminton world championships to Basel besides still organising the regular tournament.

Linda Harzenmoser

2016 brings some turbulence for the Swiss Open. A new arena concept is successfully implemented, the courts are now rotated by 90 degrees and the additional grandstand is removed. In addition, the bid to host the 2019 World Championships is actually launched, and while crowd favourite Lee Chong Wei (MAS) cancels his participation in the tournament, it is a pleasant surprise for German Marc Zwiebler that he makes it to the final at his last Swiss Open. The biggest challenge, however, is finding accommodation for the players and officials, as the BaselWorld watch and jewellery fair is taking place in the same week as the Swiss Open. The hotels in Basel are therefore fully booked, which means that many tournament participants have to stay in Zurich. The Swiss Open drivers are doing a brilliant job, driving a total of 40,000 accident-free kilometres from Zurich to Basel and back.

The Swiss Open in 2017 is primarily characterised by the anticipation of the World Championships – which will be awarded to Basel during the week of the tournament, so the mood is noticeably positive. In sporting terms, China dominates once again, with only three of the final’s places not going to athletes from this country. The Swiss Open also gets a new logo once again, giving the tournament a fresh new look.

The tournament status changes again in 2018: the Swiss Open will now be part of the HBSC World Tour and count as a 300 tournament. The newly refurbished St. Jakobshalle is presented in the best light, and the Hawk-Eye and a drone for live images are used on the courts for the first time. As far as the week in which the Swiss Open takes place is concerned, there is a stroke of luck: although the tournament falls on the carnival holidays again due to the postponement of the All England Open, water damage occurs in the St. Jakobshalle during the originally planned week – which could thus be avoided.

The staging of the 2019 tournament then is a full dress rehearsal for the World Championships later in the year. The hall has finally been completely refurbished and all procedures and processes can be checked and improved once again. The date of the Swiss Open is back in its usual place directly after the All England, which is why many top players are once again in attendance. The only European victory goes to the Danish mixed doubles Bay-Smidt/Søby. As a small foretaste of the upcoming World Championships, their mascot, Basil the basilisk, can be seen in the hall for the first time and entertains the audience between matches.

After the 2019 World Championships were a highlight for Swiss badminton and the Basel organisers, 2020 was a sobering year: the tournament had to be cancelled at short notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic – just three bitter days before the start of the tournament.