A group of Journalism students and faculty at the University of Missouri-Columbia received a formal presentation from Mr. Yabin Zhang, the Managing Editor of the Beijing Daily Tribune and Chairman of the China Open Tennis Company, LTD. Mr. Zhang began formulating plans for China Open in 2003, and founded the first official China Open tennis championship in 2004.
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| Chairman of the Board, Mr. Yabin Zhang at the China Open in 2009. |
Built for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the venue for the 2010 China Open features 17 tennis courts, including Lotus Stadium, which seats up to 12,000 spectators. The largest court at the stadium, Court 1, can seat 2,000 people. In 2009, over 110 broadcasting nations picked up over 2,220 hours of coverage of the 2009 China Open.
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| Lotus Stadium, National Tennis Center built for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. |
Now in its 7th year, the China Open is one of the most extensive tennis tournaments in Asia, featuring a 2010 event prize money pool of up to 6.6 million USD. Ranked the 8th top tennis tournament in the world, the China Open will be held October 1st through October 10th at the National Tennis Center in Beijing.
Although not quite as large as the U.S. Open, the China Open tennis championship is a huge deal for China. The Top 50 female players from the WTA will compete this fall at the tournament in addition to select players from ATP Men’s Top 30. Corporate sponsors of the event include Mercedes Benz, Sony Erikson, Corona, ThinkPad, Rolex, and Citic Bank.
The Chinese government plays a large part in the planning and administration of all major events in China. The General Administration of Sports for the People’s Republic of China and the Beijing Municipal Government hosts the 2010 event. Liu Peng, Minister of the General Administration of Sports, forms the organizational committee along with Guo Jinlong, the Mayor of Beijing. Both Peng and Jinlong also played a large part in organizing the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
It’s crucial to understand the role government plays in planning and organizing major events such as the China Open, which is the only major event other than the 2008 Beijing Olympics that is able to offer international media internships to students. Mr. Zhang’s company must comply with government regulations in the planning and management of the tournament.
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| Mr. Yabin Zhang presents a plaque at the 2009 China Open. |
After a positive experience with University of Missouri-Columbia Journalism students at the 2009 China Open, Mr. Zhang and his committee have invited approximately ten journalism students to the 2010 China Open to assist in tournament reporting. Positive relations from last year’s program allow the Journalism School to continue to foster good relations with the Chinese, which greatly benefits the institution in Columbia. Students traveling to Beijing in the fall will be responsible for covering five matches daily, assisting in the planning of press conferences and interviews, and working in the Player’s Lounge.
Photos courtesy of http://www.chinaopen.com.cn/en/2010/
that's good info
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