May 22 - The All England Championships has been named among five premier events following a revamp of the Badminton World Federation's (BWF) multi-million dollar Super Series.



The BWF have decided to create a two-tier circuit by elevating the prestige of five of the 12 tournaments and increasing prize money accordingly.

The All England, the Korea Open, Indonesia Open, Denmark Open and China Open will comprise the new Premier Series, which is seen as an attempt to create a tennis-style grand slam.

The All England Championships were first played at Guildford in 1898 and now take place at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham each March.

Badminton England chief executive Adrian Christy said: "To be among the premier five events reflects our tournament's prestigious position in the eyes of the badminton world.

"It will give UK badminton a real impetus in the countdown to the Olympic Games in London in 2012."

Dr Kang Young Joong, the President of the BWF, announced that the Super Series circuit next year will offer combined total prize money of $4.7 million (£3.2 million), a substantial increase from the $3.3 million (£2.2 million) total prize money on offer for the 2010 season.

He said: "There is more money in the sport, we have our first ever million dollar prize money tournament, and above all, the BWF received a strong intererest from our members to be a part of the Super Series circuit.

"These are positives for the sport and I firmly believe we are heading in the right direction in terms of developing and promoting the sport.

"The future is bright."

The Korea Open will offer $1.2 million (£829,000) prize money followed by Indonesia on $600,000 (£414,000) with other three Premier Series events - Denmark Open, All England Championships and China Open - offering a minimum total prize money of $350,000 (£242,000) for each event.

The BWF introduced the Super Series format in 2007 to showcase badminton at a higher level of presentation and competitiveness, to increase television coverage for the sport and to increase the star quality and popularity of the top players in the world through increased television coverage.

Following a review of its events in 2009 the BWF decided to introduce a two-tier Super Series circuit - the Premier Series and Super Series.

The Super Series circuit offers a minimum total prize money of $200,000 (£138,000) for each tournament.