General Manager of Mandarin Oriental, Pierre Barthes, Lee Choong Kay, Head of Sports, Astro, Fauzi Ahmad, F & N and tournament director, Nick Freyer
The Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM) will pick one player to partner inaugural singles champ Nikolay Davydenko in the main draw of the doubles in the Malaysian Open next month. Wonder who's the lucky one. One lucky winner has been confirmed and she is Becky Harding, who was picked as the winner of an internship initiative called "Best Job".
Here's the Media Briefing Notes:
Media Briefing Notes – August 19, 2010
The Official Entry List & Doubles Main Draw Wild-Card Team
The full 2010 ATP World Tour entry list was presented to the media. This list features 19 names who receive direct entry into the tournament based on rankings. Nine of the names were already announced at the launch press conference. In addition to the 19 now confirmed players, there will be four qualifiers as a result of the qualifying tournament, three main-draw wild cards to be announced later and then there are two special exempt slots held in case players who were planning to play qualifiers reach the Final of the ATP World Tour tournament the previous week. If this is not the case, these two slots will go to the next highest ranked players on the entry list. Total 28 player singles main draw.
The 2010 entry cut-off is 71. There are players from 15 different countries represented so far in the singles. The 2009 entry cut-off was 64. This is a very good cut-off.
Full Entry List is attached.
It was confirmed that Nikolay Davydenko (ATP #6) has agreed to play with the Malaysian player, nominated by the Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia, as part of a Wild Card pairing in the main draw of the doubles. This probably marks the first time in Malaysia’s sporting history that a Malaysian tennis player has joined forces with a current top-ten ranked ATP singles player, to play in an ATP main draw doubles match.
Astro Host Broadcaster Details – Massive Malaysian Television Coverage
It was confirmed that Astro will be the Host Broadcaster of the tournament and details of the long term co-operation with the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur include:-
• Based on the 2009 schedule of play on Centre Court, Astro will broadcast an estimated total of 26 matches via Astro Super Sport (25 singles matches and the Doubles Final) will be broadcasted LIVE on Astro SuperSport
• Astro sports package customers can enjoy LIVE video streaming of matches via Astro B.player found at www.stadiumastro.com through a simple registration process on the website. iPhone users can watch matches LIVE by downloading Astro's B.player app for free.
• This makes the tournament one of, if not the most heavily broadcast ATP 250 tournament on the Tour.
• The coverage equates to approximately 78 hours of domestic coverage, including live broadcasts and 1 repeat broadcast (based on 1.5 hours per match x 26 matches live x 1 time repeat).
• Average daily broadcast coverage equates to approximately 6 hours of live coverage per day.
• The broadcasts will include Hawkeye "Malaysia Truly Asia" review for added spectator excitement.
• As in 2009, the production quality will be very high, utilizing a 7-8 camera set-up.
• The tournament will placing advertising (the television commercial was shown publicly for the first time for those attending) on the Astro's platform, as part of the high profile domestic marketing campaign for the tournament.
Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2010 “Makan” Announcements
It was confirmed that Starbucks, Roti Boy and 100PLUS have signed up as Official Suppliers of the tournament. Their products will be made available to the public and players during the tournament whilst both Starbucks and Roti Boy will have tournament fliers available in many of their outlets in the KL area. 100PLUS will hydrate the players during matches. There will be branded coolers on court for television exposure.
Pizza Hut and KFC will have mobile restaurants at Putra Stadium and the Starbucks Chill patrol van will again serve up chilled favorites to tournament patrons.
Sponsor Quotes
“100PLUS is the ideal drink for this tournament where the tennis players have to push themselves to the limit in their quest for the honours. Consuming 100PLUS will keep the players properly hydrated especially in the hot and humid conditions in our country. We are looking forward to a thrilling and exciting event.”
Dato' Kamal Harun, National Corporate Affairs Manager, F & N Beverages Marketing Sdn. Bhd.
“Once is never enough, another great round of hot tennis in town!”
Mr. Hiro Tan, Managing Director, Rotiboy Bakeshoppe
“Starbucks is excited to be a part of the Malaysian Open Kuala Lumpur for the second time running. The response last year was excellent. The appearance and signing session by Fernando Gonzalez at Starbucks in KLCC was very well-received. We look forward to a more exciting partnership this year.”
Mr. Sydney Quays, Marketing & Communications Director of Starbucks Coffee Malaysia
Malaysia Best Job Winner Introduced
The winner of the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2010, “Best Job Winner” initiative was introduced to the media. She is Becky Harding and her biography is below. Becky will do a six-week internship with IMG across all tournament departments, will write a daily blog on her experience for others to enjoy and will receive a USD 2,500 personal development grant on conclusion of the internship.
“Becky is the ultimate sports enthusiast and will watch and take part in any sport, provided there’s a challenge. Representing the state of Selangor in tennis as a teenager, and then Malaysia for football and futsal, as an adult, she attributes such sporting fanaticism to her multi-talented / sports enthusiastic family. Currently in her final semester towards completing a Bachelors of Communications, majoring in Media Studies, she also has five years of work experience in the field of events management, production and stage management.
Becky has always had a keen and somewhat curious infatuation with the field of sports marketing and sports events and believes that this opportunity presented to her by IMG is a combination of her three most favorite things - sports, entertainment and media!
Becky is occasionally zany and a highly proactive individual who revels in traveling and meeting new people from around the world. She is absolutely driven and passionate about the development of Malaysian women in sports and thrives toward raising the bar in the standard of sporting quality in Malaysia.”
Quote from Becky Harding
“I’ve always been driven about sports, especially with regards to its development on the local front. Therefore, I can’t wait to find out what ‘The Best Job’ has in store for me. I believe it will be an opportunity to expand my knowledge and experience in the field of sports management and in the organization of sporting events, which of course, will be very useful to me in the future. In addition, I am absolutely thrilled about the chance to work on an event that highlights Malaysia as an international sports destination. But in all honesty, I feel like an excited teenager who can’t wait to find out if this truly will be, ‘The Best Job Ever!’”
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