BMW Group Malaysia announces the 2nd BMW Malaysian Open Women’s Tennis Tournament in 2012
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, December 5th 2011- BMW Group Malaysia today announced that the 2nd BMW Malaysian Open women‟s tennis tournament will be held again in 2012.
The second edition of the BMW Malaysian Open, which is a fully sanctioned event on the Women‟s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour will take place from the 27th February to 4th March 2012 at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Resort where 32 of the world‟s leading players will compete for the singles title and 16 teams for the doubles title, in a knockout competition format. They will compete for a prize-purse of USD220,000.
Announcing BMW Malaysia‟s continued partnership, Mr. Geoffrey Briscoe, Managing Director of BMW Malaysia said, “BMW is pleased to be the title sponsor yet again of the 2012 edition of the BMW Malaysian Open, which proved to be a truly world-class event last year. The tournament was a clear reflection of our organization’s commitment to sporting brilliance and in partnership with the WTA TOUR, the world’s leading professional sport for women and our organisers’s Carbon Worldwide.
Briscoe added that in line with all of the sport initiatives that the BMW Group is pursuing in 2012 – Golf, Motorsports, Sailing and next year’s Summer Olympics and Paralympics in London, the premium carmaker has a grass root through professional level involvement in premium sporting activities the world over and now extends this involvement in the Malaysian sporting landscape.
“With this premium tennis competition in 2012, we hope to raise the level and awareness of the sport of tennis in the country and on this note I would like to announce the first three confirmed entrees of the 2012 competition’s player field – Venus Williams, winner of 43 career singles titles including 7 Grand Slams; Marion Bartoli, current world no 9 and winner of 7 career singles titles and Peng Shuai, the new prodigy to emerge from China, who will represent China in next year’s Olympics. Each of these players has consistently demonstrated their professionalism, integrity and skill and are Champions in their own right which will make the BMW Malaysian Open 2012 a much anticipated event in the Malaysian sports calendar.” said Briscoe.
Echoing Briscoe’s sentiments, YBhg Tan Sri Datuk Abdul Latiff, President of the Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM) said, “Having BMW commitment with the BMW Malaysian Open tournament has provided the springboard for the country to really take the sport of tennis to the next level and this is clearly identified through the confirmed participation of some of the most famous and exciting players in the world. Building on this foundation, there is no doubt that next year’s event is going to be spectacular.”
Tan Sri Datuk Abdul Latiff further added that the LTAM has the ability to invite two Malaysians to the qualifying rounds of the 2012 event and the experience that these players will garner from participating in an event with players in the likes of Venus Williams, can only stand them in good stead for their future success.
Venus Williams has been ranked number 1 in the singles ranking by the Women’s Tennis Association a total of 3 times in a career which has seen her appear in 68 WTA event finals of which she has won 43. She has to date won 21 Grand Slam titles of which 7 have been in Singles, 12 in Doubles and 2 in mixed doubles and has also won the Wimbledon singles championship 5 times. Her 43 career singles titles make her the most prolific winner of all current WTA members and her 3 Olympic gold medals ensure that she has won more Olympic golds than any other female tennis players. She ranks second in the all time overall money earnings ranking with prize money earned to date of USD27,750,151.
Marion Bartoli is the French number 1 and currently ranked 9 on the WTA ranking. She has won 7 WTA singles titles and 3 WTA doubles titles with 60 wins in 2011. Bartoli was also the runner up at the 2007 Wimbledon Championship. Bartoli is known for her unorthodox and very intense style of play on the court. She uses two hands on both the forehand and the backhand, a style she developed on the advice of her father, who is also her coach.
Peng Shuai is currently ranked number 2 in Asia and has had her best year on the WTA circuit, consistently going deep into tournaments and lifting her ranking to a career-high number 14 after the US Open. She reached the last 16 at each Grand Slam event except the French Open while storming into four WTA tournament semis and one final. The world number 17 finished the season with a dazzling 53-21 record, the sixth best of the calendar year.
Malaysia’s Minister for Youth and Sports, YB Dato‟ Ahmad Shabery Cheek who was also in attendance said, “Through the success of the globally viewed world-class sporting events that we have played host to over the last few years, Malaysia has and continues to position itself as the sporting hub in South East Asia as well as the region. It is with great pride that I see how the BMW Malaysian Open has grown in such a short space of time, and it is my hope that our present or future generation of Malaysian players can reach the heights of some of the names announced today.”
Carbon Worldwide, the event promoters and rights holders of the Malaysian Open also announced the continuation of their partnership with Carlsberg Malaysia who has signed on for another year as the official partner of the event. Mr. Keld Kristiansen, Chairman of Carbon Worldwide said, “We are excited to bring another great line-up, some of the world‟s best female tennis players to Malaysia in February.”
“Mirroring this maturity in the player field, we are also striving to continually enhance the public experience at the event, and it is through the public offerings of our partners such as Carlsberg with their leading premium, brand Kronenbourg that we are able to do this. We feel that being able to watch a world-class sporting event, in a world-class environment enjoying the offerings of world-class brands provides an unbeatable experience and we look forward to hosting even more local, regional and international spectators this year,” said Keld.
Managing Director of Carlsberg Malaysia, Soren Ravn said, “Being a dynamic brewer, Carlsberg Malaysia offers the perfect premium brand portfolio including seven of the World’s favourites; the French No.1 premium beer Kronenbourg 1664 & Blanc, Mexican No.1 beer Corona, American No.1 Budweiser, Australian No.1 beer Foster’s, German No.1 beer Becks, Belgium’s No.1 beer Hoegaarden and Japanese’s No.1 beer Asahi. Being the proud sponsor for the 2nd consecutive year at the world’s No.1 prestigious tennis tournament – BMW Malaysian Open, a leg of the WTA Tour, Kronenbourg 1664 is set to create a pleasurable premium consumer experience through various off-court programmes/activities with the players at the tournament. Our goal is to create an experience that is synonymous with what the Kronenbourg 1664 brand stands for, ”The French Art of Pleasure”. Building on the successful sponsorship of BWM Open this year, we will raise the bar next year to support this much-awaited tennis event in the calendar of Tourism Malaysia.”
The BMW Malaysian Open will once again be held in the plush settings of Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Resort, from 27th February to 4th March and will play host to 32 of the top women‟s singles players. The tournament is promoted and organized by Carbon Worldwide Sdn Bhd in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Malaysia and sanctioned by the Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM).
