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DONGFENG MOTOR WUHAN OPENSeptember 27, 2014Fabrice ChouquetYi GuoqingWUHAN, CHINA MR. YI GUOQING: (Through translation.) I'm very happy to attend this press conference about the summarization of Wuhan Open. First, on behalf of the organizing committee, I would like to thank the friends from the media for your hard work during these days in covering this event. According to the requirements of friends from the media and also according to our own arrangements before the final of Wuhan Open, our two directors, both Mr.Fabrice Chouquet and myself, have come here to brief you on this year's event. Now I would like to ask Mr.Fabrice Chouquet to say something about this event. MR. FABRICE CHOUQUET: Thank you. Good morning, everybody. First of all, thank you to all media for attending this press conference this morning. I would also like to take the opportunity for thanking you for the excellent coverage you have provided during this Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open and for your continued support. After many months of preparation and an exciting nine days of first‑class tennis, the first Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open is coming to an end. We are very proud to come in front of you today after a successful week promoting women's tennis and promoting the city of Wuhan. The Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open has been an incredible adventure started 18 months ago, the fruit of a partnership between the Wuhan municipal government, WSDI, Octagon, and the WTA with the unique goal to bring the best of women's tennis to Wuhan. This goal has been achieved with 19 of the top 20 singles players taking to the court. 99 players from 30 different nationalities traveled to Wuhan, some of them for the very first time, all impressed by the quality of the organization, the warm welcome we could provide to all of them. They have been amazed with what the city had to offer. One of the biggest stars here was of course Maria Sharapova. She said the reception she's received in Wuhan was really welcoming, especially because Maria had not played in China for more than two years. She said unfortunately it didn't work out the way she would have liked, but the tournament is here for another 15 years at least and she will have plenty of other opportunities to come back to Wuhan. This is a world event. As we have mentioned previously, the world has been watching us. Venus Williams said to us this week, "A lot of people in the United States don't know about Wuhan, but I think this will bring a lot of world attention to the city and it deserves it." That was very kind of Venus. The Wuhan Open was also a great opportunity to discover upcoming Chinese talents. Eight Chinese players competed in the tournament this year led by the recent US Open semifinalist Peng Shuai. The Wuhan fans had the opportunity to cheer for their local favorite Zhang Kailin and see the recent Youth Olympics gold medalist Xu Shilin who has demonstrated talent and a fighting spirit on center court just a few days ago. The Wuhan Open will continue in the future to provide opportunities to rising stars of China to demonstrate their talent and perform against the best players in the world. The quality of tennis, I assume you have witnessed this, have been above expectations with some very intense matches, some of them very long and indecisive for the enjoyment of the spectators. Of course the tournament had lots of surprises and upsets. It makes professional tennis the most interesting sport. It is unpredictable and allows underdogs to come in a light showing their talents and their fighting spirit. This afternoon the singles final involving Petra Kvitova and Eugenie Bouchard is a repeat of the 2014 Wimbledon singles final. Wuhan is definitely now, if we didn't know that before, among the small circle of the major events in the tennis calendar. The five‑time Grand Slam champion, Martina Hingis, is also one of the marquee names in the doubles final to be played before the singles this afternoon. We played 100 matches this week, and 52 were produced by television, 30 of them on center court by our television partner Hubei TV and 22 on Court 1 by BesTV. And 50 networks around the world broadcasting in more than a hundred countries have showed the Wuhan Open over the last seven days since last Sunday: nine networks in China, Hubei TV, CCTV, and seven original networks in different provinces around the country. And 186 accredited media were in Wuhan from a panel of written press, radio, television, new media, to maximize the coverage of the event nationally and internationally. I would like to also thank and mention the 470 volunteers that worked very hard during the last two weeks to make this event happen; the 80 ball kids including four coming from France, from Roland Garros, as part of an exchange program with the French Tennis Federation; the 70 line umpires carefully selected by the Chinese Tennis Association; and the 13 international chair umpires from 10 different nationalities. Our hotel partner, Wanda, hosted 278 players, players' guests, WTA staff, and other officials for a total of more than 1,700 room nights in the last two weeks. And 70 cars and buses kindly provided by Dongfeng Motor have safely transported players, players' guests, and the tennis family throughout the week with hundreds of rides, thousands of kilometers between the tennis center, the hotels, the airports, and the train station. The Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open would not be a success without spectators. 75,000 spectators‑‑ final count will be obviously available tonight after the final‑‑ generated over 10 million RMB of ticket sales. Wuhan tennis fans were very engaged. Players and even chair umpires have positively commentated about their enthusiasm all week long. We have seen a very active public. They really had a good time. It was a really nice experience for the players on court to interact with such a live crowd. Today's finals will be played in front of a full house, and I'm sure the atmosphere this afternoon will be warm, electric, and inspirational for all tennis lovers. The Wuhan Open was played here at the Optics Valley International Tennis Center, but the entire city of Wuhan hosted the event. The great branding that you may have seen all over the city and the active promotion contributed to the success of the event. The Wuhan Open was on, and everyone got to know it. Among the numerous marketing initiatives, I would like to highlight the city's league competition which started at the end of May, attracting 142 teams for a total of 1,096 players in eight cities in four provinces. The numerous activities involving players also took place during the tournament week, a total of 36 activities involving more than 50 players all week long. I would like just to highlight some of them. Serena Williams had the privilege, the honor, to hit a few balls with Mayor Tang on a boat while cruising on the Changjiang River. Genie Bouchard, finalist today, had the honor to take part in the Han Show Theater light ceremony. More than 40 players attended a very special player party at the Wanda Reign Hotel, allowing them to discover the traditional Wuhan culture. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank the 18 sponsors and tournament suppliers who have made this event possible. Dongfeng Motor, title sponsor, of course, but also the Wanda Group as well as HKB Bank and Taikang Life. Their feedback was excellent, and we are confident they will renew their partnership and also others will be interested in joining for 2015 and beyond. The success of the Wuhan Open is of course a combination of factors by providing the best services to the players, to the sponsors, to the media, to the fans. None of these services would be able to be implemented without the support of a first‑class infrastructure. Thanks to the massive efforts and determination of the Wuhan municipal government, the Optics Valley International Tennis Center could complete Phase 1 of its construction in just a bit more than 12 months. In parallel, the Hubei Olympic Tennis Center was renovated and upgraded. Players were astonished by the facilities provided to them in Wuhan. Our very own finalist, Genie Bouchard, said she really liked the surface of the courts here. She said the other day from her first practice she loved the feel of the courts, and here we see her in the final today. The Wuhan Open is a long‑term commitment, as you know. After this first successful year, we learned many things, but the most important thing we learned is that the Wuhan Open has a fantastic potential to grow. In a few months, the very modern 15,000‑seat state‑of‑the‑art center court arena will be completed, allowing the Wuhan Open to expand its facilities for the 2015 event and providing more space and facilities to players and media, fans, sponsors. Sponsors will be able to host their guests in suites overlooking the center court for an ultimate experience. New services will be provided to the public. After seeing this first year, we're confident that the Wuhan Open will build its fan base, grow the interest among Wuhanees who definitely love tennis. The Wuhan Open will raise the city of Wuhan to the next level of popularity, will help Wuhan become one of the most influential cities in the world, will help Wuhan grow socially and economically. The Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open is a unique opportunity to fast‑forward the development of Wuhan, the sport in the city, the worldwide popularity. The Wuhan Open has a bright future and will make Wuhan the city of tennis in China. Xiexie. (Applause.) Q. (Through translation.) In previous press conferences, you mentioned that you want to develop Wuhan Open into an international level event. So now the first event of Wuhan Open is coming to an end. Which part of this event are you most satisfied with? Do you think there is any room for improvement for this event? And how will you rate the performance of the organization in the first year? MR. YI GUOQING: (Through translation.) Actually, we held a preparation meeting last night until 3:00 in the morning, so I did not have a lot of time for preparation for today's press conference. Just as Fabrice mentioned, we started the organization for this event almost a year ago, and the first activity to promote Wuhan Open was held on last October the 9th. Actually, I have more interaction with players and coaches than with the media, so I believe indeed there is some room for improvement in our organization, but generally speaking, I would appreciate the understanding from the media. And I think, according to the feedback we received, the international organizations, the players, and also the coaches, generally speaking, are quite satisfied with our organization. I would like to quote the saying of a German coach. He said our catering service and also the service provided to the players are actually of world class, and he would like to rank our catering service as the fifth place worldwide. Officials from WTA have rated the first event of Wuhan at 100. They believe that it is close to perfection. Of course, this shows their encouragement to us to make it even better in the future. Azarenka has come to me through her coach, and we talked with each other. She said she really appreciated the granting of wildcard to her because she was injured. Before that, she wanted to visit Wuhan because of Li Na. After visiting Wuhan, she was quite surprised by the enthusiasm of fans and also the facilities. She felt it is a pity that she has not been able to appear on the courts, and she said she's willing to do something for the organizing committee. So we made a promise. Azarenka promised me that she would attend next year's Wuhan Open. Players, coaches, and WTA officials, officials from other international organizations have all spoken quite highly of our organization. And staff members who accompanied Li Na to the Wuhan Open also praised our work in terms of marketing, branding, and also broadcast. Some workers from Malaysia and Hong Kong telephoned us and spoke highly of our TV broadcasting work. After watching yesterday's match, Mayor Tang asked us to make still more efforts to make the final a success, and he said he was quite satisfied with the organization. But now the event has not ended, so we will not slacken our efforts. If you ask me to rate this event's organization, I would like to give ourselves a 60 on the base of 100, a passing grade. I believe this year we have fulfilled the set objectives and goals, and we have accumulated rich experience in terms of organization. So we are willing to work hand in hand with our colleagues and partners to make Wuhan Open even more successful in the coming years. Thank you. (Applause.) FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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