By Tom Degun

Gwangju 2012 badmintonNovember 14 - Gwangju has successfully hosted the 2012 World University Badminton Championships (WUBC) in an event they were using largely to prepare for the 2015 Summer Universiade in the South Korean city.

The competition at the Yeomju Gymnasium and Bitgoeul Gymnasium was staged by the International University Student Federation (FISU) with the host nation winning the men's and mixed doubles, which meant two gold medals for Kim Ki Jung.

China's Wen Kai took the men's singles while Taiwan's Tai Tzu-Ying claimed the women's title.

The women's doubles gold medal was won by Japan's Miri Ichimaru and Shiho Tanaka. 

The competition is held every other year, alternating with the Universiade years and chairman of the Organising Committee Mayor Kang Un-tae said the competition had been vital ahead of 2015.

"We prepared this pre-meet for the 2015 Summer Universiade not as a mere sporting event, but to be both a festival ground in which culture and education meet and a field of harmony where participants sing the peace of mankind," he said.

"It is crucial for building in experience in running an international sporting event before the 2015 Gwangju Summer Universiade."

Badminton 2The 2012 World University Badminton Championships were a warm up event for the 2015 Summer Universiade

The WUBC was the first-ever badminton competition hosted in Korea for university student-athletes and 190 athletes from 19 countries including Russia, China, Japan, Spain, Britain and Germany participated.

For their first-ever WUBC in Korea, the 2012 Gwangju WUBC Organising Committee had a 2,200 workforce, the majority of who were volunteers.

During the Championship, various agencies including the National Police Agency, the City's regional offices, exemplary driving agency and Marine Corps alumni all collaborated with the Organising Committee to help with the logistics and transportation operations.

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