Rachel Hindley could do for badminton what Anna Kournikova has done for tennis.

The tall attractive New Zealand representative is helping sex up the sport's image in a new calendar.

She is the one of the faces of a campaign by Badminton New Zealand to get more people interested in the game.

Her image graced several large banners hanging from the ceiling at the New Zealand Badminton Open last weekend in Newmarket.

And the 25-year-old is happy with the attention.

"It is really to help the promotion of badminton and it is adding a lot more interest to the game.

"If it gets more people to come along then it has got to be a good thing," she says.

But Hindley downplays the nickname given to the New Zealand team by their exuberant supporters in 2005.

"We don't go around calling ourselves the Black Cocks - it is mainly other people who refer to us as that.

"I don't think it would go down so well in some of the more conservative Asian countries," she says.

The marketing idea came from Hindley's sponsor, the Kuala Lumpur Racket Club.

The private club is owned by wealthy Malaysian lawyer, Dato' Sri Andrew Kam.

Kam supports a number of New Zealand's top players including Hindley, John Moody and Dan Shirley.

Kam creates a stylish calendar each year featuring his athletes in glamorous poses.

Badminton New Zealand executive director Peter Dunne says when his organisation saw the exposure Kam got from his athletes they realised what a goldmine they were sitting on.

"We have always been aware that our athletes are attractive, very intelligent and perform on the court but Andrew has been the catalyst that's helped us see our players in a different light."

Dunne says the KLRC-sponsored players are well profiled in magazine articles and calendars in Malaysia where badminton is a hugely popular sport.

He says the new marketing angle is all part of the bigger picture.

"It all helps with the profile of the sport and our financial situation. It gets us publicity and media exposure which will hopefully help us support our clubs at the grass roots level."

Copyright © 2007 Fairfax New Zealand Limited