MikeJ
02-17-2006, 12:25 AM
Kwun: Please excuse the double post. :D I felt that this might get lost in the forum and that these two articles deserve their own thread.
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Yahoo! Sports (http://sg.sports.yahoo.com/060117/1/3xyjz.html)
Yahoo! Singapore Sports
Tuesday January 17, 11:17 PM
Gade blasts new badminton scoring system
Former world number one Peter Gade has launched a scathing attack on the new scoring system which is about to start on the world circuit.
The International Badminton Federation (IBF) recently decided to adopt point-per-rally 21-up scoring, which will be introduced soon after this week's All-England Open championships here have finished.
The IBF believes this system will be easier to understand than the traditional hand-in hand-out 15-up scoring for all events except women's singles (11-up), which has been the norm since organized badminton began more than a century ago.
But there appears to be plenty of dissent against 21-up scoring, and Gade, who will be trying to regain the All-England title this week, feels the same way.
"I don't think the IBF will like the new system," he asserted. "It is very clear to me that this is a political matter.
"Table tennis had this scoring for 50 years. They changed from this (to 11-up) with great success but those running badminton, they look at it, and say 'we want your old system and we think it will do good'.
"I can't see any reason for doing that. We had an opportunity to vote for a more intense and exciting game. It has been exciting only from about 10-all or 11-all and now, moving to 21, but it will become even worse."
"I think this is political, because Asia dismissed the five games to seven-up system and have regretted it, but won't go back to it again. Five to seven is best for badminton and I really wish it would be part of the future."
Gade is referring to is the political conflict within the IBF between Asia and its supporters and Europe and its supporters, which recently led to three different scoring systems being adopted within two years on the world circuit.
Although the five to seven experiment produced a faster, shorter, and more unpredictable version of the sport, it was not endorsed by the IBF's annual meeting.
And when the IBF council adopted an unheard of combination of scoring - men's singles and doubles to 15-up but any event involving a woman (women's singles and doubles and mixed doubles) to be played to 11-up - a bitter controversy developed.
It provoked dissent from more than 30 countries, causing an extraordinary general meeting which forced the IBF to back down, and brought the compromise of a return to traditional scoring.
Gade believes the imposition of the latest scoring system is a political reaction to that; the players will discuss their reaction to it at their annual meeting this week.
"But I don't think the players can do anything about it," the Dane said. "When we expressed our opinion to the IBF before, nothing happened. I don't think the players' opinions will matter.
"And when so many Asian players are dominated by associations and their governments it is almost impossible."
"We can send signals to the media. And every time I am asked I will react in the same way. But the IBF is in control and as long as it's like this, it's very hard for the players to change anything.
Meanwhile a complaint from Denmark about the IBF-made draw for the All-England championships has caused the men's doubles to be redrawn.
"If this draw was made by computer then one would expect a review of the programme," said Finn Traerup, the Danish performance director. "But I would think this has been made by hand.
"There are too many glitches which makes it critical to get the review because the IBF website lacks information and we don't know how people earn their ranking points any more."
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Indian Express (http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=87784)
Hidayat blasts the new scoring system
The Indonesian wants to build a consensus to try and change it for the better of the game
JAYDIP SENGUPTA
Posted online: Monday, February 13, 2006 at 0000 hours IST
JAIPUR, FEBRUARY 12: He’s been at it since 1999 when he was just 17. But now, yet again, the World and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia will have to wait for another year to fulfill his dream of winning the All-England Championships. At 24, he has already made the finals twice and was hoping to go one better this year. Only, fate had other plans in store.
‘‘This is probably one All-England I don’t regret missing because I had to prepare for my marriage on February 4,’’ said the former World No. 1 on the sidelines of the Asian Zone preliminaries of the Thomas and Uber Cup qualifiers here.
The only player in history ever to win the Olympic gold and the World Championships, doing so in 2004 and 2005, respectively, Hidayat’s ranking has dropped to 10, but that doesn’t bother him one bit.
“I missed the Swiss and German Open due to a knee injury, apart from missing the All England championship. That has affected my rankings, but I am back,” he said. That’s bad news for his rivals, especially world number one China’s Lin Dan, whom he had thrashed 15-3, 15-7 to become the world champion.
This will be Hidayat’s first tournament according to the new rally-scoring system which awards points after every rally and the game is decided at 21. He hardly seemed happy about it. ‘‘I don’t like the new system at all and so far as I am aware, none of the top players like it either. It’s too fast. I am going to take it up with the other players during the Thomas and Uber Cup finals in Japan and see what can be done,’’ he said. Recently, World No 6 Dane Peter Gade Christiansen had blasted the new scoring system as well.
Incidentally, this is Hidayat’s first visit to India and he didn’t sound too impressed with the arrangements. ‘‘Apart from accommodation problems — the rooms aren’t quite to my liking because of the faulty cooling system - there is also the problem of birds flying inside the stadium apart from a disturbing draft,’’ he said, before formally ending the interview session.
-----------------------------
Yahoo! Sports (http://sg.sports.yahoo.com/060117/1/3xyjz.html)
Yahoo! Singapore Sports
Tuesday January 17, 11:17 PM
Gade blasts new badminton scoring system
Former world number one Peter Gade has launched a scathing attack on the new scoring system which is about to start on the world circuit.
The International Badminton Federation (IBF) recently decided to adopt point-per-rally 21-up scoring, which will be introduced soon after this week's All-England Open championships here have finished.
The IBF believes this system will be easier to understand than the traditional hand-in hand-out 15-up scoring for all events except women's singles (11-up), which has been the norm since organized badminton began more than a century ago.
But there appears to be plenty of dissent against 21-up scoring, and Gade, who will be trying to regain the All-England title this week, feels the same way.
"I don't think the IBF will like the new system," he asserted. "It is very clear to me that this is a political matter.
"Table tennis had this scoring for 50 years. They changed from this (to 11-up) with great success but those running badminton, they look at it, and say 'we want your old system and we think it will do good'.
"I can't see any reason for doing that. We had an opportunity to vote for a more intense and exciting game. It has been exciting only from about 10-all or 11-all and now, moving to 21, but it will become even worse."
"I think this is political, because Asia dismissed the five games to seven-up system and have regretted it, but won't go back to it again. Five to seven is best for badminton and I really wish it would be part of the future."
Gade is referring to is the political conflict within the IBF between Asia and its supporters and Europe and its supporters, which recently led to three different scoring systems being adopted within two years on the world circuit.
Although the five to seven experiment produced a faster, shorter, and more unpredictable version of the sport, it was not endorsed by the IBF's annual meeting.
And when the IBF council adopted an unheard of combination of scoring - men's singles and doubles to 15-up but any event involving a woman (women's singles and doubles and mixed doubles) to be played to 11-up - a bitter controversy developed.
It provoked dissent from more than 30 countries, causing an extraordinary general meeting which forced the IBF to back down, and brought the compromise of a return to traditional scoring.
Gade believes the imposition of the latest scoring system is a political reaction to that; the players will discuss their reaction to it at their annual meeting this week.
"But I don't think the players can do anything about it," the Dane said. "When we expressed our opinion to the IBF before, nothing happened. I don't think the players' opinions will matter.
"And when so many Asian players are dominated by associations and their governments it is almost impossible."
"We can send signals to the media. And every time I am asked I will react in the same way. But the IBF is in control and as long as it's like this, it's very hard for the players to change anything.
Meanwhile a complaint from Denmark about the IBF-made draw for the All-England championships has caused the men's doubles to be redrawn.
"If this draw was made by computer then one would expect a review of the programme," said Finn Traerup, the Danish performance director. "But I would think this has been made by hand.
"There are too many glitches which makes it critical to get the review because the IBF website lacks information and we don't know how people earn their ranking points any more."
-----------------------------
Indian Express (http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=87784)
Hidayat blasts the new scoring system
The Indonesian wants to build a consensus to try and change it for the better of the game
JAYDIP SENGUPTA
Posted online: Monday, February 13, 2006 at 0000 hours IST
JAIPUR, FEBRUARY 12: He’s been at it since 1999 when he was just 17. But now, yet again, the World and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia will have to wait for another year to fulfill his dream of winning the All-England Championships. At 24, he has already made the finals twice and was hoping to go one better this year. Only, fate had other plans in store.
‘‘This is probably one All-England I don’t regret missing because I had to prepare for my marriage on February 4,’’ said the former World No. 1 on the sidelines of the Asian Zone preliminaries of the Thomas and Uber Cup qualifiers here.
The only player in history ever to win the Olympic gold and the World Championships, doing so in 2004 and 2005, respectively, Hidayat’s ranking has dropped to 10, but that doesn’t bother him one bit.
“I missed the Swiss and German Open due to a knee injury, apart from missing the All England championship. That has affected my rankings, but I am back,” he said. That’s bad news for his rivals, especially world number one China’s Lin Dan, whom he had thrashed 15-3, 15-7 to become the world champion.
This will be Hidayat’s first tournament according to the new rally-scoring system which awards points after every rally and the game is decided at 21. He hardly seemed happy about it. ‘‘I don’t like the new system at all and so far as I am aware, none of the top players like it either. It’s too fast. I am going to take it up with the other players during the Thomas and Uber Cup finals in Japan and see what can be done,’’ he said. Recently, World No 6 Dane Peter Gade Christiansen had blasted the new scoring system as well.
Incidentally, this is Hidayat’s first visit to India and he didn’t sound too impressed with the arrangements. ‘‘Apart from accommodation problems — the rooms aren’t quite to my liking because of the faulty cooling system - there is also the problem of birds flying inside the stadium apart from a disturbing draft,’’ he said, before formally ending the interview session.