I'm seeing more and more line disputes after the introduction of the NSS. I think it's time for the ibf to implement camera recording for the lines. Too many top players throwing games after bad/questionable line calls. If ibf want to attract the tv audience, they shouldn't just stop with a NSS.
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Badminton-Lee joins calls for television technology

Saturday September 23, 12:31 AM
MADRID, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Malaysia's world number one Lee Chong Wei supported demands from last year's world champion Taufik Hidayat to introduce television replays to settle disputed line calls in top badminton tournaments.
Lee exited the world championships in controversial fashion on Friday after two disputed line calls tipped his quarter-final against Bao Chunlai in the Chinese player's favour.

"I support Taufik's idea of introducing television replays for line calls, but I'm not optimistic about it being brought in," Lee told reporters after his defeat.

"I don't want to fight about it now. But as far as I saw it the shuttlecock was out on two crucial points. I don't think the decisions were fair. It was 50-50 out there and I could have won, although Bao played very well."

Hidayat, who exited the world championships on Thursday, initiated the demand for the introduction of special television cameras to check line calls after he stormed off court following a disputed line call in the Hong Kong Open last month.

The Indonesian walked out just three minutes into his quarter-final against China's Lin Dan following a changed line call and is awaiting the decision of an International Badminton Federation hearing into the incident.

"I want to stress that the IBF needs to improve the quality of umpiring by bringing in television cameras to judge close line calls," Hidayat said on Friday.

"Guaranteeing fair play is vital and there must be no discrimination in favour of local players."

with today electronic prices, videoing the lines aren't so that expensive and ibf should able to afford it.

Badminton line-calls disputes have been with us since TV was introduced. Why wasn't a need for TV replay ever brought up by players before? Suddenly it becomes top news when a high profile player makes a dramatic demand, but only when the call went against him. Would he have called for TV replay if the call was in his favour? We should not jump at anything at the heat of the moment.

I'm seeing more and more line disputes after the introduction of the NSS. I think it's time for the ibf to implement camera recording for the lines. Too many top players throwing games after bad/questionable line calls. If ibf want to attract the tv audience, they shouldn't just stop with a NSS.

"Guaranteeing fair play is vital and there must be no discrimination in favour of local players."

In my opinion there are many violations by the Service Judges. It seems like there is no consistent standard across the board in service judging and it hurts the players not knowing what to expect. It is ridiculous that the same player with an identical service, in the same tournament gets called "fault", while his/her identical service was never called "fault" many other times.

At the highest level of play it is expected that the players are to be working on the edges of the envelope of play (for example, trying to hit the lines as much as possible; hit the shuttle at the highest point possible during service etc.). If the judging is faulty, then it is a disservice to the athlete who is the most accuarate and the best shot maker.

Especially, with the NSS where every fault is a significant factor much more than the OSS it is paramount that the judging be brought to a higher standard (TV replay). I don't think this was ever thought of as a crucial issue before introducing the NSS. The administrators must understand that this sport is for the athletes and fair play must be preserved.

Saturday September 23, 10:26 PM
Badminton-IBF announce introduction of new Super Series
MADRID, Sept 23 (Reuters) - The International Badminton Federation (IBF) unveiled a new 12-tournament Super Series for 2007 that will also feature an end-of-season Masters event with prize money of $500,000.
"We want to boost badminton's profile and highlight what we have got," Paisan Rangsikitpho, the chair of the IBF Events Committee, told a news conference.

"Television will play an important role in the new series and events have guaranteed live coverage of the semi-finals and finals. We want billions of viewers."

The IBF has cherry-picked 12 high-profile tournaments on the existing circuit to make up the Super Series, four in Europe and eight in Asia.

In Europe, the All-England, Swiss, Danish and French Opens have been chosen, while in Asia, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and China will hold the remainder of the events.

Rangsikitpho said that the United States, Taiwan, Germany and India had made unsuccessful applications to hold Super Series events, but had been put on a reserve list.

Badminton powerhouse China will be the only country to hold two events, but the venue of the end-of-season Masters trophy has not yet been decided.

The main draws will be 32 rather than 64-strong, with the top 28 players or pairs in the world being joined by four qualifiers.

The IBF also said they were looking into the introduction of television replays for the Super Series following calls from leading players for the use of such technology to resolve disputes over line calls.

"We are in the research phase at the moment," said Rangsikitpho.

"It's a costly operation and we will be looking at how other sports like tennis use the technology. It might be possible to introduce it to make it fair for all players."

being used to OSS, i still prefer it.

the imperfection of NSS is that calls like disputive line calls, and
especially service fault calls (sometimes being subjective) can
cause an imbalance in a match.

even mentally strong world-class players (eg. Lee Chong Wei's recent case)
find it hard to salvage the situation.

whereas in the OSS, they can try to win the service back
(after some grumbles).

why must IBF adopt NSS? the question of sport popularity, cost
of broadcast and length of matches are quite lame excuses imo.
golf for eg is a lengthy game... how come it is so popular and
flooding with sponsors?

They should just use the HawkEye System being used in tennis. At first, people, including the players were skeptical about but it turns out, it actually contributes to better games and increases the intensity during matches.

The HawkEye System though costs USD300,000. Check the link below on its acceptance in tennis:

http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/tennis/article/0,1713,BDC_2415_4986403,00.html

This system actually existed as early as 1999 but for another sport-cricket. Interesting.:)

in this WC, they sometime did show in slow motion of the shuttle landing but not in hawkeye quality but still pretty clear. Unfortunately, IBF/umpire do not use these replays for line rulings.

I don't normally rant but quite frankly I think it's ridiculous that a linesman can call the shuttle out and then see on a large screen right in front of him that the shuttle landed in but can't his mind!

Personally I think either the IBF should get rid of the big screens or allow linesmen to use them.

Does anyone know if the linesmen get a course on how to "judge" in/out at all? Like if the cork touches outside edge, it is still considered in.