I'm trying to get more details from the BWF but, being a Sunday, locating any of the senior officials is going to be a challenge. ---------------------------------------------------- Badminton Moves Into High Gear London, 1 April 2012 By Sugbo Tsilanjuro Badminton is in for a major makeover, says the game’s governing body. After a three-day meeting in London ahead of the 2012 Olympics, the Executive Board of the Badminton World Federation has announced a number of changes, which will come into force later this year. The changes are the most sweeping yet in the game’s history, with modifications having been made to both play and equipment. However, the changes will not affect the Olympic badminton competition, which begins on 28 July at London’s Wembley Arena. “13 September is our re-launch date,” said Thomas Lund, the BWF’s Chief Operating Officer. “We chose it because world badminton made its official debut from Portsmouth, England on 13 September 1893.” The China Masters in Changzhou, one of 12 World Super Series events held annually across the world, will be the first tournament to feature the revised version of the game. “We have pushed back the tournament’s date by two days to coincide with the official re-launch,” said Liu Fengyan, the BWF’s Vice-President (Asia). “It’s quite fitting too as China has the world’s largest badminton community.” The changes were detailed in a media release from Dr Kang Young-Joong, the BWF’s President, who said that “the modifications and amendments were discussed and endorsed earlier by all 173 members of the Federation”. Highlights Shuttles shall no longer be white. To make them more visible under any form of court-lighting, shuttles shall be chartreuse (a middle-ground hue between yellow and green). This will aid not just the players but will also enhance television coverage of the game. In addition to singles, doubles and mixed doubles, a new category shall be added - triples. As the name implies, there shall be three players on each of the opposing sides. In doubles, mixed doubles and triples, the serve shall be delivered as an overhead shot from behind the back boundary line. It shall be a fault if, when serving, any part of the server's feet is inside the court. Substitutions shall be allowed in doubles and triples. However, only one player may be replaced in doubles. Triples shall be allowed two substitutions. Badminton nets shall have a singles service-fault line, which shall be a horizontal yellow stripe 18 inches below the top of the net. When serving in singles, it shall be a fault if the shuttle is hit from above the service-fault line. No-shows and walkovers shall be penalised with a 30-day exclusion from competition and a loss of ranking points equal to what winning that match would have earned the player. However, a player who retires at any time during the match shall face only a 30-day exclusion and shall not lose ranking points. The BWF is also hoping that the 2012 Olympics will serve as a launch-pad for triples, badminton's newest category. "We have asked LOCOG (London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games) for permission to stage a triples demo at Wembley as a global television preview," said Paisan Rangsikitpho, the BWF's Deputy President. "If triples takes off, more people will be able to play with the current infrastructure. Also, with three players covering a side, it will be much more fun for older players." On 5 July 2013, the BWF's 80th Founding Day, the federation will launch a new international tournament circuit called World Masters. This will feature the former greats of the game, with the minimum age to play pegged at 45 years. Apparently, more changes are already being discussed by the federation's members. Among those is a proposal to use RFID-tagged shuttles for an electronic Decision Review System and another to make the player pay for changing more than a specified number of shuttles in a game. The BWF says that the new changes are all being evolved from internal ideas. "For good measure, we have terminated our contract with Pentagon, the international marketing firm that advised us earlier to insist that women players must wear skirts," said Dr Kang. "We are now constantly sounding out both players and administrators on how to grow the game. And, yes, we now think we will succeed."
Haha! You guys on the other side of the world are so lucky to be a few hrs ahead of us to have April fool earlier.
The title "Badminton Moves Into High Gear " by itself already hints it is April fool joke...good try but kind of boring to read.
Oh come on guys, lighten up. It's meant to have a poke at the BWF. FYI, this is oldhand's annual attempt to fool unsuspecting readers... and it's never succeeded
That wasn't bad. I had made up my mind once I saw the chartreuse but the fact that the BWF did its own this year served to cast doubt on this as I couldn't believe the BWF would have tried two on one weekend. Also, posting in very believable bits like the firing of Pentagon [sic: I guess it was Octagon] and the start of the World Masters was clever. Even the overhand serve has been suggested seriously in the past, although I don't think even tennis makes it mandatory.
Frankly, this is almost a wish-list I, for one, would love to see chartreuse shuttles, some umpiring unanimity about where the lowest rib is, volleyball-type serves that start every rally with a bang, triples to make defence and offence more exciting and challenging, and substitutions to keep the game as high as a power trip. PS: I used Pentagon because some losers can turn nasty and sue
On another note, our cousin sport Tennis released a very convincing video with feedback from current players about serve speeds =). I was very entertained and how well the players kept their composure while saying completely ridiculous things. For reference, tennis serves about 120+ mph are considered fast, anything below 100 is considered relatively slow in tennis speed terms and are the speeds for second serves. The ATP is Tennis's equivalent of the BWF. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiTQLPv-D4Q
^^ Haha! That's why tennis is miles ahead of badminton on the world stage... even their April fools jokes are better!