Traditionally, badminton has been best of 3 games, 15 points per game. Recently, they introduced a new format of best of 5 games, 7 points per game. What is the reason for this? One advanced player I know said that this format is favored by Europeans and is not fair because the games are too short and so the two opponents haven't even familiarized themselves with the other's style by the time the first game is over(This is a radical statement, and I don't agree with it, but I have never played a 5*7 match before) How does these two formats affect the player's performance? thanks
The reason was to speed the game up and make it more intense. I believe that it was a very good thing, because when you play to 15 there is to much "play" to get to 10 or 11 where it is exiting to watch and play. Here in Denmark we tried to play 5 sets to 9 and that was really good, because it´s correct that to 7 the game is very short and it was difficult to find a rythem. But then again if you don´t find a rythem to 15 there is only 2 more sets to correct it in (well maybe only 1), when you play 5 sets there are more chances to change your game of play. Thomas
On a side note, the Swedish Badminton Federation has decided that all matches in the top division ("elite" series) are to be played in 5x7 format. In other words: while the rest of the world is playing 3x15, Sweden is playing 5x7... *duh* It will hardly benefit the few Swedish player that compete internationally either...