I'm amazed a number of times in tournaments how such simple request is handled. When opponent disagrees with the change request, what should the umpire do? In case you think the umpire is not well trained to judge that, is there any re-course (e.g. get the tournament referee)?
if players from both sides agree to change the birdie, does the umpire need to see the birdire first before changing?
Let me change the question somewhat. How does an umpire make such a judgement? I see some of the umpires here are good players themselves, while others are not. How do they judge for the players? Just flip a coin?
come on guys, the decision to change a shuttle or not is by far the easiest decision for the ref. all other decisions (close calls, dealing with delay/bad sportmanship, even counting...) are harder...
How would you decide when a shuttle needs changing? It's not something you can quantify. If the umpire feels it warrants changing, then it is changed. It's at the umpires descretion. To be honest, if you're a professional player, the last thing you want in a match is to start an arguement with someone - least of all with the umpire! You wouldn't want to lose your focus and risk handing the match to your opponent.
@R20190, all of your points understood. I'm referring to junior tournaments, and the umpire might not have adequate training in this area. I'd seen numerous time when the bird seemed broken from even afar, and one side requested a change, the other side thought keeping it was the best choice given they're winning at the moment. Not even a case did the umpires have the birds changed. In the latest case, the bird had one feather broken, and the umpire couldn't tell and kept it in use! There got to be a way to fix this... This is very frustrating to see.
