again, forgive me for my ignorance, but what does "seeds" in badminton mean? and if you watch a game on tv, they usually show a number enclosed in parentheses beside the players name. Sometimes, it's preceded with an astersik. Is this the world ranking?
Seeds and World Rankings are not the same thing. Seed values are separate and unique to each time a tournament is run and are based on a variety of factors like which players are attending, player's current world rankings and players history at the tournament. So the #1 seed is not always the #1 world ranked player/team.
seeds are based on world ranking, at least in all the higher tournaments. i don't think it's unique because of player history etc. it's unique because in a year, world rankings shift a lot. for example, in 06 malaysian open, lin dan was seeded one although, by previous results, he hasn't done well. no, the #1 seed does not always have to be #1 in the world. if the #1 skips the event, the #2 in the world would become #1 seed. i think there's a slightly different set of rules for doubles though. it's more on the expected result than ranking points. e.g. the new Koo/Tan partnership was given a seeding of 5/8 in 2007 All England. they were far too low in terms of ranking points to be ranked 5/8 from points. but i think that is an exception. unless there is a new, awesome pair like them, even in doubles, ranking is done mainly on points.
