Quoted from The Star: Mixed doubles out of Olympics By RAJES PAUL PETALING JAYA: Mixed doubles badminton will be dropped from the Olympic programme. The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Olympic Programme Commission made the decision to drop it at their meeting in Switzerland last Wednesday. They have sent a letter to the International Badminton Federation (IBF) informing them about the matter. With the decision to drop the mixed doubles, there will be four gold medals at stake in Olympic badminton – singles and doubles for men and women. The IOC will decide on Nov 14 in Mexico on whether to do away with the mixed doubles from the 2004 Games in Athens or the 2008 Olympiad in Beijing. The IBF’s vice-president, Datuk Punch Gunalan, said yesterday that they received the bad news from the IOC on Thursday. “The IOC are reviewing the Olympics’ programmes to make it more effective. The reason to drop the mixed doubles is in line with other racquet sport, including table tennis, in which the event is not contested,” said Gunalan. “According to them, many countries do not have women’s teams and several countries do not play the mixed doubles at all. They felt that it did not promote the game globally.” Gunalan said that the IBF would decide in their council meeting in Bangkok on Sept 7 on whether to appeal against the decision. “The important thing for badminton is to remain as an Olympic sport. They (the IOC) have recommended that we should do away with mixed doubles but did not say whether it should take place in Athens or Beijing. We will look into this matter in our meeting on the next move,” he said. For Malaysia, the news is a setback. There are already plans to strengthen the mixed doubles department following the success of Chew Choon Eng-Chin Eei Hui in the Manchester Commonwealth Games last month. They won the silver and it was the first medal won by Malaysia in the event in the Games series. Malaysia have never been represented in the mixed doubles in the Olympics. They got close once when Chan Chong Ming-Joanne Quay were named as the first reserve for the 2000 Sydney Games. When badminton was introduced in the Olympics in Barcelona 1992, mixed doubles was not contested. It was introduced at the 1996 Atlanta Games and the winners were South Korean Kim Dong-moon-Gil Young-ah. At Sydney 2000, the winners were China’s Zhang Jun-Gao Ling.
they should drop it in 2008 if they have to over 2004 because. -we the fans will know its for the last time and make it special -all the players training for 20004 would not be wasted
I think it is a logical decision to drop mixed , given its standing. It is unfortunate that there couldn't be a Surdiman cup type team event at the olympics. I always think a bit too much is put on the olympic title, yes it is a great prize but some players are only at the top for a couple of years , they are unlikely to get more than one good shot at the olympics and a simple injury could rule them out. Perhaps with the change in the world rankings system more will be put on who is world number 1, with the frequent change of top players some great players never win a world or olympic title. In the eighties players like Frost or YY could have 3 shots at the worlds, even with it every 4 years!!! I don't think we will see this longevity again.
Wow, Thats a bit of a bummer, especialy if your a mixed player like me, i do like watching mixed games because you can some have some great rallies. But i see where they are coming from i guess, is this a perminant IOC decision or just for 2004? Chances are now then that Jo Goode will retire from badminton after the 2003 World Championships... Matt
It's a shame I personally think it is a shame that they will delete mix from the Olympics. Mix-double (or trouble) is a unique game which requires special skills from both the male and the female player in a team.. not everyone who is a great in a mens double will also be able to excell in mix.. and it can also be very entertaining to watch.. I hope somehow the decision can be reversed..
that is so sad. i agree with klaphat. mixed is an unique game that is different from all other events. i like the idea of a team event though, it is often the team events that generates the most excitement (like team relay in track and swimming, team gymnastics)
I'm really worrying that if Europeans and Americans can't win any medals in badminton and table tennis in the next couple Olympics, they may simply canel these 2 sports also.
Well, it may be a lost medal for Denmark or England, but what's more important is that it's the only Olympic event where men and women are competing against each other, in "direct battle" so to speak. Personally, it's a favorite discipline both to play and watch. However politically incorrect it may be, I'd rate it higher than WD any day. But they wouldn't dare to scrap that. (Uhm... actually, I'm not really suggesting that they should either!) And in the long run: if the Olympics scrap MX, why won't other tournaments also do it?
No worries Don't see it that tragically. I am quite sure that in table tennis we have plenty of first class players coming from Europe. How about Petr Korbel? In badminton the European position is not that strong but still.. I can bet 1000 to 1 that in the next 3 olympic games Erope will take at least one medal in tt or baddy.
Yeah? the only discipline where men and women match up in the Olympics? Perhaps IOC are bringing the game into line. for other observations on the mixed game, see http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2588&highlight=Mixed+doubles
Mixed doubles is unique... Mixed doubles in badminton cannot be compared to any other sport. It is different. I think the IOC have looked at tennis and decided that badminton is the same 'kind' of sport. The key difference is the roll of women. In tennis the strength of the man, especially on serve is vastly superior to a woman. This means that when they are on the same court there is a serious mismatch in ability. I was told by a tennis professional yesterday that the number 400 man in the world would easily beat the number 1 woman (although personally I wouldn't fancy playing either Venus or Serena Williams!) All the man has to do is exploit the weaknesses of the woman to win the game. Badminton is very different. The use of subtlety, dexterity, touch and tactics are all major requirements of a good mixed player. At a professional level, the ladies are all strong both physically and mentally. The women can quite easily dictate the game and show up the weaknesses of the man. With respect to the IOC, I don't think they understand badminton, and for sure they don't have a clue about mixed doubles. The popularity of mixed in Europe should be a major factor in their decision. Although I would like to see it more popular in Eastern Asia, the fact that it is a major discipline in Europe should be enough. It does have mass appeal, and there are many people who rate it higher than singles to both watch and play. Jonathan Phillips www.Badders.com
Europeans start to dominate the event over the asians and then they decide to drop it, i wonder if this is bsed on the asians and the fact they might have thrown a strop? I mean we English have a pair ranked as number 2 in the world, and alos of danes are with us in the top 10. Why not just limit it to the Europeans if the Asians dont like it..? Seems utterly pointless to me. And as everyone says, it's bound to ruin European and english hopes of a medal.. Matt
Matt you're strange You make it sound like Asians got together to drop it from the Olympics. Looking at the IOC I think you'll probably find that there are far more Europeans on the committee than Asians. That's right!!! Europeans have conspired against themselves since they did so well in the last Olympics at mixed [1] I'm trying to work out where you made up the info behind "Why not just limit it to the Europeans if the Asians dont like it..?" I mean that pretty much states that you think the Asians got it dropped, where'd you get the info to make such an accusation from? [2]. [1] Europeans came third and fourth, but I had to look that up, I mean who actually watched the mixed? All I remembered was that Gao and Zhang won. [2] Sure I think the vast majority of Asian players aren't interested in mixed (I'm certainly not), however the country associations are, I mean China, Indo, Malaysia and Korea would send strong teams since they would think it's another chance to win a gold medal. PS. Sorry I doubt any Euro has any chance at all of winning the gold in mixed even with general Asian disinterest. PPS I'm not sure if it's the same in other countries however here in Oz we really don't remember anyone unless they got a gold, or at least played in the final.
I agree that it would be difficult for any European country to win a mixed medal of any description. The key is that it is being played, watched by millions of mixed fans and promoting the game of mixed throughout the world. How can we encourage countries to play mixed if there is no exposure? Asian or European differences apart, I think we are losing a piece of badminton. It took a long time for badminton to get into the Olympics, now we have lost 20% already. What's to say that the next edict is that doubles isn't very popular (like tennis) and we are left with just singles. Jonathan Phillips www.Badders.com
Behave Oh dear, it's not the old "you Asians, we Europeans" rant again, is it? Matt! Pecheur! BEHAVE! Of course this is not an "Asian conspiracy" against "the Europeans". If it's a conspiracy, it's a conspiracy against the sport as a whole. It clearly shows the low status of Badminton, and I would say ESPECIALLY amongst the Western delegates. Instead of creating pointless controversy here, maybe we should concentrate on whether there is anything we can do as a group? The decision is not finalised yet. Can we make a petition? Can we encourage our local/national federations to act? Any suggestions?
Mag, I think a petition sounds like a good idea to me..I can, and probably will contact the BA of E to find their view on it and see if they plan on doing anything.. Matt
