I'm new to this sport and I've never played in any tournaments. Wondering for those of you who have, can you give me some of your expertise? For the last couple of local tournaments that I've seen (in the bay area), they usually have flights or levels from A to D. I'm confused by the level distinction. For other sports tournaments (i.e. bball, volleyball, softball) that I've participated in, the last level (D) is usually reserved for beginners, but I've heard that this isn't necessarily true for badminton. For example, someone who I know is an excellent player (i.e. won junior titles when he was younger) said he would compete in "D" flight singles and "C" flight doubles if he would have entered the tournament. Now in the bay area, the last tournament was called the Bay Area Open, and I've heard that this is one of the bigger tournaments around, so I guess I understand a lot of people entered and could have pushed the tournament levels outwards. But I'm wondering what about for some smaller local tournaments? For example, the davis tournament: http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9184&highlight=davis What do you see as a "D" flight player? I'm asking, since I'm a beginner and I don't want to get pasted in a tournament; its no fun for me or for my opponent. Give me some ideas on how strong and how weak a "D" player (or doubles team) should be: i.e. smashes inconsistently, weak backhand or is he/she really a good club player(s) who competes at "D" in tournaments. any information will help! thanks.
For most "open" tournaments, there are A,B,C,D flights and more depending upon the size of the draws. I'll use an ABC draw for this example. Everyone starts in the A draw, which is the main draw...the top players usually remain in the "A" draw. First round losers go to the C Flight. Most organizers know who the weaker players will be, either by previous tournament results or personal knowledge so these players get paired up against stronger teams to put them into the C Draw. Majority of beginner-intermediate players are in the C draw. If you win your first, lose your second, you move into the "B" flight. The "B" flight is more or less intermediate-advanced players. You can end up in any one of these levels depending on how your draw goes. You could be the worst player in the world and remain in the A flight if you have incredible games or defaults. For Ontario, most players are ranked by pts (gained by winning, losing in sanctioned tournaments) and determined if they are Provincial A,B,C or D players. Tournaments are held for each level... Ex. Ontario A's any player can enter Ontario B's Only players who are Level B or lower may enter Ontario C&D's Only players ranked below B may enter. So, if you are a beginner, you will more than likely be put up against a top team and get pasted or you will play a qualifying match and it could be even...then you move on and play a harder team and so on.... Hope this helps...if I made any errors, feel free to pt them out everyone
so in my example, a D player is normally a beginner. I would classify a D player as someone who can hit the shuttle but not very well....but like I said, anyone can end up in a C or D flight whether you are good or not.
prophet, check out this thread: http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7876&highlight=tournament+flight txyu, the way you described to "sort" players is one method. however, the more common way i have seen in other parts of the country are "self sorting", meaning, players are free to select which flights they want to play in.
That's the first I have heard of a self sorting tournament... Interesting But what happens, and you know it will, when someone who is really good goes and enters a lower flight purposely? Forfeit?
there's no point to enter lower flights because you will lose much of your points if you lose, and gain little if any points if you win. It's more advantageous to play at the highest flight you can.
I see...playing for pts, then yes, they wouldn't do it... Are there not prizes though for these tournaments??? Cash, racquets, etc That's what I would be most concerned with... I know sometimes it happens in regular tournaments where people throw matches just to get a prize from a lower flight
In our HK annual championships, the no.1 seed of the 'D' flight singles(the lowest level) is a young chap who got through a couple of rounds of the HK Open (1* tournament)!. All of the HK juniors who go through the training centre enter this flight. So it is very hard to get through a couple of rounds. Especially if you are me and always seem to get the seeded player in the early rounds.
There are four flights: A, B, C, D. There used to be a Novice flight which was intended to be for someone with no successful tournament experience, but that apparently has long been dropped so that D is the lowest. There are a host of rules (or at least, there used to be...I don't know if they have changed recently) about flight rankings. Basically, a person's ranking is based on performance. If a person has never played in a USAB-sanctioned tournament, they have no ranking, so they could play D even if they were good enough to defeat the national champion. Once you make it to a D final, you move up to C. When you make a few finals in C, you move up to B, and then, after success in B, you move up to A. The purpose is to put players of similiar ability together to make for better competition. Your flight ranking can be different for each event, for example, B in MS, C in MD, B in MxD. In most tournaments, you can play more than one flight in the same event, for example, BMS and CMS. I saw a doubles team once play B, C, and D in the same tourney. You can always play in a higher flight than your ranking, but never lower. So, if you're just starting out, D is the flight to choose, but D has the broadest range of skill levels--anywhere from a true beginner to a highly-skilled player who has not played tournaments. However, you can start anywhere you want--even A.
the problem with many of the local tournament is that there are no ranked to be based on. the tourney in other countries are much more organzied and everybody has a ranking and or previous match results. in N. California, most of the tournament i have been to are completely free. i have seen really poor players playing in A, and i have also seen really good players playing D.
Run this by me again, tournament are free?! Court hire and shuttle usage (we pretty much use feather for all tournaments no matter what the grade of player) dictate that there has to be some sort of charge to players. Most of the time it's reasonable I mean they would be just recouping the cost so I don't mind paying. Vic Open is the HUGE and most annoying exception to this where they charge a significant amount, and expect you to bring your own shuttles (unless you're playing Open when they use one grade and it's okay, Open is really, really expensive though). I mean unless you're prepared to use your own shuttles for every match, there's no consistency. A lot of non-Open grade standard players I know boycott for just that reason. Er sorry for getting sidetracked, that's one of my pet peeves. Back to the topic, we have both types of tournaments, open entry, ie pick your own grade, and the play the first game, then get streamed type. Both have significant problems. Below Open grade you aren't playing for points, so all you're really going for is trophies. As such most people play in two grades, hoping to trophy hunt the lower one. Most tournaments reserve the right to regrade you, however in practise I've almost never seen this happen. For the streamed type, a lot of players will throw the first game which really sucks. The way it roughly works here should be: Mens: D - can hit the shuttle reasonably consistently, has most basic shots, lacks penetration in most shots and doesn't have full range of shots. C - can hit the shuttle quite well, most shots, maybe good at one or two aspects. B - full range of shots, usually lack consistency or serious edge A - should be able to do everything. Open - Can do everything well, or so exceptional at somes aspects that they can make up for weaknesses in others. Womens: D - can hold a racquet, serve, and hit easy shots in (most of the time) C - Mens D B - Mens C A - Mens B Open - Should be able to do everything.
ops... my mistake. by free, i meant free to choose your level (in your terminology, open entry). meaning, everybody can pick if they want to play A,B,C,D. tourneys here are by no means free. i think entry fee of around $15-25 are the common amount. and we also have to provide our own shuttles.
good info-thanks for the thread, kwun kwun, thanks for the thread from last year. The information gave me some good insights, as does this current thread. I guess from all the information gathered, the only way to get a good idea of the level I should be in is to actually participate in a tournament and taste the sweet nectar of tournament competition.
Be warned The first tournament you'll try will probably be highly traumatic. It's just part of experience. If you like more punishment (rather like me cos I keep losing), you'll enter more and more!!
