what is the umpire playing at?

**druss** · 05-08-2011, 11:56 PM

I'm of the opinion that as soon as LYD played the shuttle back then it should have continued on in a normal rally. Yes, the rule states that if you're not ready it's a let, but if you attempt or actually return it then it's "game on". The server caught the shuttle clearly expecting a let to be called.

Yes, the umpire says "you have to leave the shuttle" and if LYD was arguing that he wasn't ready then the umpire is correct. On the other hand, as soon as he DID return the shuttle the point should have continued, in that case the server should have been at fault.

If LYD was causing a delay then it should have been called a FAULT as a delay. Or if he distracted the server then again the umpire should have called FAULT.

In the end, none of the above happened, the umpire decided to award the point to the serving team with no justification IMO.

**CantSmashThis** · 05-14-2011, 12:22 AM

As promised, I brought this topic up to some of the top US umpires. They claimed that in that case, a let should have been played no matter what. The only reasoning we could come up with on why he faulted LYD from his expression of "Lee, next time you have to let the bird drop" would be a fault for distraction. All umpires agreed it should have been a let and gone on from there.

Depending on how you would interpret what happened, it could have been a fault to any side, which should automatically be resolved with a let.

**visor** · 05-14-2011, 12:40 AM

^^
Did those umpires manage to view the youtube video?

IMO, LYD is at fault for being ready and then changing his mind and putting up his hand to indicate he's not ready, just at the moment the server started to serve. This would be a distraction and unnecessary delay.

**CantSmashThis** · 05-14-2011, 07:16 AM

Yes, most got to view the video, not all because of internet problems with the hotel, and some stated that they have already seen the video. They all don't understand what the umpire in the video was thinking. What is going in his mind and how he justifies calling that.

**2wheels04** · 06-10-2011, 05:19 PM

Originally Posted by amleto

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMu1t...e_gdata_player

...

Hey hey hey, the video disappeared. Any chance someone downloaded this MD action from the Swiss Open GPG Basel 2011? If online somewhere, kindly write link, and if downloaded, please PM.