Just wondering if any of the other olympic sports have that possibility of one country sweeping all the medals.
I wouldn't exactly use table tennis as a shining example. Think BWF is embarrassing? ITTF takes the cake. They made so many rule changes to limit the same dominant nation they might as well start a new sport. First they changed the size of the ball from 38mm to 40mm, ostensibly so audiences can see it better, which is a joke in itself. If an audience in the stands can't see a 38mm ball, he sure will have almost as much problems seeing a 40mm ball. It did slow down the speed of the ball though. Then they changed the scoring from 5 sets of 21 points to 7 sets of 11, which wildly increased the chances of upsets. Next they changed the servicing rules so players cannot use hands to shield the ball. All of these have the cumulative effect of limiting the same nation. Guess what, it didn't work. BWF should not be taking that path. Want to make the game more competitive? Make the other countries competitive. I certainly don't see FINA limiting American swimmers, IAAF limiting Jamaican sprinters or the IGF calling for banning wealthy countries so poor countries win at golf. When you're using gimmicks as the BWF is doing, you're already a failed sport. Keep badminton among real sports.
The ROW simply cannot keep up with CHN in TT and baddy. CHN will adapt and resilient no matter what rules IOC puts out. These 2-player limit is simply unfair and it is clearly to control CHN domination. If ROW cannot beat CHN, then setup rules to screw CHN. I pity CHN TT players who train day in day out, only to get screwed by this stupid rule. Try picking 2 CHN MS from Xu Chen, Ma Long, Zhang Jike, Fan, Yan, any one of these 5 will put the ROW to pasture. On WS: Liu SW current WR1 lost 0-4 to her young comrade Chen Meng in Kuwait Open, I can't imagine how competitive it is in CHN, a WR1 got spanked by a jr player. Squaring of against the ROW is easy, playing against their own comrades can go either way. On the other side, the 2 players who represent CHN in singles will go to the final. OLY gold medal may be the most coveted titile to own, really WC is way harder to win.
I see where you are going with this, mindreader. And you might be right about table tennis, but I doubt that these changes in badminton are done to harm China domination. We have seen similar changes in tennis as well. During the last 10 years there has been a slowing-down of harcourt- and grass-surfaces. New type-3 balls have been introduced that are a little bit bigger (and slower). The result is longer rallies, longer matches, and to make the ball (so they say) more visible for spectators and players. There was no dominant nation to stop, so I am inclined to believe that this is done purely for economic reasons. (Please the crowd and sponsors + make the sport more TV-friendly = more $$$$$$) The big reason for changing from 5 sets to 7 sets is (I believe) so that the TV stations can have more frequent commercial breaks. I agree it also increases chance of upset, but I don't think that that was the agenda. It's all about the money these days. Want the sport to grow? Satisfy TV-stations, satisfy viewers and sponsors.
I don't buy the doing 7 sets for TV sponsorship bit. I'd be more inclined to give you the benefit of the doubt without the previously mentioned rule changes, not to mention some even more onerous ones that I've forgotten, namely, eliminating the short-pip and shockingly, serious discussions on changing the TABLE SIZE. Talk about wow. Without getting more off-topic about table tennis, let's talk about badminton. What is BWF hoping to achieve with these quotas, rule changes and limitations. The goal is to increase viewership for badminton right? Well, the sport's penetration is already high in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and to more limited extents, Denmark and South Korea. You're not gonna increase viewership significantly in these places. Any gains will be playing at the margin. So I'm guessing they want to increase viewership in other countries. With that in mind, by all means tell me how is allowing weaker players gonna accomplish that role. I'm guessing even an all China final between Chen Long and Lin Dan will be FAR more interest than Lin Dan thrashing whichever player who shouldn't be there. How is such a showing supposed to increase viewership in countries when it produces lopsided victories instead of demonstrating the best the sport has to offer?
Lol no I don't think so. I was comparing some changes in table tennis to similar changes in tennis, and how at least in tennis they were certainly not made to stop a country's domination. I don't know what the goal is with this rule change in quotation. And like I said, I am also not for it. I think it was fine as it was. Assuming the rankings stay the same, Wang Shixian could once again miss out on Olympic participation. But nations can still send 2, so nothing is stopping a final between Lin Dan and Chen Long, assuming they both qualify. Either way the quality of badminton would certainly not be affected in the latter stages. All the "scrubs" get beaten in round 1.
for the winter olympics in Russia going on now, Netherlands has won Gold, Silver and bronze for the Men's 500m, 5,000m & 10,000m and Ladies 1,500m in speed skating. Only yesterday France got Gold, Silver and bronze for Men's Ski Cross. wonder when and how the olympics committee going to change the rules to level the playing field.
Agree with you. Whatever this OLY symbols stands for, I look from the side of the players who devoted their lifetime training for this OLY moment, they (say CHN TT and badminton players) are the world's best but because the ROW cannot compete against them and along come some nuts who imposed rules barring them from competing, that is sinful and criminal. These nuts just destroy someone's dream.
3rd ranked China MS is Wang Zhengming... No, but seriously, I agree with you. If the purpose of this rule really is to limit China domination, then that's a very shameful move. I'm just not totally convinced yet. Why only in singles then? Why not have this limitation for WD and XD, where China domination is arguably even stronger than in singles.
The Netherlands won 6 out of the 10 gold medals in the speed skating sport. For Ski cross, are you talking about snowboard cross in snowboarding? If yes, the leading country so far is USA, who has won 3 out of 8 gold medals to be won. France only has won one gold medal.
You are quite right. Doubles was limited to 2 pairs per NOC in 2012. So they are bringing singles into line with doubles. http://www.bwfbadminton.org/file_download.aspx?id=22692
here is the maximum quota for single's players in Olympics : OG 2004 : max 3 if they are in top 8 (China has 5 MS in top 8 at that moment) max 2 if in top 16 OG 2008 & OG 2012 : max 3 if in top 4 max 2 if in top 16 OG 2016 : max 2 if in top 16 to be fair, why BWF didn't set the regulation just like Double's department in OG 2012 ? max 2 if they are in top 8. well, it is easy for china to have 2 singles player to be in top 8. but for other countries likes indonesia, denmark, malaysia and etc, it is quite difficult, that's why the regulation for maximum 2 players still the same since 2004. as usual, BWF only targetting china's players