BWF allows the abuse of wildcard just for the sake of commercials. End of story. It's too obvious and you guys arguing upon LD's qualification which I have no doubt he can defend his title once again. It has nothing to do with qualification, attitude or skipping tourneys. It is BWF's main agenda to make sure badminton is not underrated sports anymore than it is. Therefore, do the math......No LD No Viewers. Because of this purpose, I voted no. Just my 2 cents .
Until now, i had agreed with BWF granting wild card to LD. It was a commercial decision, since LD vs LCW (in the final) is what everyone wanted to see. But my view is now changed. I think BWF's decision was short sighted. You can't rely on LD vs LCW forever. Younger players need opportunities. Just look at WS. With ZN and XXF retired, new and young players have emerged (from within or outside China). It was good for the WS discipline. If LD and LCW continue to dominate (for the next one year or two), it would not be good for the sport in the long run.
Out of the 64 MS entries, how many of them people will pay to watch? I bet no more than 10. Even thought LD is not ready, this is just an easy decision for the organizer to get wild card to LD.
Might as well try and milk it while it lasts. There are young players coming up yes, but show me a match that even comes close to the quality/excitement of watching LD V LCW match. A lot of matches it looks like players play 50% after watching LD/LCW constantly diving etc different class. The younger players can't come close to that. Even chen Long not in the same league as LCW just been trained to beat him solely.
Just look at Women's Singles. If XXF and ZN didn't retire when they did, LXR, WYH, WX, WSX, Saina, etc would not have emerged, and we would not have witnessed the rise of LXR and the epic battle and rivalry between LXR and WYH in 2012. If LD and LCW retire now (or sometime within this year), I am sure someone will come from behind and become the archrival of Chen Long.
Cmon guys the organizer needs stream of money that LD provided.. Commercial, tv, ticket sales, etc.. My point is, if you guys are the organizers you would've done the same stuff..
There is a big difference in what you are saying though. In WS I thought watching a XXF and ZN is similar in quality to watching LXR/WYH same same for me. But watching a LD v LCW match is like night and day when watching any other younger players v themselves.
So then why bother having qualifications? In fact screw it why bother with the matches lets just have a draw and submit it round by round to online polling. I don't agree with your argument. What you are arguing is a condemnation on the game of badminton. The idea that it is so weak that its appeal rests on the shoulders of a single player is I hope, untrue.
Blah blah right blah blah. Yes I hear a lot of about rights but, as the governing body doesn't the BWF have a responsibility to the integrity of the game? Don't they have a responsibility to the players ensure that all players compete on a level playing field where the rules for one are the same for all? There is no greater failure of responsibility on the part of any government or ruling body than the failure to adhere to its own standards and rules.
I agree, there must be one set of rules for all and a level playing feel. As LCW said, its not right that LD keeps on giving walkovers and dissappearing from matches and yet qualify - its bad enough thats no action taken against him but then to reward him - UNACCEPTABLE! Lets see what happens when LD do meet with CL as anticipated, I hoped after rewarding him so richly, action will be taken if the match become a fiasco.
BWF screwed up big time. Not that badminton was a very popular sport internationally; it has become worse with these decisions. Look at the WD Olympic issue. These players are still allowed to compete. However, it is still a great recreational sport.
Giving wild cards is not new even in the Olympics. So the moral question should not take precedence. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_card_(sports) "However, in Olympic and World Championship competitions in track and field and swimming, nations are automatically allowed to enter two competitors. Thus these are not wild cards. In some other Olympic sports, such as judo, archery and badminton, wild cards are in use, and they are granted by the respective sport federations. On rare occasions, a competitor who gained entry by wild card succeeds in winning a medal or championship: Kye Sun-Hui won gold in judo at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Ding Junhui won the 2005 China Open snooker championship, and in tennis, Goran Ivanišević won the 2001 Wimbledon Championships and Kim Clijsters won the 2009 US Open." So when BWF, the organiser of this "most prestigious badminton tournament"- the WC, gives a wild card to LD, it is within its rights as this is even allowed in the Olympics. This has been in the WC rules for a long time, not just specially for this WC. It is not a matter of "rewarding" an athlete who has been absent from the international scene for 8 months. LD has already won the Olympic and 4 consecutive WC titles before, so this is nothing new to him. It is his ego that tells him he has to prove to the world again despite being unseeded. In fact by accepting the wild card, it is incumbent upon LD to get back into acceptable shape in a relatively short time and give his best shot. His reputation is at stake and he knows his opposition is tough and eager. He has to beat teammate CL in order to meet his perennial opponent LCW, "if" both survived till the final. LCW is well-prepared but not LD. So LCW should have an excellent chance to take his first international title that has eluded him for years. But the question is whether LD could advance further in his not-so-well-prepared condition. He may fall by the wayside and LCW will be happier to meet CL whom he has defeated more times in the past. It is the best badminton action that we want to see before the WC champion is crowned. Can LD still be the best? So the "moral" question should not have been brought up to denounce BWF and LD. It has not been easy for LD but he managed to show up and won Round 1, which proves indirectly that he "deserves" to be part of this WC which he has won 4 times before as shown below: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BWF_World_Championships#Men.27s_singles Below is the list of the most successful players ever, with 3 or more gold medals: [TABLE="class: wikitable"] [TR] [TH]Rank [/TH] [TH]Player [/TH] [TH]MS [/TH] [TH]WS [/TH] [TH]MD [/TH] [TH]WD [/TH] [TH]XD [/TH] [TH]Total [/TH] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: center"]1 [/TD] [TD] Park Joo-bong [/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD]2 [/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD]3 [/TD] [TD]5 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: center"]2 [/TD] [TD] Gao Ling [/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD]3 [/TD] [TD]1 [/TD] [TD]4 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] Lin Dan [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] 4[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD]4 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] Cai Yun [/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] 4[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD]4 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] Fu Haifeng [/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] 4[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD]4 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: center"]3 [/TD] [TD] Ge Fei [/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD] 2 [/TD] [TD]1 [/TD] [TD]3 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] Guan Weizhen [/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] 3[/TD] [TD]3 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] Han Aiping [/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] 2[/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] 1[/TD] [TD]3 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] Huang Sui [/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] 3[/TD] [TD]3 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] Kim Dong-moon [/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] 1[/TD] [TD] 2 [/TD] [TD]3 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] Li Lingwei [/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] 2[/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] 1[/TD] [TD]3 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] Lin Ying [/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] 3[/TD] [TD]3 [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Sorry the Total column is in a mess.
For every example you can find of a wild card granted there are 10 where wild cards are not given. So are we defined by the exception or the rule? If I can show from history one example of a man getting away with murder, is it now fair game to murder? Useless link. So mention of it here is useful, how? So out of all the 'sports' in the Olympics you manage to dig up 3 that grant wild cards and the two that you have besides badminton are even more obscure than badminton. So perhaps the BWF should instead of aspiring to the great sports model themselves after the world 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' Association?
I am disagreeing with the fact that it was given to Lin Dan for basically slacking off. The proper and responsible use of the Wild Card would be if a player wasn't able to meet the requirements for some legitimate reason. For example if LD had a baby born during the day of one of the required events, had is appendix removed during another or, was diagnosed and treated for some serious illness or injury that made him unable to qualify. Hanging out in China playing pocket pool isn't a legit reason.
You are not LD, you are not BWF, you are not the Olympics nor Wiki, so don't try to place yourself above all of them.
If you get that from my post then you don't know English and you should stop pretending. There's no shame in failing to comprehend an non native language. I commend you for trying. But trying to continue your sharade will only result in you making a bigger fool of yourself.
..and the first casualty, unfortunately is : Sattawat Pongnairat of USA. He might have voted NO if he were a member of Badminton Central.
