I've never seen so many (3!) fault receiver calls by an umpire in a match, as in yesterday's SF of Hoon/Tan vs Cai/Chai at the Victor China Open yesterday. At 0:50 (after the 1st rally!), 13:46 and 33:20. Is the umpire correct in her calls? Imho, Hoon/Tan were just doing the split step and the feet haven't even come off the ground. What do you think? [video=youtube;VTp9xgaRz54]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTp9xgaRz54#t=50[/video]
3:46 17:20 39:00 All 3 times on Hoon. Poor guy... he's already weight challenged, now he's not even allowed to split step... [video=youtube;XG_bdhGK0IM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG_bdhGK0IM&list=PLIxA99cXcK2EU7wZVRAl0N57 gRcTKxBrd[/video]
Oh right... she's from America, where you must know her. Never before was I called on this until visiting another club by one particular player when he served. I don't know how he was able to tell my feet had shifted when he's supposed to be concentrating on his serve.
screen grab from the 3m46 one, way after the shuttle has been delivered. His right foot had stationary contact and his left foot he turned his heel on the spot. For this to happen the exact centre of the pivot of the heel is stationary on the ground so no fault even at this late stage. this is the 17m20 one. He rolled over towards his ankle as delivery happened. Some point must have stayed stationary again on the pivot so no fault Last one(39m) server is hiding the shuttle from our view completely so no way of telling. Although looks like he pulled his whole left foot back(no part of left remained stationary) in that one so depending on the timing of the delivery which we can't see maybe could be fault.(but I doubt it)
Just to cover my bases.. Of course we can't see if he is just outright standing on the service court boundary (white) line to receive. If he is doing that then fault receiver all 3.
@craigandy @CantSmashThis Didn't realize there's a side view slow mo of the third one at 39:17. So obvious from that one that this ump has a different sense of time than normal people. Call it once if you're unsure is ok, but to call it wrong three times is a little bit excessive... Fortunate it didn't cost the players the game...
Oh yeah just had a look at the slow mo. pause/play/pause/play back again definately no fault, at least one part of both feet remained stationary untill delivery was complete. Can't have been this Rule and he wasn't standing on the line...... Maybe he was pulling faces and shouting something??
Yeah, right? I wonder if the upcoming player challenge system can include umpire-called faults like this or like hitting over the net on a net kill...
There's a slomo on the second one,too. Imho, the calls are ridiculous. Rushing is of course a big concern in todays badminton, as the first 3 strokes are so important nowadays. But making such close (and imho bad!!) calls can't really be the solution...
Can't the players complain about such downright stupid decisions to the referee? Even if its done after the match, is there any recourse for the players in such situations?
One remark: If she thinks his move in these scenes is against the rules (which i don't think!), then she shall call him EVERY time, because he's doing the exact same thing at EVERY return...
Well, if you look closely that is not entirely true. In the first example he rotates his left foot on his heel during servers delivery. In the second example he roles over towards his ankle on the pad just below the small toe on the left foot In the last example he skids his whole foot flat backwards. Even in these 3 examples alone he does a different thing every time. Given that I think it is this left foot movement that I believe the umpire must be questioning.
ok, i've gone through 2 and 3 again, in slomo, frame by frame. he always has some initial movement before the opponent's stroke, that's probably what she calls him for. but i don't believe it's against the rules. i think he leaves a part of his foot stationary in both scenes. anyway, we can watch 100 replays, she has to take a decision at real time. for her, it might look like a small step, therefore (contrary to my first opinion) i somehow understand her calls (though i still think they're not correct...). as a sidenote: how good would this guy be if he was in better shape...
@CantSmashThis would be interesting to hear your 2 cents as an umpire, how you would have called this. Seems a bit strange that these calls were made, is there backroom disscusions between umpires/bwf (pre games) where reviews have been made which outlines things to watch out for with certain players who have been riding the line with rules previously?(maybe from payer complaints) Seems like they were trying to teach him a lesson or something.