BWF Calendar 2020

https://360badminton.com/news/japan-pulls-out-15-players-including-momota-from-the-denmark-open/

15 of 23 players from Japan pulled out the Denmark Open.
"According to Kyodo News, the players’ clubs such as NTTEAST, TONAMI, Saishunkan Pharmaceutical Company and so on put in a request for the players to skip going to Europe where the Covid-19 situation was a matter of concern."

Ok , I know the system in Japan , the player's clubs (concerns) pay for the players and they say due to Corona it's to dangerous for the players to go to Denmark. But let's have a look to the eight players from Japan still playing in Denmark. They are all fighting for a place in the World Tour Final.
MS: Kenta Nishimota (Team Tonami) is Nr. 9 in the ranking at the moment and he is fighting for the only Japanes place in the World Tour Final cause one place is going to the World Champion Momota.
Other members from Team Tonami are withdrawn from Denmark Open.
WS: Nozomi Okuhara is playing. She is Nr.12 in the World Tour Ranking and is fighting to go to the best 8.
WD: All three WD from Japan are still playing in Denmark . Matsumota/Nagahare got there place cause of beeing Worldchampion. The other two are fighting for one place. For example Matsuyama/Shida (Team Saichunkan) are playing. Others from team Saichunkan (for example Akane Yamaguchi) withdrawn.
So it is to dangerous for Yamaguchi to play cause of Covid and for the same company it's not dangerous for Matsuyama/Shida to play ???
Sorry , in my eye's this is killing Badminton. BWF have to look to other way's to play the tournament's and should change the system.

BTW - There are more Covid-Cases in Japan than in Denmark. So I think that Japanese players should also withdrawn the Olympics. ;-)

 

I don't think anyone will get a WTF wild card in January next year. Since this year there is no BWC and the winners of WBC 2019 have already exercised their rights at WTF 2019. It will be very unfair to other players.

If my logic is correct, the three WDs Japan are purely fighting for WTF tickets because currently FukuHiro 9, MatsuShida 10, and MatsuNaga 25.

 

I don't think Momota will take the ticket as World Champion. The world champion 2018 will be counted on WTF 2018 's race, and the 2018's race was done.

 

Yes, Japan has seen more COVID-19 infections than Denmark, but the current spike in cases in Europe probably caused some concern. Moreover, in the absence of 'teleportation' there are risks involved in travelling, full stop. I realise that this applies to all participants, but Japan is known as being fairly adverse to risk-taking.

Whatever the case, the Nippon Badminton Association (NBA), which had been enthusiastic about sending the players to Denmark, must have been extremely hard-hit by the abrupt decision of the more established corporate teams (i.e., NTT-East, Nihon Unisys, and Tonami)' to withdraw the players. The Association is involved in a power struggle that it is losing.

As for Yamaguchi's withdrawal: As mentioned by @Cunning Linguist on the Badminton in Japan thread, Yamaguchi suffers from asthma, and is, therefore, in a higher risk bracket. As Shida/Matsuyama are participating in the Denmark Open, it is obvious that Saishunkan has not ordered a blanket withdrawal.

 

Hmmm... Momoto is still reigning World Champion from 2019 and 2020 season of the Worldtour is not a Olympic year , so maybe - I don't know - he will be invited.

 

OK , thx for the information . I didn't recognize that Yamaguchi have problems with Asthma. You are absolutely right. The NBA lost the fight against the corporate teams. And so not only the NBA lost , also the Badminton Sport loose again.
I really don't know why the NBA withdrawn now just after the draw and one week before the tournament "cause of the spreading of Corona" in these days. The cases of Corona in Denmark are now less than one or two weeks ago. So it remains very unfair to the other athletes to withdraw after the draw.

 

Dear All
It is indeed challenging times, not only for badminton, but for the whole world.
As usual I follow the discussions in this forum, some more interesting than others.
Many are saying, BWF is not able to solve the issues, why this and why that.
Please remember BWF is the members. The members being the National associations
Please remember players have to enter tournaments through their National Associations.
Badminton is not structured like Tennis with a players association.
BWF is the facilitator for the views and wishes of the members.
I am sure LOTS of negotiations goes on behind the scene to solve and come up with solutions acceptable to the members.
Denmark Open starts next week and I honestly think Badminton Denmark should be commented for hosting this event, putting up the prize money, taking all precautions possible to create a safe environment, kickstarting badminton, accepting whatever entries and leaving it up to the players who wants to participate.
I will be surprised if a majority of followers of badminton chose not to follow the event.
Arriving to Odense on Saturday and first thing first is the mandatory test, then isolation until the result is known.
Have a great day

 

understood. however, each nat'l assoc. has no obligation towards the welfare or survival of any other nat'l assoc. due to the lack of a 'league' obligation. the big rich teams can do what they want, when they want. to a degree they can hold bwf —and the sport— hostage... and in the past ibf days (pre bwf), they have.

and that is a major problem. to run an individual sport under a quasi team framework makes no sense if there is no league to which the 'teams' are equal stakeholders. the best analogy i can think of is there are a bunch of independent badminton armies around the world which own a bunch of soldiers. some armies have big gov't budgets, some are volunteer armies. every army exists for the purpose of its own victories and survival, and bwf is about effective as the 'u.n.' —a quasi-governing body where the rich countries still do as they please.

and that is also a major problem. are they the governing body or merely a facilitator? being merely a facilitator would explain the lack of timely decision making, which gives the appearance of no leadership. under a league system of equal stakeholders bwf, as the governing body, would have the power to make timely decisions based on what the majority has voted for.

currently badminton is not functioning as a professional individual sport or a professional team sport. they need to pick one. in either case the athletes must have freedom of movement. a governing body or facilitator has no right to give ownership of an athlete to any entity. for reference re-examine the badminton korea assoc. stranglehold on their players post rio-2016. bwf enabled that situation 100%. nor was that situation unique.

badminton has been around for how long? and they still can't operate like all the other professional team or individual sports? the global nature of badminton is not the problem. just ask tennis, golf, mma... hell, ask any sport.

whether to play or not to play is actually not the biggest problem. the root problem is uncertainty. the current system of how our greatest sport on earth is currently run has created this uncertainty. hope, cancel. try again, cancel. try again, hope players come... uncertainty never leads to long term success.

i'm sure every badminton fan is loving badminton denmark right now.

i can't speak for anyone else but my constant complaining is rooted in 45+ years of loving and living for badminton. it's a love-hate / happy for the action-sad for the administration relationship.

we all know it's not really up to the soldiers in all cases. they have their orders. some generals are more strict than others.

if it weren't for the extra quarantine requirements for non-participants i'd be there. i envy everyone inside odense idrætspark. i'd clean the trash cans if i could...

 

Damn no Japanese players afterall

 

I posted the same message on the Badminton in Japan thread, but let me repeat it here, too.

The six Bird Japan members remaining on the NBA's list of participants, i.e., Nishimoto, Okuhara, Fukushima/Hirota, and Nagahara/Matsumoto, departed from Narita Airport this morning. They were accompanied by Park Joo Bong, Nakashima Kei, Choi Sangbeom, and Nakanishi Yosuke.

Park Joo Bong commented that the decision had been a difficult one, but in order for the players to experience an international tournament and regain their match fitness, it was decided to participate, even with a depleted group.

As far as I am concerned, even this smaller-sized representation from Japan is meaningful, and I hope that the players add spice to the tournament.

 

^-^ So, we need a thread for Denmark Open 2020, someone please do it.

 

As he is currently placed at No. 30 on HSBC Race to Guangzhou Ranking, this interpretation renders it close to impossible for Momota to qualify. I wonder whether he is regretting that decision not to participate in the Denmark Open.

 

I know what you mean. But, given the lack of tournaments this year, 'lucrative' suddenly looks quite attractive.

Regarding Momota, ... one of Momota's aims, I believe, is to render badminton a mainstream (rather than 'minor') sport in Japan. A gold at Tokyo would, of course help, but, for him, it is not the 'be all and end all'. Momota has notably repeated that he will do his utmost in every tournament that he is entered for and, if the Olympics feature at the end of the road, then that is all to the good. Although he has become more vocal about winning an Olympic medal since his accident earlier this year, I think that consecutive wins at renowned tournaments also count for quite a lot.

 

Copy pasted from BWF official FB page:

The ongoing COVID-19 restrictions and uncertainty left BWF, Badminton New Zealand and tournament organisers no choice but to cancel the BARFOOT & THOMPSON BWF World Junior Championships 2020.

BWF appreciates that some junior players will turn 19 years old in 2021 and unfortunately miss out on a BWF World Junior Championships experience. We can only encourage them to continue to develop their talent as badminton athletes and start to enter open international events.

We look forward to a more consistent junior international badminton calendar in 2021 and the next BWF World Junior Championships in China in October 2021.


-> NZ is one of the most safest countries rn, so what triggered this decision ? I think some things could have been managed so that WJC would have taken place.

Or was it because they thought withdrawals (like what happened in DO) would take place in WJC which will lower the standard of the tournament ?

 

isn't the main reason they are the safest due to the lack of incoming visitors?

i can't imagine the additional costs to make it safe for everybody are worth it for a junior tourney. and yes, you also have to contend with parents not wanting to risk their kids health thereby wreaking havoc on player attendance.