Do you think Momota had a choice? (it's a real question) I'd have thought NTT made the decision for him. Anyways, it's crazy that the WTF does not invite the current two-time world champion.
You are right; it was a decision made for him by NTT-East; and Momota, being Momota, fell in line. Apparently he was set on going and, given his stature as a player, I feel that he could have pressed the company a little harder into letting him participate (What are they going to do? Fire him for defying the recommendation?), ... but that would have gone against the grain. You are also right in calling the rule crazy. "The exception to that is current world champions will not get an automatic invitation (World Tour Regulations, Clause 8.2.3)..." Clause 8.2.3 reads: BWF will grant an invitation to reigning World Champions in a non Olympic year, and to the reigning Olympic Champions in the Olympic year... The premise here is that the reigning Olympic Champion is invited instead of the previous year's World Champion. This is usually fine as the World Tour Finals take place after the Olympics, and there is a freshly-minted Olympic Champion. However, the staging and scenario are markedly different in 2021. Actually, if the BWF is so inclined to follow clause 8.2.3, then maybe Chen Long should be sent an invitation, instead. That aside, BWF's decision on eligibility for the World Tour Finals was made public on October 11, i.e., after Momota's withdrawal from the Denmark Open. Had Momota been aware that such a critical decision would be made, there is a strong possibility that he would have persuaded NTT-East to let him attend. .... I believe.
Unless they rightfully consider 2020 not to be an Olympic year (after all it's next year) and grant a ticket to the latest WC (ie 2019). Surely there will be an exceptional rule being applied this year. My question is, will the BWF grant a ticket to KM knowing he cannot even choose the tournaments he enters at the moment and will the BWF risk to be deceived at the very last moment with a potential withdrawal KM's club could invoke? Covid daily cases increased in Danemark before KM's withdrawal, around the end of September, it actually slowed down a bit before his withdrawal (and others) was announced. Why wasn't it announced before but only at the last moment? Even PJB was surprised. If his club follows this stance regarding covid, KM shouldn't be in contact with anyone who went to Danemark for 14 days too, staff included. I wonder how will his club handle the next tournaments given covid is not disappearing anytime soon I'm afraid. Including in Japan. EDIT: I understand how KM might feel towards his club/employer after 2016, I understand the Japanese society and I know how normal it is in Japan not to go against the current but a little "rebellion" when needed wouldn't hurt when it comes to choosing where he (and his national coach) actually wants to compete and when it matters for his badminton career.
I really do not know what the premise behind "The exception to that is current world champions will not get an automatic invitation..." is. Whatever the case, according to this position, Momota will NOT be given a ticket to the Finals. The BTW has chosen to ignore Clause 8.2.3 because the World Championships could not be held this year. However, in the absence of regulations to deal with irregularities, such as the cancellation of certain tournaments, the usual option is to adhere to existing rules wherever possible, and then proceed to formally revise the provisions. Nevertheless, in this case, an abrupt decision was made not to invite the reigning world champions. According to the BWF's position, it is difficult to imagine any reigning world champions receiving an automatic ticket. PJB ⇒ Not only surprised, but barking mad, I imagine. No-one related to NTT-East went to Denmark, ... with the exception of Okuhara, who uses the company's premises to train with Sato Shoji. As she will be quarantining, this should not be an issue. Your point is certainly pertinent vis-a-vis future tournaments, though. I fully agree. Momota often mentions that he wants to become a player/person worthy of being World Rank No. 1, but in order to rise in stature, I feel that he needs to tweak at his philosophy a little more. However, grateful he may be to NTT-East for saving his career in 2016, 'gratitude to those who have supported him in difficult times' should not be his sole guiding principal. This stance may go down extremely well domestically, but it is going to hurt his international career.
Hi. I checked the BWF calendar for the remainder of the year: https://bwfbadminton.com/calendar/2020/remaining. According to the BWF calendar, all 300 level tournaments and above are cancelled for the remainder of the year. So it looks like the Denmark Open was the last tournament above the 300 level to be played this year? Are there any more major/prestigious badminton tournaments to be played this year? The calendar on the first page is not up to date and therefore is useless. I didn't really even know the Denmark Open was going to be played because we have had 7 months of cancelled tournaments - the last major/prestigious tournament before the Denmark Open was the All England and then everything was cancelled after the All England, until this Denmark Open. So after the Denmark Open, that's it for the rest of this year for major/prestigious tournaments at the 300 level or better, including the Thomas Cup, and other prestigious cups, etc?
DEN Open is the last top flight BWF World tour in 2020 calendar and will return on January 2021 for THA Open I, II + BWF World Tour Finals in Bangkok. https://bwfworldtour.bwfbadminton.c...-to-deliver-asian-leg-of-hsbc-bwf-world-tour/
Prospectus of both Yonex THA Open (12-17 January) & Toyota THA Open 2021 (19-24 January) was released by BWF yesterday : https://extranet.bwfbadminton.com/docs/events/4109/docs/YONEX Thailand Open and TOYOTA Thailand Open - Prospectus.pdf This two back to back S1000 tour will take place at Impact Arena, same venue with 2018 Thomas-Uber Cup Finals.
The conclusion of 2020 BWF Calendar : JANUARY PERODUA MALAYSIA Masters (S500) | 07-12 January DAIHATSU INDONESIA Masters (S500) | 14-19 January PRINCESS SIRIVANNAVARI THAILAND Masters (S300) | 21-26 January FEBRUARY THOMAS-UBER CUP QUALIFICATION (Asia, Africa, Europe, PanAm, Oceania) | 10-16 February OCEANIA Individual Championships, Ballarat (AUS) | 10-12 February ALL AFRICA Individual Championships, Cairo (EGY) | 14-16 February BARCELONA SPAIN Masters (S300) | 18-23 February MARCH ALL ENGLAND Open (S1000) | 11-15 March OCTOBER DANISA DENMARK Open (S750) | 13-18 October OTHERS : - INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE : Iran, Austria - INTERNATIONAL SERIES : Estonia, Sweden, Uganda, Jamaica, Portugal, Mexico - FUTURE SERIES : Iceland, Slovakia, Kenya, Peru, Latvia, Bulgaria What will happen next year? High possibility BWF would apply cluster tournament model, SGP is touted to be next cluster after THA according to this SCMP news : https://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kon...dminton-qualifiers-resume-singapore-set-stage
BWF needs to clarify about SCMP news, BAI has plans to stage IND Open in March meanwhile AE might be held behind closed doors next year.
If BWF is planning these three tournaments in Singapore in March (we don't have the official confirmation yet!) the India Open will be no problem. The India Open are planned for calendar week 13 from March 30th to April 4th. But what about the tournaments in Europe? March is the month with many major tournaments in Europe (Spain Masters, German Open, All England, Swiss Open). At the moment, however, I don't think that these tournaments can be played in Europe in March because of political bans. Maybe without supporters ? So we have to wait and see what the next few weeks will result. Stay healthy! Edit: I just found the information that the Swiss Open will be postponed from calendar week 11 to calendar week 9 (March 2nd - March 7th). But that would be the date of the Spain Masters ?! http://www.swissopen.com/de/aktuell...7/neues-datum-fuer-die-yonex-swiss-open-2021/
So many questions and overlapping about March 2021 calendar following several news that have been circulating lately, the latest one MAS will combine MAS Masters (S500) & MAS Open (S750, Tokyo 2020 qualification) as cluster tournament between March and April. Most important issue is the fate of those remaining tournaments which calculated into Tokyo 2020 Qualification period (part II) that will commence from 4 January-2 May 2021.
https://360badminton.com/news/lee-chong-wei-coming-back-on-the-court-at-the-yonex-mix-match/ lcw w/ a racket in hand. still cool even though it's an exhibition.
"Here's lee chong wei of Malaysia" in Gill's voice, can't count how many times this plays in my mind.
i'll definitely watch for a bit because i expect lcw will make it fun w/ his lcw style trick shot flair.