|
Monday, 19 December 2005 |
Badminton rule changes don't worry China much
Radical rule
changes in the
sport of badminton have done little to loosen China's grip as local
players swept the first international competition to use the
experimental new system in Yiyan at the weekend.
Even after notching victories in all five events at the Saiqi
Invitational World Cup, however, the Chinese had very little good to
say about the changes in scoring.
Under the new system under trial, points are no longer awarded just to
the server and games are played best of three up to 21 points rather
than 15 points as before (11 in women's singles).
"The 21 point game is not as nice to watch as the 15 point
game because both sides emphasise attack, leading to fewer rallies,"
said world number one Lin Dan after his 21-13 21-11 win over Thailand's
Boonsak Ponsana in the men's final yesterday in the central Chinese
city.
"Before, you could use wiping away your sweat or getting a
drink as a break to pull yourself together, but under the rules, there
are no rests until after 11 points, it's not too good," Lin Dan was
quoted as saying by the news website www.sina.com.
But supporters of the changes say the new scoring system will
speed up the game and give it more flow, making it more attractive to
television and live audiences.
China's head coach Li Yongbo said he supported reforming
badminton to revive flagging interest in the sport, but thought the
scoring changes were rash.
"I have expressed criticism to the International Badminton
Federation, mostly that some of their decisions were too slapdash, they
were not based on enough research," Li Yongbo was quoted as saying by
the China Sports Daily.
But China's powerful mixed doubles pairing of Xie Zhongbo and
Zhang Yawen said the rules played to their advantage in their 21-19
21-10 win over Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir of Indonesia, which
avenged their loss to the Indonesians in the final of August's world
championships.
"We feel comfortable playing this new rally point system,"
Zhang Yawen was quoted as saying on the International Badminton
Federation's website.
"I'm short but fast and he (Xie) is tall and great at attack. I think it's this combination that helped us succeed."
A final decision on whether to permanently keep the rule changes will be made in May 2006.
Comment on this article
Leave your comments (Show/Hide Form)
Other Visitors Comments
There are no comments currently....
|
|
Last Updated ( Thursday, 22 December 2005 )
|
Other Team Sports 
