BWF to decide on new scoring system

Delegates from the international federation’s 189 member associations will gather in Thailand’s capital on May 18 on the eve of the BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals for an important meeting.

As has been widely publicised, the BWF Council will propose a number of rule changes. (Representational Imge)

The future of badminton and the prospect of change will be in focus at the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) meeting in Bangkok this weekend.

Delegates from the international federation’s 189 member associations will gather in Thailand’s capital on May 18 on the eve of the BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals. As has been widely publicised, the BWF Council will propose a number of rule changes, reports Xinhua news agency. The sport’s governing body will be seeking a mandate from its membership to amend the laws of the game.

Among the new proposals is an enhanced scoring system (based on five sets to 11), a reduction in on-court coaching, introducing timeouts for players and a service-law change with a fixed height for serves to improve the quality and consistency of service judging. The following day, the theme of change will again be the centre of the BWF meeting as delegates vote on the Council’s proposals.

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“This will be a very significant meeting with important matters to be decided. The overall aim of these proposals is to make badminton more exciting by creating more peaks in matches,” BWF President Poul-Erik Hoyer said.

“We want to increase the entertainment value for fans, while also shortening the length of matches. Timeouts will be a new feature and will mean players will have to rely on their own instincts and ideas more, rather than getting as much coaching as they do now.”