CHINA LEAGUE 2011 – Season mapped out

The China Super Badminton League is set to begin and at Badzine, we have produced an English version of the schedule, which will be keeping some of the world’s top […]

Cai Yun facing down Fu Haifeng in 2010 China Badminton League © China Foto Press

The China Super Badminton League is set to begin and at Badzine, we have produced an English version of the schedule, which will be keeping some of the world’s top shuttlers busy for the next 2-3 months.

By Ooi Ee Lyn, Badzine Correspondent

The China League will be kicking off on the 12th of February, which happens to fall on the tenth day of the Chinese New Year. A great effort was placed into the arranging of matches in this new season. An arrangement has been made so that this time, whenever possible, the teams will only have to play one match each week, avoiding the hassles players went through last year of having to travel through provinces every few days.

The Format:

The China Badminton League is a mixed team event, like the Sudirman Cup. It is divided into two round-robin stages and then a final elimination stage. In the round-robins, each of the eight participating clubs will be playing against every other club twice, once on their home courts, and the other on their opponent’s. The clubs will be placed first to eight according to points accumulated by the end of this stage.

Next, in the elimination stage, the first four ranking teams in the round-robins will be placed in a group, equalling to the semi-final, with the bottom four placed in another group, fighting for a better placing from among fifth to eighth spot. Like in the round-robins, the semi-finalists will have to play twice, once in each club’s home courts. An extra round will be played if the teams end up with a tie.

There are a few unique rules in the China League:

1.          Teams placed fourth and fifth at the end of the round-robins will have to fight in a PK round where the winner proceeds as the fourth team, joining the semi-final match, while the loser falls to the fifth-to-eighth placing group.

2.          The first-placing team in the round-robins will pick a semi-final opponent from either the third or fourth placing team. While the winners proceed into the finals, the defeated team with a higher placing in the round-robins will be placed third, and the lower one placed fourth. Aside from that, the seventh-placing team in the round-robins will also pick an opponent from the teams placed fifth and sixth. The four teams in this group will only play one elimination match each. The two winning teams will be placed fifth and sixth according to their placing in the round-robins, and the defeated teams placed seventh and eighth under the same rule.

3.          The team placed eighth at the end of the league will play a match against the champion of the National A-Grade League, where the winner earns a chance to play in the coming China League with the loser dropping-out.

As the league was seen as conflicting with the All England Championships (March 8th – 13th) and the Badminton Asia Championships (April 19th – 24th), where top players in the league will be participating, the league has made way by having a break during the weeks in question to prevent schedule clashes.

The date of start of the elimination stage has yet to be confirmed, as one of the venues, in Qingdao, will be unavailable for use during the final preparations for the Sudirman Cup in May.

First Cycle Club Club Venue
12th Feb 1st Round Qingdao Beer (1) vs. Shanghai Zwick (8) Shandong, Qingdao
Wuhan Autocity (7) vs. Hunan Xiangcai Securities (2) Wuhan, Hubei
Bayi Dongling Refinery (3) vs. Guangzhou Yueyu (6) Guangzhou Sports School
Zhejiang Yinjiang (5) vs. Jiangsu Yonex (4) Wenzhou, Zhejiang
17th Feb 2nd Round Qingdao (1) vs. Wuhan (7) Shandong, Qingdao
Guangzhou (6) vs. Shanghai (8) Tianhe, Guangzhou
Zhejiang (5) vs. Hunan (2) Wenzhou, Zhejiang
Jiangsu (4) vs. Bayi (3) Yancheng, Jiangsu
19th Feb 3rd Round Qingdao (1) vs. Guangzhou (6) Shandong, Qingdao
Wuhan (7) vs. Zhejiang (5) Wuhan, Hubei
Shanghai (8) vs. Jiangsu (4) Minhang, Shanghai
Bayi (3) vs. Hunan (2) Guangzhou Sports School
26th Feb 4th Round Zhejiang (5) vs. Qingdao (1) Wenzhou, Zhejiang
Jiangsu (4) vs. Guangzhou (6) Binhai, Jiangsu
Bayi (3) vs. Wuhan (7) Guangzhou Sports School
Shanghai (8) vs. Hunan (2) Minhang, Shanghai
3rd March 5th Round Qingdao (1) vs. Jiangsu (4) Shandong, Qingdao
Zhejiang (5) vs. Bayi (3) Wenzhou, Zhejiang
Guangzhou (6) vs. Hunan (2) Tianhe, Guangzhou
Shanghai (8) vs. Wuhan (7) Minhang, Shanghai
5th March 6th Round Qingdao (1) vs. Bayi (3) Shandong, Qingdao
Jiangsu (4) vs. Hunan (2) Danyang, Jiangsu
Shanghai (8) vs. Zhejiang (5) Minhang, Shanghai
Guangzhou (6) vs. Wuhan (7) Tianhe, Guangzhou
17th March 7th Round Hunan (2) vs. Qingdao (1) Changsha, Hunan
Bayi (3) vs. Shanghai (8) Guangzhou Sports School
Jiangsu (4) vs. Wuhan (7) Kunshan, Jiangsu
Guangzhou (6) vs. Zhejiang (5) Tianhe, Guangzhou
Second Cycle Club Club Venue
19th March 1st Round Shanghai (8) vs. Qingdao (1) Minhang, Shanghai
Hunan (2) vs. Wuhan (7) Changsha, Hunan
Guangzhou (6) vs. Bayi (3) Tianhe, Guangzhou
Jiangsu (4) vs. Zhejiang (5) Kunshan, Jiangsu
26th March 2nd Round Wuhan (7) vs. Qingdao (1) Xiangyang, Hubei
Shanghai (8) vs. Guangzhou (6) Minhang, Shanghai
Hunan (2) vs. Zhejiang (5) Changsha, Hunan
Bayi (3) vs. Jiangsu (4) Guangzhou Sports School
2nd April 3rd Round Guangzhou (6) vs. Qingdao (1) Tianhe, Guangzhou
Zhejiang (5) vs. Wuhan (7) Anji, Zhejiang
Jiangsu (4) vs. Shanghai (8) Kunshan, Jiangsu
Hunan (2) vs. Bayi (3) Changsha, Hunan
9th April 4th Round Qingdao (1) vs. Zhejiang (5) Shandong, Qingdao
Guangzhou (6) vs. Jiangsu (4) Huizhou, Guangdong
Wuhan (7) vs. Bayi (3) Xiangyang, Hubei
Hunan (2) vs. Shanghai (8) Changsha, Hunan
16th April 5th Round Jiangsu (4) vs. Qingdao (1) Dafeng, Jiangsu
Bayi (3) vs. Zhejiang (5) Guangzhou Sports School
Hunan (2) vs. Guangzhou (6) Changsha, Hunan
Wuhan (7) vs. Shanghai (8) Wuhan, Hubei
28th April 6th Round Bayi (3) vs. Qingdao (1) Guangzhou Sports School
Hunan (2) vs. Jiangsu (4) Changsha, Hunan
Zhejiang (5) vs. Shanghai (8) Anji, Zhejiang
Wuhan (7) vs. Guangzhou (6) Huangshi, Hubei
30th April 7th Round Qingdao (1) vs. Hunan (2) Shandong, Qingdao
Shanghai (8) vs. Bayi (3) Minhang, Shanghai
Wuhan (7) vs. Jiangsu (4) Wuhan, Hubei
Zhejiang (5) vs. Guangzhou (6) Hangzhou, Zhejiang

For team rosters see this list published previously on Badzine

About Ee-Lyn Ooi