You cannot see Viktor Axelsen rages anymore because he’s a grown man now . I remember he throws his racquet away when he lost to Lee Chong Wei in one of the match . Viktor Axelsen maybe can only take 1 gold only on Olympics .
Thank you for writing this! Takes me back to a month ago where we were one big IBF family haha wish I could rewind minus all the work and lack of sleep 😀
Hope to see you agaiiiiin!
Thank you for writing this article! As Indonesian badminton fan, ofc I’m really sad that I can’t watch the matches live, but seeing you people truly enjoy yourselves in Bali makes me feel warm and happy. I hope that Indonesia will be able to hold the event again in even higher standard, and hopefully, us fans can experience it too!
Sampai jumpa tahun depan!
Great article. Please use BWF instead of IBF. The name was changed 15 years ago, in 2006. Probably “new government’s restriction” should be “government’s new restriction”, and “danse” -> “dance”.
In addition, badzine.net is not mobile friendly.
You are correct about the BWF formerly having been the IBF but in this article IBF is an abbreviation of Indonesia Badminton Festival. Thank you for spotting the other issues. Those corrections have been made 🙂
maybe should use Indonesian system, where they held few competitions in each year called National Circuits. and then few most successful ones invited to the national center to battle it out again.
Reading this article makes me miss the IBF event so much. Thank you for writing this, Raphael. IBF was indeed a great event although it missed the voices of the fans. I also felt bad for some players that were injured during the events (hope they recover soon). As a badminton fan, I was so happy that I could see the players around the world gathered and having fun together, which is rare to see in previous tournaments. And not only the players, but also the coaches, staff, the photographers, the athlete’s family (Vega and Gideon Junior surely got lots of love from the fans). Oh, and I also want to appreciate the badmintonphoto for the beautiful photos! you guys have done a great job. It seems so interesting to work in this field haha. I am wondering if someday I could do this too :D. Anyways, well done Raphael, Erika, and all the staff. Stay healthy, stay safe, and see you next yearrrr
it’s a very heartwarming writing. I felt like I was there too, enjoying my few weeks in the bubble with you guys. thank you for making us proud that Indonesia especially Bali has made you feel comfortable in the midst of conditions that are still not safe due to the pandemic.
I can feel the story and the event from the heart. Well written and beautiful. So proud as an Indonesian and as badminton lover. Congratulation Raphael.
Well done to all parties who have made the event successful.
Thank you Raphael for taking time to write this. That was a new experience for us also badminton lovers in Indonesia. To PBSI and BWF thank you for making this possible. We are happy to learn that all participants were happy during these tournaments and have enjoyed their time in Bali.
Hello Raphael, thank you for your appreciation and we are happy that you can enjoy the event.
I just want to note you a typo in the writing that that is not Cecak Danse, but it is Kecak Dance.
The dance is based on the story of the Ramayana and is traditionally performed in temples and villages across Bali.
Also known as the Ramayana monkey chant, the performance depicts a battle from chant, in which the monkey-like Vanaras, led by Hanuman, help Prince Rama fight the evil King Ravana. Kecak has roots in sanghyang, a trance-inducing exorcism dance. (Wikipedia).
Hi Raphaël! Wow…I love your story. I know this from link on Rudy’s Twitter. Badminton in Indonesia in this year I think it’s very different from the last before like in Istora Senayan. Corona change everything
I hope you enjoyed very much when you were in Bali yesterday.
The spirit of Indonesian about badminton so crazy, right?
Thank you Raphael for beautiful writing, to all organizer (PBSI, BWF, Bali and Indonesian Govenrment) , all participant (athletes, media, judges, coaches, therapist, etc) and also hotel staff, security, local authority and sponsor for make one of the memorable event (not only for the participant in Bali but also for us Badminton Lovers) “Indonesia Badminton Festival” happen in Bali with safe and successully in the middle of this crazy pandemics
The rule is “Not using one’s best efforts to win a match”. Throwing the 2nd game in this case is the best strategy i.e. best effort. Best effort may include playing with less intensity to save energy. I would probably change “match” to “tournament”. In a group match,if you are already qualified, it can make sense to use less “effort”, even if you loose.
Hi Don! Thank you so much for your work. Will you be keeping track of the tournament results this year? It is especially interesting to watch the results of the national championships. As far as I know, despite covid-19, some countries have already hosted national championships.
Indeed he is best in business but kento will always remain the more result oriented player in these scenario when specially the Result really does matter, he is the one who can single-handedly destroy any of the top players. his composure, game reading skill and confidence are the key consideration which needs to met if anyone want to level him.
whereasif talk specially about double players from india then Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag shetty are 2 Key potential players who can really change the Indian Badminton history in doubles on Olympic platform provided they are groomed mentally strong with perfect mutual coordination. we wish them to see on podium soon with Indian flag.
Thanks for the post. The links to the video force the use of the flash plugin. This is because of the parameter
rel=”shadowbox[sbpost-73864];player=swf;width=640;height=385;” in the link. I suggest removing this parameter as flash is depreciated and most people will not have it installed and/or be unable to install it. See https://9to5mac.com/2017/07/25/adobe-flash-dead/
The last information from today is that the Swiss Open is cancelled. The Swiss Federal Council has today forbidden events with more than 100 people involved.
Now a much bigger event, the German Open has been cancelled. Do you think the BWF should either try to fit in a few more tournaments within the qualifying period to make up for the lost chances to earn points or (if the IOC doesn’t object) extend the qualifying period so that some of the upcoming tournaments can be used to gain points?
I have to say I am very disappointed in this fiasco. Time and time again I see Korean sports tainted by problematic governing bodies. Table Tennis, badminton soccer…the list goes on and on. Sad thing is things will most likely not change because the top brass is always busy filling their pockets.
Wishing all the best for Seo – he was a delight to see play.
Is it not a conflict of interest that National coach Ahn is also coach of a pro team? Or is there a provision that precludes a conflict? Are there other national coaches that also doubles as a pro-league coach? Clearly it would not be logical to penalize Chae and Choi who have worked so hard to earn their qualifications. Perhaps there’s a backdoor deal to punish, then to acquiesce at the appeal.
Clearly there is no provision. I would say it has become increasingly common for national team coaches to not hold domestic team posts as well but there have still been some. I believe the coaches in 2017 were all employed only by the BKA with the exception of Jung Jae Sung and then his replacement Kim Sang Soo. At present, in addition to Ahn, Kim Sang Soo and Jang Young Soo are both also employed as coaches for pro teams. As for Head Coaches, Kim Joong Soo was the Hwasun County team Head Coach for several years while at the helm of the national team but by 2007, he was working only for the BKA. Sung Han Kook started off with two jobs but within a few months of becoming national team Head Coach, he was down to one. Lee Deuk Choon had spent several years as a BKA employee coaching the junior team before he was hired for the national team and he did not have another post at the time and the same was true for Kang Kyung Jin. So basically, from 2007 through 2018, there was almost always a Head Coach who was employed solely by the national team.
I think the Koreans and Japanese BAs have very high professional and moral benchmark. They are willing to forgo the Olympic medals rather than compromise a wrong doing. It’s part of their culture too.
It’s a good question. In a way, there is a precedent with Lee Dong Keun, who was still a member of the national team when his name was entered for the Malaysia Masters. By the time the draw was done, Lee had withdrawn from the 2020 national team tryouts and yet he still showed up to play in Kuala Lumpur as an independent. This is different in several ways, of course. Lee did not have to partner an existing national team player, for one thing. He also had not broken any BKA rules, that we know of. Also, travelling to KL without national team footing the bill is one thing but travelling to Birmingham and Mülheim is a different story. On the other hand, there is the question of who will be responsible for paying the fines.
I don’t think the national team would be willing to ruin things for Chae Yu Jung and Choi Sol Gyu. I suppose he might pay, after all Olympic Qualification is on the line. I think his XD spot is more or less cemented, it’s MD where he might have to get more points.
Even in MD, it is a near certainty. Choi/Seo have nearly 60,000 points. To not be invited, they would have to be passed by at least 7 pairs, including Ivanov/Sozonov – who are currently 21,000 points behind even after 18 tournaments – and likely also by Maas/Tabeling, who are 26,000 points behind. I’m not sure we have ever had a ranking list where 13 pairs were up over 60,000 points.
Korea prefer to play the younger pair Kim Won Ho, Na Sung Seung and Wang Chan in that team championships.
Don Hearn
Posted February 17, 2020 at 10:25 AM
I think missing that event was obvious for the BKA. They never send players who are not on the national team to ‘team’ events like that. The only exception was Lee Hyun Il at the Asian Games in 2014. You’ll never see Kim/Lee or Ko/Shin at such an event and the same obviously goes for Seo after he’s been kicked out of the national training centre. More interestingly, Seo has not been withdrawn from the German Open or All England and he is on the list for the India Open. True, the names for the India Open might have been sent in before the decision on February 4th and the BKA might just have forgotten to withdraw. On the other hand, they might be playing it safe in case Seo wins an appeal. The most incredible would be if they are planning to allow Seo to travel at his own expense, compete as an independent, but still play with his national team partners, with whom he has not been able to train. That last option would indeed be a first.
Hi
I want to know if a guide had to be present the whole time since u travelled with a Canadian passport
I’m travelling for the same tournament with british passport and i want to know how the visa application worked out and if a guide is compulsory
Interesting statistics. Just a small correction, Lin Dan won the Malaysia Open for the first time in his career in 2017, not 2019 as written in the article. He was 33 years old at that time.
Please, do respect the man and the legend. Have you no memory? Shame on you! Obviously. not only he deserves to get any exemption allowed but he should also be, in futuresm formerly invited as a wild card by BWF… as happens in many many sports. It is, primerly, a questions of respect all the GAOT´s out there that keep doing for their sport… Kelly Slater, 48 years old, 11 WC of surfing is ione of the examples.
As much as I am a fan of LD, I do not agree with that. That’s not how sports works; past glories cannot be used to give an unfair advantage to a player. However, in this case I do find the rules to be a bit ridiculous and while he hasn’t won enough points to qualify for the WTF, they should count towards his World Ranking and Olympic Qualification.
Is he a ‘Top Committed Player’? He has been outside of the top 10 for a significant amount of time and out of the top 15 for a considerable period as well.
Yes. The rule is as follows: “2.1. Players occupying the top 15 places in Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles, and the top 10 places in Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles of the World Ranking as at the third week of November the year before the relevant BWF Sanctioned Tournaments (“Top Committed Players”) will be required to play in the following Tournaments occurring in the full Calendar year”. Lin Dan was ranked 13th in the world throughout November 2018.
Neel Lin dan was ranked #189 before was chosen as a wild card to play in the 2013 WC which he won the title. He got ranking points result of that win as a very poorly ranked player
I’m not sure I understand the question. Do you mean why do they play more than 4? Or do you mean why are they not allowed to play more than 4?
To answer the first question, they do play more than 4 so that they can earn more ranking points toward either the Olympics or the World Tour Finals. Prior to 2018, this was irrelevant, since tournaments this small – Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold – didn’t help players qualify for the Superseries Finals. Only the 12 Superseries events counted. Unlike the world rankings, the qualification for the finals is not based only on a player’s top 10 tournament results, so playing 19 tournaments is much better than playing 14, while for the world rankings, the benefit is far less.
As for the second question, presumably, the BWF is trying to discourage top-ranked players from entering a lot of Super 300 events and skipping Super 500 events. Players might decide that winning a Super 300 (7000 points) is easier than reaching a Super 500 semi-final (6420 points). They are trying to force the players to play the highest-profile events by imposing a penalty on skipping them. They are still allowed to play an unlimited number of Super 300 tournaments, as long as they play all the Super 500, 750, and 1000 events. Lin Dan skipped the Malaysia Masters and the India Open, which Chan/Goh also missed, so that is why they were subjected to the penalty.
Great to see Badzine back! What do you think of the clearly incorrect call in the MS final on the last point. I was supporting LCY but this was extremely disappointing. What should the BWF do?
Thanks. It’s good to be back. The BWF cannot do anything in this particular case. There is nothing in the rule book that allows for video review of any umpire’s call with the exception of an umpire overruling a line judge’s call. Many people have expressed the wish for such a review system for calls at the net and for service faults. Players also sometimes implore the umpire to look at the big screen when they are insisting a fault should or should not have been called regarding a shuttle hitting an opponent on its way out the back. Obviously, for the BWF to implement all of these things fairly, more attention and investment would have to be made in video equipment for various angles. As it stands now, certain faults clearly show up on camera and many are not captured. Also, unlike the Hawkeye system, which exists on the main court(s) whether there is a live broadcast happening or not, the video replays we see on Youtube are caught only by the cameras of commercial broadcasters.
In this case, the umpire had to make a split-second decision, that we can analyse only with more time and with the very expensive camera setup that happened to be trained on the net on this court. I’ve seen a few incorrect calls by umpires in the past and also an amazing number of correct ones. I don’t remember seeing this type of fault on championship point, however.
I am Amartya Kunta from India. I am traveling to Japan along with my father Ravinder Kunta who is on his business trip.
I wish to practice and get trained in badminton during this period in Tokyo.
Could someone help me in this regard.
Thanks for you help in advance.
Amartya.
“A player doesn’t ever win silver; he/she loses out on gold.” A very questionable statement. When opponents are evenly matched or when one is leading, only to lose out, it could be said that they “lost” the gold. But consider: did LCW really “lose” the gold in Beijing? In all cases the runner up has “won” the silver, and only in some case they “lost” the gold.
I am totally speechless and at a loss of words. No words can describe how foolish BKA, Korea seemed to be now. BKA have decided to sack all their coaches in year 2018 blaming them for the players poor result. So Kang Kyung Jin brought Korean team to win that historic Sudirman Cup 2017 gold medal and he got sacked. So in Sudirman Cup 2019 for the very fist time in Korea black history, Korea team won no medals and lose in the quarter finals. In the past edition, Korea always reach the semifinals or finals of Sudirman Cup. So this year worse result ever lose in QF.
Then China quickly pick up Kang Kyung Jin to help their men doubles and women doubles players improve their skills.
It is also said that Yoo Yong Sung and Choi Min Ho will also be hired to coach China doubles players.
Well all the coaches are sacked in such a cruel manner in year 2018.
So Kang Kyung Jin, Choi Min Ho and Yoo Yong Sung will be coaching in China.
Then Park Tae Sang helped Sai Praneeth to win India first ever men singles bronze medal in Basel World Championship.
Kim Ji Hyun helped Sindhu to win India first ever women singles gold medal in Basel World Championship.
Agus Dwi Santoso helped Kantaphon Wangcharoen to win Thailand first ever men singles bronze medal in Basel World Championship.
Well BKA said it loud and clear. Those coaches are all failures so they must be sacked in year 2018.
But question here is how come those coaches who are labelled as failures can bring success to players from other countries?
So what logic is that? So what did Korea gain after sacking all their coaches and replace them with new coaches? Nothing they gain nothing. Korea went on to lose in the QF of Sudirman Cup 2019 creating the worse result ever.
So whose fault is it now? So till now BKA did not realize that it is the problem with the BKA association itself and the failure of the Korea system that is bringing those bad results? Why BKA choose to sack all their coaches in year 2018? Now all those coaches are doing a wonderful job overseas.
So the conclusion here is BKA, Korea is really one of those foolish association who just simply sack their coaches for nothing. Good luck to BKA, Korea. Judging by how BKA just loves to keep on blaming and sack all their coaches all at once, I don’t see Korea badminton returning back to its glorious moment. All I am seeing is dark road ahead and Korean badminton will be doomed forever.
Dear Foolish Decision, you must have been silent for awhile as the firing of the coaches en masse occurred a year ago. And I’m not sure hiring KKJ a year after his dismissal can be described as “quickly pick[ing him] up”. I am not defending BKA’s track record, and associations have a reputation of being top heavy with questionable proportion of the budget going to the brass. In Asia, there is an expectation that heads must roll when results are considered a failure. My question is “at what point will the brass be deemed responsible?”
But back to the main article of China’s hiring of Kang, my question is, “Do the benefits (of hiring an allophone coach) outweigh the disruption caused? And if so, and perhaps more importantly, is Kang the right person for the job? I guess only time (and the results) can tell, and arguably Kang deserves the chance to do the job before anyone passes judgement. After all, who would have guessed that Park Joo Bong would lead Japan to such a dominant era? (But then again, will Kang be given the reins as Park was in Japan?)
My one hesitation is that when he was coaching LYD/JJS he did not come across as being able to adapt and outmaneuver the opponent’s strategy, unlike the Indonesian coaches. That said, coaching during competition and coaching/teaching during training is not the same.
Indeed, there were 3 Canadian titles in 1991-2. However, it is very difficult to determine whether the French Open was part of the Grand Prix in either of those two years. According to Wikipedia, the French Open was a Grand Prix event in 1993, 1995, 1998, and 1999 but at no other time in the 90s. It may not be ideal to rely on Wikipedia but all other sources about badminton in this period are piecemeal and no other online source that we know of purports to have a comprehensive list of the Grand Prix events.
Hi Raphael. I love your text….. Peter was like you discribe him… Met him in 1989 and had the pleasure to work with him to 2014. Miss him like so many others, regards Maisch
Though, there are few points to check on the article:
1. “Akane Yamaguchi finally reach her first ever Indonesia Open title in Indonesia.” – Do you really need to mention “in Indonesia”? I don’t think there’s Indonesia Open in other countries.
2. “The world #1 won in two straight games to claim their second title in Istora Senayan after they won Asian Games gold last summer.” – This is the 3rd title of Zheng/Huang in Istora as they also won the Indonesia Masters 2019 (Tour 500).
3. “This rather lucrative victory marked the first time they had won a title in Indonesia that was accompanied by a paycheque” – Again, Zheng/Huang already won the Indonesia Masters 2019 which involves price money, so it’s their 2nd time.
Thank you for spotting that. You are absolutely right, of course. It was Chen and Wang who won bronze at the Worlds last year, and Lee/Lee at the Asian Games a few weeks later. The article has been corrected. Thanks again!
This order of playMaybe Taiwan has an actual chance if they mark Chou Tien Chen to play XD? They could then force option 2, which gives them the best chances to win 3-0 (CTC, TTY, then
Momota used to be so strong. I truly hope he will be able to come back stronger!
I watched the match on TV. It was such an exciting match and got me to the edge of my couch. Anyway, I am glad Tai Tzu Ying made it! Awesome.
You cannot see Viktor Axelsen rages anymore because he’s a grown man now . I remember he throws his racquet away when he lost to Lee Chong Wei in one of the match . Viktor Axelsen maybe can only take 1 gold only on Olympics .
Thank you for writing this! Takes me back to a month ago where we were one big IBF family haha wish I could rewind minus all the work and lack of sleep 😀
Hope to see you agaiiiiin!
Very well written. A heartwarming. Terima kasih.
Thank you for writing this article! As Indonesian badminton fan, ofc I’m really sad that I can’t watch the matches live, but seeing you people truly enjoy yourselves in Bali makes me feel warm and happy. I hope that Indonesia will be able to hold the event again in even higher standard, and hopefully, us fans can experience it too!
Sampai jumpa tahun depan!
What a lovely read. Glad you enjoyed your time there, Raphaël!
Thank you very much Raphael for such a beautiful writing.. Hope you & your team always be health & happy.. Sampai jumpa..
Speechless, wonderful article. Just block those useless stalker.
ah, btw.
it’s “Sampai” not “Sempai”.
Great article. Please use BWF instead of IBF. The name was changed 15 years ago, in 2006. Probably “new government’s restriction” should be “government’s new restriction”, and “danse” -> “dance”.
In addition, badzine.net is not mobile friendly.
You are correct about the BWF formerly having been the IBF but in this article IBF is an abbreviation of Indonesia Badminton Festival. Thank you for spotting the other issues. Those corrections have been made 🙂
maybe should use Indonesian system, where they held few competitions in each year called National Circuits. and then few most successful ones invited to the national center to battle it out again.
Reading this article makes me miss the IBF event so much. Thank you for writing this, Raphael. IBF was indeed a great event although it missed the voices of the fans. I also felt bad for some players that were injured during the events (hope they recover soon). As a badminton fan, I was so happy that I could see the players around the world gathered and having fun together, which is rare to see in previous tournaments. And not only the players, but also the coaches, staff, the photographers, the athlete’s family (Vega and Gideon Junior surely got lots of love from the fans). Oh, and I also want to appreciate the badmintonphoto for the beautiful photos! you guys have done a great job. It seems so interesting to work in this field haha. I am wondering if someday I could do this too :D. Anyways, well done Raphael, Erika, and all the staff. Stay healthy, stay safe, and see you next yearrrr
it’s a very heartwarming writing. I felt like I was there too, enjoying my few weeks in the bubble with you guys. thank you for making us proud that Indonesia especially Bali has made you feel comfortable in the midst of conditions that are still not safe due to the pandemic.
I can feel the story and the event from the heart. Well written and beautiful. So proud as an Indonesian and as badminton lover. Congratulation Raphael.
Well done to all parties who have made the event successful.
Thank you Raphael for taking time to write this. That was a new experience for us also badminton lovers in Indonesia. To PBSI and BWF thank you for making this possible. We are happy to learn that all participants were happy during these tournaments and have enjoyed their time in Bali.
Terimakasih ❤️
Hello Raphael, thank you for your appreciation and we are happy that you can enjoy the event.
I just want to note you a typo in the writing that that is not Cecak Danse, but it is Kecak Dance.
The dance is based on the story of the Ramayana and is traditionally performed in temples and villages across Bali.
Also known as the Ramayana monkey chant, the performance depicts a battle from chant, in which the monkey-like Vanaras, led by Hanuman, help Prince Rama fight the evil King Ravana. Kecak has roots in sanghyang, a trance-inducing exorcism dance. (Wikipedia).
Fyi: it is Kecak dance not C ecak
Hi Raphaël! Wow…I love your story. I know this from link on Rudy’s Twitter. Badminton in Indonesia in this year I think it’s very different from the last before like in Istora Senayan. Corona change everything
I hope you enjoyed very much when you were in Bali yesterday.
The spirit of Indonesian about badminton so crazy, right?
Thank you Raphael for beautiful writing, to all organizer (PBSI, BWF, Bali and Indonesian Govenrment) , all participant (athletes, media, judges, coaches, therapist, etc) and also hotel staff, security, local authority and sponsor for make one of the memorable event (not only for the participant in Bali but also for us Badminton Lovers) “Indonesia Badminton Festival” happen in Bali with safe and successully in the middle of this crazy pandemics
Hi- can you tell me whatever happened to Xue Song please?
Enjoyed reading your artivle. Keep it up.
Look forward to your Sudirman Cup 2021 report.
Bakit di po kasali ang badminton na lumaban sa olympics ngayong taon?
The rule is “Not using one’s best efforts to win a match”. Throwing the 2nd game in this case is the best strategy i.e. best effort. Best effort may include playing with less intensity to save energy. I would probably change “match” to “tournament”. In a group match,if you are already qualified, it can make sense to use less “effort”, even if you loose.
Hi Don! Thank you so much for your work. Will you be keeping track of the tournament results this year? It is especially interesting to watch the results of the national championships. As far as I know, despite covid-19, some countries have already hosted national championships.
Slovenia
https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/winners.aspx?id=27E1D5F9-3716-4F11-A6FA-52A0BCDA3A15
Hungary
https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/winners.aspx?id=E5F10217-EC25-456F-B211-A60E8FA233A5
Many thanks.
Not to mention the winner of the longest ever men’s singles rally and the only player with a Jim Morrison tattoo!
Indeed he is best in business but kento will always remain the more result oriented player in these scenario when specially the Result really does matter, he is the one who can single-handedly destroy any of the top players. his composure, game reading skill and confidence are the key consideration which needs to met if anyone want to level him.
whereasif talk specially about double players from india then Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag shetty are 2 Key potential players who can really change the Indian Badminton history in doubles on Olympic platform provided they are groomed mentally strong with perfect mutual coordination. we wish them to see on podium soon with Indian flag.
What is the checkbox for on the comment form?
I believe that is a checkbox for subscribing to comments. Unfortunately, if you ask me why it isn’t labelled, I will not have an answer for you…yet.
Thanks for the post. The links to the video force the use of the flash plugin. This is because of the parameter
rel=”shadowbox[sbpost-73864];player=swf;width=640;height=385;” in the link. I suggest removing this parameter as flash is depreciated and most people will not have it installed and/or be unable to install it. See https://9to5mac.com/2017/07/25/adobe-flash-dead/
Thanks for the heads-up. I believe the problem has now been resolved.
The last information from today is that the Swiss Open is cancelled. The Swiss Federal Council has today forbidden events with more than 100 people involved.
“The Tokyo 2020 crowd will miss Lin Dan on court but lucky Brummies won’t.”
Sorry, but too early to say my friend. Don’t go about making assumptions.
Now a much bigger event, the German Open has been cancelled. Do you think the BWF should either try to fit in a few more tournaments within the qualifying period to make up for the lost chances to earn points or (if the IOC doesn’t object) extend the qualifying period so that some of the upcoming tournaments can be used to gain points?
I have to say I am very disappointed in this fiasco. Time and time again I see Korean sports tainted by problematic governing bodies. Table Tennis, badminton soccer…the list goes on and on. Sad thing is things will most likely not change because the top brass is always busy filling their pockets.
Wishing all the best for Seo – he was a delight to see play.
Is it not a conflict of interest that National coach Ahn is also coach of a pro team? Or is there a provision that precludes a conflict? Are there other national coaches that also doubles as a pro-league coach? Clearly it would not be logical to penalize Chae and Choi who have worked so hard to earn their qualifications. Perhaps there’s a backdoor deal to punish, then to acquiesce at the appeal.
Clearly there is no provision. I would say it has become increasingly common for national team coaches to not hold domestic team posts as well but there have still been some. I believe the coaches in 2017 were all employed only by the BKA with the exception of Jung Jae Sung and then his replacement Kim Sang Soo. At present, in addition to Ahn, Kim Sang Soo and Jang Young Soo are both also employed as coaches for pro teams. As for Head Coaches, Kim Joong Soo was the Hwasun County team Head Coach for several years while at the helm of the national team but by 2007, he was working only for the BKA. Sung Han Kook started off with two jobs but within a few months of becoming national team Head Coach, he was down to one. Lee Deuk Choon had spent several years as a BKA employee coaching the junior team before he was hired for the national team and he did not have another post at the time and the same was true for Kang Kyung Jin. So basically, from 2007 through 2018, there was almost always a Head Coach who was employed solely by the national team.
These are really unfortunate circumstances, especially with the Olympic qualification period coming to a close.
Do you think special exemptions should be made for athletes?
I think the Koreans and Japanese BAs have very high professional and moral benchmark. They are willing to forgo the Olympic medals rather than compromise a wrong doing. It’s part of their culture too.
I am curious to know, will he still be able to play the events that he has already entered, like the All England and German Opens?
It’s a good question. In a way, there is a precedent with Lee Dong Keun, who was still a member of the national team when his name was entered for the Malaysia Masters. By the time the draw was done, Lee had withdrawn from the 2020 national team tryouts and yet he still showed up to play in Kuala Lumpur as an independent. This is different in several ways, of course. Lee did not have to partner an existing national team player, for one thing. He also had not broken any BKA rules, that we know of. Also, travelling to KL without national team footing the bill is one thing but travelling to Birmingham and Mülheim is a different story. On the other hand, there is the question of who will be responsible for paying the fines.
I don’t think the national team would be willing to ruin things for Chae Yu Jung and Choi Sol Gyu. I suppose he might pay, after all Olympic Qualification is on the line. I think his XD spot is more or less cemented, it’s MD where he might have to get more points.
Let’s hope he gets to play.
Even in MD, it is a near certainty. Choi/Seo have nearly 60,000 points. To not be invited, they would have to be passed by at least 7 pairs, including Ivanov/Sozonov – who are currently 21,000 points behind even after 18 tournaments – and likely also by Maas/Tabeling, who are 26,000 points behind. I’m not sure we have ever had a ranking list where 13 pairs were up over 60,000 points.
I don’t think Seo Sung Jae would play at any tournament in 2020.
Let’s say the concluded Badminton Asia Team Championships 2020 this week he even didn’t be fielded at all while he’s still on the team list —> https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/clubplayers.aspx?id=AD641BA1-C5A5-4F18-8813-A8384C09D9AD&cid=3
Korea prefer to play the younger pair Kim Won Ho, Na Sung Seung and Wang Chan in that team championships.
I think missing that event was obvious for the BKA. They never send players who are not on the national team to ‘team’ events like that. The only exception was Lee Hyun Il at the Asian Games in 2014. You’ll never see Kim/Lee or Ko/Shin at such an event and the same obviously goes for Seo after he’s been kicked out of the national training centre. More interestingly, Seo has not been withdrawn from the German Open or All England and he is on the list for the India Open. True, the names for the India Open might have been sent in before the decision on February 4th and the BKA might just have forgotten to withdraw. On the other hand, they might be playing it safe in case Seo wins an appeal. The most incredible would be if they are planning to allow Seo to travel at his own expense, compete as an independent, but still play with his national team partners, with whom he has not been able to train. That last option would indeed be a first.
What do you think will happen? Is the association willing to sabotage their own medal hopes by stopping two class pairs?
Hope we don’t see another Momota happen.
Hi
I want to know if a guide had to be present the whole time since u travelled with a Canadian passport
I’m travelling for the same tournament with british passport and i want to know how the visa application worked out and if a guide is compulsory
Interesting statistics. Just a small correction, Lin Dan won the Malaysia Open for the first time in his career in 2017, not 2019 as written in the article. He was 33 years old at that time.
Thank you for the correction. The text of the article should now be accurate. Glad you enjoyed the stats that were correct and all the best for 2020!
Thanks for the insights
Happy New year 2020 to you .
Where are you these days
Paul Tie Ottawa.
Single category in Badminton have more value.
Hi
Love the Writing skills, Keep up good work..
Hi DON HEARN
Nice Article and Writing Style
Momota will be next Olympic Champion and Richest player of present Era…
I hope they have signed up to the 1% for Solibad!
Right…
They’ll be in the UK for All England 2020 🙂
Thank you BY Raphael for this great piece, really inspiring!
Your site, analysis and write ups are awesome!
Thank you Don!
Thanks a lot. Glad you find them interesting.
Please, do respect the man and the legend. Have you no memory? Shame on you! Obviously. not only he deserves to get any exemption allowed but he should also be, in futuresm formerly invited as a wild card by BWF… as happens in many many sports. It is, primerly, a questions of respect all the GAOT´s out there that keep doing for their sport… Kelly Slater, 48 years old, 11 WC of surfing is ione of the examples.
As much as I am a fan of LD, I do not agree with that. That’s not how sports works; past glories cannot be used to give an unfair advantage to a player. However, in this case I do find the rules to be a bit ridiculous and while he hasn’t won enough points to qualify for the WTF, they should count towards his World Ranking and Olympic Qualification.
Please go and retire like Lee Xue Rui
Is he a ‘Top Committed Player’? He has been outside of the top 10 for a significant amount of time and out of the top 15 for a considerable period as well.
Yes. The rule is as follows: “2.1. Players occupying the top 15 places in Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles, and the top 10 places in Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles of the World Ranking as at the third week of November the year before the relevant BWF Sanctioned Tournaments (“Top Committed Players”) will be required to play in the following Tournaments occurring in the full Calendar year”. Lin Dan was ranked 13th in the world throughout November 2018.
Yes, I just checked. However, there is a gap between week 52 and week 1 of more than a week.
Neel Lin dan was ranked #189 before was chosen as a wild card to play in the 2013 WC which he won the title. He got ranking points result of that win as a very poorly ranked player
Thank you for attaching the additional regulation. But under the regulation why are the top 15 rankers play in Super 300 more than 4 times?
I’m not sure I understand the question. Do you mean why do they play more than 4? Or do you mean why are they not allowed to play more than 4?
To answer the first question, they do play more than 4 so that they can earn more ranking points toward either the Olympics or the World Tour Finals. Prior to 2018, this was irrelevant, since tournaments this small – Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold – didn’t help players qualify for the Superseries Finals. Only the 12 Superseries events counted. Unlike the world rankings, the qualification for the finals is not based only on a player’s top 10 tournament results, so playing 19 tournaments is much better than playing 14, while for the world rankings, the benefit is far less.
As for the second question, presumably, the BWF is trying to discourage top-ranked players from entering a lot of Super 300 events and skipping Super 500 events. Players might decide that winning a Super 300 (7000 points) is easier than reaching a Super 500 semi-final (6420 points). They are trying to force the players to play the highest-profile events by imposing a penalty on skipping them. They are still allowed to play an unlimited number of Super 300 tournaments, as long as they play all the Super 500, 750, and 1000 events. Lin Dan skipped the Malaysia Masters and the India Open, which Chan/Goh also missed, so that is why they were subjected to the penalty.
Great to see Badzine back! What do you think of the clearly incorrect call in the MS final on the last point. I was supporting LCY but this was extremely disappointing. What should the BWF do?
Thanks. It’s good to be back. The BWF cannot do anything in this particular case. There is nothing in the rule book that allows for video review of any umpire’s call with the exception of an umpire overruling a line judge’s call. Many people have expressed the wish for such a review system for calls at the net and for service faults. Players also sometimes implore the umpire to look at the big screen when they are insisting a fault should or should not have been called regarding a shuttle hitting an opponent on its way out the back. Obviously, for the BWF to implement all of these things fairly, more attention and investment would have to be made in video equipment for various angles. As it stands now, certain faults clearly show up on camera and many are not captured. Also, unlike the Hawkeye system, which exists on the main court(s) whether there is a live broadcast happening or not, the video replays we see on Youtube are caught only by the cameras of commercial broadcasters.
In this case, the umpire had to make a split-second decision, that we can analyse only with more time and with the very expensive camera setup that happened to be trained on the net on this court. I’ve seen a few incorrect calls by umpires in the past and also an amazing number of correct ones. I don’t remember seeing this type of fault on championship point, however.
Competition aside, this must have been one tough year for Kang, I’m glad he found a good position. Wish him the best with team China
I am Amartya Kunta from India. I am traveling to Japan along with my father Ravinder Kunta who is on his business trip.
I wish to practice and get trained in badminton during this period in Tokyo.
Could someone help me in this regard.
Thanks for you help in advance.
Amartya.
“A player doesn’t ever win silver; he/she loses out on gold.” A very questionable statement. When opponents are evenly matched or when one is leading, only to lose out, it could be said that they “lost” the gold. But consider: did LCW really “lose” the gold in Beijing? In all cases the runner up has “won” the silver, and only in some case they “lost” the gold.
I am totally speechless and at a loss of words. No words can describe how foolish BKA, Korea seemed to be now. BKA have decided to sack all their coaches in year 2018 blaming them for the players poor result. So Kang Kyung Jin brought Korean team to win that historic Sudirman Cup 2017 gold medal and he got sacked. So in Sudirman Cup 2019 for the very fist time in Korea black history, Korea team won no medals and lose in the quarter finals. In the past edition, Korea always reach the semifinals or finals of Sudirman Cup. So this year worse result ever lose in QF.
Then China quickly pick up Kang Kyung Jin to help their men doubles and women doubles players improve their skills.
It is also said that Yoo Yong Sung and Choi Min Ho will also be hired to coach China doubles players.
Well all the coaches are sacked in such a cruel manner in year 2018.
So Kang Kyung Jin, Choi Min Ho and Yoo Yong Sung will be coaching in China.
Then Park Tae Sang helped Sai Praneeth to win India first ever men singles bronze medal in Basel World Championship.
Kim Ji Hyun helped Sindhu to win India first ever women singles gold medal in Basel World Championship.
Agus Dwi Santoso helped Kantaphon Wangcharoen to win Thailand first ever men singles bronze medal in Basel World Championship.
Well BKA said it loud and clear. Those coaches are all failures so they must be sacked in year 2018.
But question here is how come those coaches who are labelled as failures can bring success to players from other countries?
So what logic is that? So what did Korea gain after sacking all their coaches and replace them with new coaches? Nothing they gain nothing. Korea went on to lose in the QF of Sudirman Cup 2019 creating the worse result ever.
So whose fault is it now? So till now BKA did not realize that it is the problem with the BKA association itself and the failure of the Korea system that is bringing those bad results? Why BKA choose to sack all their coaches in year 2018? Now all those coaches are doing a wonderful job overseas.
So the conclusion here is BKA, Korea is really one of those foolish association who just simply sack their coaches for nothing. Good luck to BKA, Korea. Judging by how BKA just loves to keep on blaming and sack all their coaches all at once, I don’t see Korea badminton returning back to its glorious moment. All I am seeing is dark road ahead and Korean badminton will be doomed forever.
Dear Foolish Decision, you must have been silent for awhile as the firing of the coaches en masse occurred a year ago. And I’m not sure hiring KKJ a year after his dismissal can be described as “quickly pick[ing him] up”. I am not defending BKA’s track record, and associations have a reputation of being top heavy with questionable proportion of the budget going to the brass. In Asia, there is an expectation that heads must roll when results are considered a failure. My question is “at what point will the brass be deemed responsible?”
But back to the main article of China’s hiring of Kang, my question is, “Do the benefits (of hiring an allophone coach) outweigh the disruption caused? And if so, and perhaps more importantly, is Kang the right person for the job? I guess only time (and the results) can tell, and arguably Kang deserves the chance to do the job before anyone passes judgement. After all, who would have guessed that Park Joo Bong would lead Japan to such a dominant era? (But then again, will Kang be given the reins as Park was in Japan?)
My one hesitation is that when he was coaching LYD/JJS he did not come across as being able to adapt and outmaneuver the opponent’s strategy, unlike the Indonesian coaches. That said, coaching during competition and coaching/teaching during training is not the same.
Why u don’t write about Indian players???
Reading about the Taipei Open queue made me wonder whether the video is available somewhere.. I’m really curious to see that!
While looking into the video availability, I found another photo of the crowd inside the venue.
If I’m not mistaken, I just made the video public.
Doris Piché won French Open several times in the 90’s, didn’t she ?
Indeed, there were 3 Canadian titles in 1991-2. However, it is very difficult to determine whether the French Open was part of the Grand Prix in either of those two years. According to Wikipedia, the French Open was a Grand Prix event in 1993, 1995, 1998, and 1999 but at no other time in the 90s. It may not be ideal to rely on Wikipedia but all other sources about badminton in this period are piecemeal and no other online source that we know of purports to have a comprehensive list of the Grand Prix events.
I love this guys style of sports journalism. He takes you into the action. The photography is always well done in this article. Well done!
Jim B
Honolulu Hawaii
Loved learning about this sport. Hopefully it will becoame more popular in the States.
Good to see this Indian pair continuing to improve.
Wily ol’ Flandy Limpele is, no doubt, part of the recipe of their success.
Hi Raphael. I love your text….. Peter was like you discribe him… Met him in 1989 and had the pleasure to work with him to 2014. Miss him like so many others, regards Maisch
Love your work
Nice write-up Naomi!
Though, there are few points to check on the article:
1. “Akane Yamaguchi finally reach her first ever Indonesia Open title in Indonesia.” – Do you really need to mention “in Indonesia”? I don’t think there’s Indonesia Open in other countries.
2. “The world #1 won in two straight games to claim their second title in Istora Senayan after they won Asian Games gold last summer.” – This is the 3rd title of Zheng/Huang in Istora as they also won the Indonesia Masters 2019 (Tour 500).
3. “This rather lucrative victory marked the first time they had won a title in Indonesia that was accompanied by a paycheque” – Again, Zheng/Huang already won the Indonesia Masters 2019 which involves price money, so it’s their 2nd time.
Thank you for spotting these problems. In fact, Zheng and Huang won the Indonesia Masters in both 2018 and 2019. The text has been amended.
Just a small point, Lee Jhe Huei won a bronze medal at the Asian Games, not the Worlds. Thanks for the interesting breakdown.
Thank you for spotting that. You are absolutely right, of course. It was Chen and Wang who won bronze at the Worlds last year, and Lee/Lee at the Asian Games a few weeks later. The article has been corrected. Thanks again!
LCW the greatest badminton ever.
This order of playMaybe Taiwan has an actual chance if they mark Chou Tien Chen to play XD? They could then force option 2, which gives them the best chances to win 3-0 (CTC, TTY, then