Badminton England have called for a review of the sport's scoring system following late finishes in Birmingham.
Late finishes prompt Badminton England to call for review
Badminton England have called for a review of the sport's scoring system following late finishes at the start of this week's Yonex All England Championships in Birmingham.
Wednesday's first-round matches were eventually completed close to 3am on Thursday, five hours later than scheduled, after almost all spectators had left the National Indoor Arena.
A number of factors contributed to the delays - principally the reduction of courts in the arena from five to four - but BE believe it is time to examine the structure of matches.
The present method of three first-to-21-point games was introduced in an attempt to speed up matches by the Badminton World Federation in 2006.
BE chief executive Adrian Christy said: "When we changed the system it definitely made the games quicker but the players have learned to deal with it, the game has moved on.
"We now have a scoring system that was rejected by table tennis because it caused exactly what we had the other day, very long nights.
"I am not criticising the BWF because they have moved the game on massively but I think we all need to take a collective look.
"If we want badminton to be a product that the world buys into and becomes a truly globally-recognised sport, three-set matches - with the number of matches we have to play side by side - cannot go on until 3am.
"It is just ridiculous for that to happen."
Lessons learned
Danish veteran Peter Gade, the former world number one, was sent on to court for what proved his final appearance at the Birmingham event in the early hours of Thursday morning and Christy expects lessons to be learned from all the scheduling problems.
He said: "First and foremost we were required by the international federation to reduce our courts from five to four, with the same number of matches.
"That was inevitably going to put pressure on time but the scheduling of the matches should have been more spaced out and that would, perhaps, have given us less pressure.
"But I actually think one of the primary reasons for the late finish - and this is a really strong, positive point - is the quality of the play. The matches went into three sets and they were long sets.
"But I have got real sympathy for Peter. For him not to go out with a full stadium, whether he won or lost, was not ideal for somebody of his calibre."
Aside from that, and the obvious disappointment of no British competitors getting beyond the quarter-finals, BE believe the event has been a huge success.
Christy added: "There is no question this is the best All England we have ever presented."
