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ShareOdense: It seems badminton just can't get its scoring system right. The system has changed thrice in the last eight years and influential voices within the Badminton World Federation are calling for the trial of yet another system.
Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen, who distinguished himself as a player (1996 Olympic gold medal), is in line to become the next president of Badminton Europe in April and thus a vice-president of the world body. On the sidelines of the recently concluded Denmark Open Super Series, he acknowledged that the game would probably have to reinvent itself once more if it had to survive competition from other sports for public attention.
"The game has the intensity but we have some lags," he said. "There is something about it that keeps one's interest away. This has a lot to do with the climax of the game -- it's getting over in a flash. From 14-all, it suddenly becomes 21-14. If you look at the more popular sports, the climax is more extended."
Ironically, the current (21x3) system was introduced to cater to the attention-deficit generation. The argument went that contemporary audiences didn't have the patience to sit through the conventional longer format (the 15x3, which was in use for over a century).
After a short-lived experiment with the 7x5 (five games of seven points) in 2001, the game finally settled down to the 21x3 from 2006 onwards. The idea was to limit the duration of each match and provide for more breaks for TV advertisements.
The most prominent feature of the new system was that either side won a point irrespective of whether she/he was serving or receiving.
Larsen said he was toying with the idea of a new system. With each set out of five to be played over 9 or 10 points, the game would be played like in the contemporary format until one player reached 8.
From then on he would have to serve to earn a point. "You can see immediately how such a system can create more tension and extend the climax," said Larsen. "Of course it would lead to more upsets, but the better players will eventually settle down."
