Not quite an open and shuttler case! Badminton fraternity responds to BWF

(Left to right) Badminton stalwarts Leroy D’Sa, Uday Pawar, Aparna Popat and Anil Pradhan during the Legends Club function to celebrate the 93rd birth anniversary of former India shuttler Nandu Natekar at the CCI on Tuesday. Pics/Ashish Raje

Members of the city's badminton fraternity have thrown up mixed responses to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) introducing the new 3x15 point scoring system next year, replacing the existing 3x21 format to suit broadcast schedules.

Former India badminton star Aparna Popat reckons the new system will favour only a certain type of players. "At the highest level, there will have to be changes as this [new rule] favours only a certain set of players. So, the others will have to cope with the situation. I only hope the quality of the game does not drop," Olympian Popat tells mid-day on the sidelines of the Legends Club function to celebrate 93rd birth anniversary of badminton legend Nandu Natekar at Cricket Club of India on Tuesday.

Ami Ghia

When asked what players need to do to adapt to the new point system, Popat, who won a record nine national championships between 1997 and 2006 replied: "This 15-point format was put up last year too and missed getting passed by one vote. So, players knew it could come up and it's not out of the blue. But the quality of the game has to sell itself. Only when the quality is at a high level, where you have champions playing at that level in focus, does it bring in attention. So, that's first, and commercial angle is second," adds Popat.

Renowned coach Uday Pawar believes the popularity of the game will decline. "The 21-point system was working well but now [with the new rule] the game's popularity may go down because badminton tests not just your skills and temperament, but also your fitness. So, making the game so short, where you will have intervals after eight points, won't help because it takes time to set up a match and for things to really heat up. Now, it'll all be over even before the contest gets interesting," says Pawar.

Former India badminton player Ami Ghia, a seven-time National singles champion, however, feels that the new format will work. "It's for the betterment of the game. Players will have to make changes to their fitness and consistency because in the shorter format you cannot afford to lose points. I'm sure with time everybody will get used to it," Ghia told mid-day.