Badminton’s new service rule won’t be used at CWG 2018
Badminton’s new service rule, which has been under the scanner, has been scrapped for the time being. A message was circulated to the national associations stating that the CWF and BWF have agreed that the new service rule will not be used in the upcoming quadrennial event in Gold Coast.
The Indian badminton players can breathe a sigh of relief as they were at the receiving end of the new service rule. They were struggling to adjust to the new rule which pertains to the fact that the shuttle should be below 1.15
The Commonwealth Games organisers decided against implementing BWF’s experimental service rule that has been criticised by a lot of people, including the players. The new service rule was tried at the prestigious All England Championships in March. PV Sindhu openly criticized the introduction of the new rule in a key tournament like All England Championships and wanted BWF to give the players time to adjust to the new rule.Â
And now it seems like, the Commonwealth Games Federation and the Badminton World Federation have come to terms with the difficulty faced by the players and have agreed to scrap the rule for the upcoming Games.Â
“The Commonwealth Games Federation and the Badminton World Federation have agreed that the new service rules will not be used during the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games,” said a message communicated to the national associations, as reported by TOI.Â
Along with Indian shuttlers, two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan of China and Danish star Viktor Axelsen criticized the new service rule. The Commonwealth Games badminton which will get underway on April 5, will now be played under the old rules which mandate that the shuttle would be kept above the waist height at the time of service.Â
