Indian badminton players criticize PBL's eleven point system

01/12/2017

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Indian ace PV Sindhu has been critical of the eleven point format, currently used in the PBL, stating that the players don't get enough time to strategize in the short format. Other Indian players Saina Nehwal and Jwala Gutta had also said that the new system is not as effective as the longer one.

"I feel the 21 points format is much better since in 11 points system there's just no time to strategize at all. By the time you think, the point is over," Sindhu said after her win over Mumbai Rockets' Sung Ji Hyun in the PBL match between Mumbai and Chennai.

Sindhu isn't the first player to speak out against the new system. She joins a long list of players - Former World Number 1, Saina Nehwal had claimed that if the new format of the game was introduced, the singles event would mirror the doubles one.

“You are going to miss those long rallies which you see in 21-points. But in team event it’s fine because otherwise it would become too long. It’s becoming smash, touch, it takes time to adjust,” Nehwal had said.

“I don’t mind playing this format. You can play till 40-45 years. But the rallies will go away, it won’t be fun to watch. Singles will also become like doubles."

Moreover, it is not just the singles players who are unhappy about the new format, with Indian doubles player Jwala Gutta claiming that the players' technique "goes for a toss".

"From a player's perspective, when you shorten the game, the technique of the player goes for a toss. Personally, I am not really up for the 11-point scoring system as the quality of badminton will surely go down." Gutta added to the discussion.

There are reports that the BWF was looking to implement the same format to the international tournaments as well. However, not all the players agree with this assessment as Ajay Jayaram claimed that it would add "excitement value" to a match.

"As far as even international badminton is concerned, I think it is going the 11 point way where we would have a best of 5 instead of a best of 3. This will add a certain excitement value to the matches. Cant be certain of what to expect because we haven’t played a lot of this format. But I think the key would be to get going from the start because you would not get a lot of time to recover if you are down," Jayaram had told SportsCafe before the tournament.

Indian badminton players criticize PBL's eleven point system

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