World rankings determine seeds and draw, says Lu

World rankings determine seeds and draw, says Lu

By Arif Suryobuwono

HONG KONG (JP): The International Badminton Federation (IBF)
agreed at its council meeting here on Saturday to immediately use
the latest world rankings in seeding and drawing players in any
tournament it sanctions.

IBF president Lu Shengrong said that the decision was aimed at
minimizing subjectivized draws at tournaments.

The issue was raised by Indonesia. The Indonesian badminton
officials were not satisfied with how IBF referees administered
the order of play at the Thomas Cup championship.

"In the future the seeding and draw of any IBF or Grand Prix
event will be made based on the most recent world rankings. Human
intervention will no longer be tolerated. This decision takes
effect immediately," Madame Lu said.

Indonesia's team manager, Lutfi Hamid, protested Sweden' swap
of its second-string doubles pair with their first doubles. Lutfi
also voiced concern about Denmark's decision to allow the new
partnership of Jon-Holst Christensen and Jim Laugesen to play
first doubles matches.

Laugesen replaced Christensen's regular partner, Thomas Lund,
who was reported to be nursing an injury. IBF rules stipulate
that such an unprecedented partnership is subject to a world
ranking adjustment.

"Referees always say they have privilege to decide," Lutfi
complained. The current system allowed a team manager to
influence the referees' decision on the order of play, he said.

When confronted with the matter, Lu simply said that the
current IBF system still needed improvements.

Lu said the meeting agreed to try out a 90-second break format
in the middle of a first set, one-minute break between the first
and the second sets and five-minute break between the second and
the third sets at the World Cup championships slated for Jakarta
this December.

The first-set break will be made when a player reaches 8
points in the men's competition, and 6 points in the women's
competition.

The breaks, which are to be used for television adverts, was
first formulated by IBF vice president Roy Ward, English shuttler
Gillian Clark and her team manager, Ciro Cininglio, in a meet in
Taipei in 1991.

The World Cup will also try out a single deuce, which only
comes when two opposing players are tied at 14-14 in a men's
singles match and 10-10 in a women's singles. The first player to
reach 17 points in the men's competition and 12 in the women's
competition will win the match.

After the deuce, the scoring will go on, instead of being
reset to 0-0.

Lu, the first woman president of the world badminton body and
the first Asian woman to head an international sporting
organization, said that the World Cup was picked as a testing
ground because it is an invitational tournament, not an open
tournament.

"If the trial proves satisfactory, it will be up to the IBF
annual general meeting to decide whether to adopt it or not," she
added.

Saturday's session, the conclusion of the IBF council meeting,
failed to name a date or host nation for the next Thomas Cup and
Uber Cup finals in 1998.

Kate Killworth, the IBF press officer, said that two years
were ample time for the world badminton body to decide on the
details.

Kate said that unlike World Cup soccer, for which sponsors
stand in line to pour in money, it is not easy for the IBF to
find sponsors for its world team championships.

IBF executive director David Shaw said that China is the only
country to have formally bid to host the biennial championships.