Will wipe off few players: Gopichand on badminton’s new scoring system
Pullela Gopichand still remembers the disruption caused by badminton’s scoring overhaul during his playing career and as the sport gears up to embrace another “tactical shift”, the India coach believes a few players will be “wiped off”. The 15x3 system (three games of 15 points each) will replace the current 21x3 format (three games of 21 points each) next year. The BWF said the shorter format would help in managing player workload in a crowded calendar.
Gopichand recalled how he had won the All England title in 2001 under the traditional 15-point format before badminton briefly switched to the 7x5 scoring system.
The experiment was abandoned within a year, with the sport reverting to the traditional 15-point scores for men and 11-point scores for women at that time. “When I won the All England, a few months later they moved from 15 to 7. It took me time because I was one of those players who was a stroke player. I wanted time to get adjusted. It took me a year to come back,” Gopichand said in response to a PTI query during an interaction here ahead of the World Championships.
“And then by the time I was kind of settling in, they brought us back to the long form and it was a death blow. Because you train, you detrain, and your endurance drops. Then to go back and play 15 was impossible. These definitely make a big impact. A few players, it will wipe off, a few players might benefit.”
Drawing parallels with the 15x3 system approved by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), Gopichand said the shorter format would place greater premium on speed, power and mental strength, particularly during the closing stages of the games.
“You scoring points will be important, but you not giving away points will be even more important. The speed and the power and the focus need to be top notch. The mind will play much more,” he said.
According to the national coach, doubles players are likely to feel the biggest impact as shorter games will make every phase of the contest more critical.
