Shuttlers cry foul over world ranking points deduction

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) have come under fire for their management in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, with several shuttlers’ crying foul over their world rankings points being deducted due to inactivity.

The world body had stated they would consider the possibility of freezing the world rankings until the badminton season restarts again, but have yet to do so.

Last year’s World Championships bronze medalist B. Sai Praneeth expressed his concern over the BWF’s reluctance to act swiftly.

"Our points are getting deducted even though tournaments were postponed by the BWF due to the coronavirus. The Swiss Open got postponed but my points get deducted. So if they keep slashing the points for all the qualifiers which were postponed, I don’t know what will happen.

"The BWF should at least freeze the rankings, later they can decide about the qualification depending on the dates of Olympics," said the Indian.

H.S. Prannoy echoed his national teammate’s sentiment.“By the time tournaments start again my ranking would be close to 100. BWF is not doing anything to freeze the current rankings,” said the world number 29.

By the time tournaments starts again my Ranking would be close to 100 ?? @bwfmedia is not doing anything to freeze the current rankings ??????

— PRANNOY HS (@PRANNOYHSPRI) March 24, 2020

Malaysian mixed doubles specialist Goh Liu Ying also joined in the chorus for BWF to take action immediately.

“No matter what the decision of the BWF, it will make some happy and others not. Players who have already qualified for the Olympics will feel it’s unfair for them to try again. For players who have not made it, there is renewed hope for them,” she said.

Prior, several shuttlers including Saina Nehwal and Mads Conrad-Petersen slammed the governing body for going ahead with the All-England Championships, which resulted in a member of the Taiwanese team testing positive for the virus.

The BWF defended their stance to go ahead with the tournament in an open letter, insisting it was done based on best advice at that time.

When contacted by Stadium Astro, the BWF said an announcement on the technical solutions regarding rankings will be announced soon.