United front

TEAM: Big 7 come together to ensure Asia is heard at the highest level

to get everybody here. It is a meeting which is long overdue.

“We Asians are a little shy sometimes and we don’t voice out. Today we have come together for a fruitful meeting and our ideas and proposals will be brought up at the BWF (Badminton World Federation) annual general meeting in Gold Coast next year.

“Some of the major concerns that were discussed were on the new 11point scoring system as well as the service fault,” said Anton.

BA of Malaysia (BAM) acting president Tan Sri Mohamed Al Amin Abd Majid applauded the move, saying: “I think it is good because these are grey areas that need to be looked into if we want badminton to be one of the top 10 sports on IOC’s (International Olympic Committee) list.

“I was there at the Rio Olympic Games and there were issues that needed to be addressed but I couldn’t protest there.

“Take the service fault for example, it’s very subjective because you only depend on the service judge. Perhaps we need another system like Hawk-Eye to observe and measure the serves correctly.

“Another issue is on scheduling, as players don’t have enough rest before a major final. There are a few stakeholders that must be considered but that is what we are aiming for following this landmark meeting.”

Also present at the meeting was BWF president Poul-Erik Hoyer, who hopes to see a better future for the sport which will in the end generate more income for development.

The other major concerns that were deliberated yesterday were effective representation in the BWF Council, Asian representation and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.