|
KUALA LUMPUR - THE international badminton season gets underway this week at the Malaysian Open with the sport dogged by internal politics and a failure to hold the finale to its Super Series last year.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) revamped its tour in 2007 to make a Super Series circuit, reducing the seeds for major tournaments to eight and players in the main draw to 32.
Previously there were 16 seeds and 64 players.
They also altered the rules so that players from the same country can be in the same half of the draw, in an attempt to make the game more competitive, and it proved a winning formula.
But the sport was thrown into chaos when host Qatar failed to get enough sponsorship to underpin the season-ending finale and second choice Malaysia was ruled out as an alternative.
It means the new season starts this week without champions declared for last year.
'The Badminton World Federation is actively seeking to find suitable dates and venue for the Super Series Finals and will inform all parties concerned in due course. Any inconvenience is regretted,' said a notice on its website.
Power struggle
An internal power struggle is also undermining the sport with badminton's world governing body announcing last month it was seeking the removal of its president early this year following months of infighting.
The BWF council said it would recommend sacking Kang Yoong Jong after confirming a previous vote of no-confidence against him.
'Council members expressed grave concerns about the president's ability to provide effective leadership of the BWF and settle the internal tensions to which he was contributing,' it said in a statement after a meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
Council members had an 'extended discussion' with Kang over the World Badminton Foundation he established in 2007, which is not under the jurisdiction of the BWF.
Kang claimed he was the victim of a 'coup d'etat' by his deputy Punch Gunalan after the vote of no-confidence in August. He said the power struggle threatened badminton's Olympic status.
Badminton's governing body relocated to Malaysia from its historical home in England in 2005 but since then senior officials have been at loggerheads.
Opens on Tuesday
The Malaysia Open kicks off the 12-event Super Series season on Tuesday with Zhou Lin of China and Peter Gade of Denmark defending their titles, with equal prize money offered to men and women for the first time.
'It's long overdue. They do it in tennis with even Wimbledon falling into line with other Grand Slam events last year,' Anne Smillie, chair of the BWF's Sports Committee, said about the prize money.
'So it's only right that badminton offers parity, especially now that matches are contested over the same best-of-three games to 21 points in the men's and women's game.' The season is due to conclude in December, with the Beijing Olympics in August the highlight of the calendar.
| 
