Kuala Lumpur: Deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Norza Zakaria of Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) voiced his opinion that he would like the 21-point scoring system to stay, because he said the existing system was more balanced compared to the 11×5 point system proposed by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
“I think the current scoring system should be retained as it requires highest level of physical and mental strength apart from requiring maximum fitness level which is thought by many to be synonymous with the sports.”
Despite his preference on the 21×3 system, the 11×5 system will be tested at the Celcom Axiata Malaysia International Youth Under 19 badminton tournament that will be held at Stadium Negeri, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, from Sept 6 to Sept 9.
Meanwhile, former BAM general manager Kenny Goh who is now the chief operating officer of Badminton Asia Confederation (BAC), has requested all its member nations to give the 11-point scoring system a try before a decision was made on the new scoring system.
“BAC will evaluate reports and feedback from the players and study the duration of the match, before we decide whether or not to use the 11-point system,” said Goh.
A set of badminton rules dating back to 1873 defined badminton’s first official scoring system as a best of 3 games with each game played to 15 points (3×15) for men’s singles and men’s doubles, and 11 points for ladies’ singles. Setting was also included at certain score situations and players could score points only when serving.
In 2001, the then-International Badminton Federation (BWF), experimented with a best of 5 games with each game up to 7 points (5×7). The experiment was shortly abandoned in favor of a modified version of 3×15 scoring system.
In December 2005, the BWF once again changed the scoring system, introducing a rally point scoring, with a best of 3 games with each game up to 21 points (3×21), which is the system we are currently using.
In the BWF Annual Grand Meeting in 2014, due to the match lengths had increased since the 2006 scoring system change, BWF has decided again to try a system with 5 games to 11 points.
