Superseries to get line-call reviews

Top-flight badminton tournaments will finally be getting an official replay system for close line calls, according to a press release this week from the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

“There will be a test set-up at next month’s Sudirman Cup in Kuala Lumpur and thereafter the intention is to go live at the Indonesian Open,” BWF Deputy President and Events Committee Chair Paisan Rangsikitpho was quoted in the press release as saying.

“We are obviously still in an experimental phase so we will likely not implement instant-review technology in all tournaments right now.

“What we are doing is similar to other sports – the rules and principles are essentially the same as sports such as tennis, though the technology and process may differ slightly. At the end of the day we want to further enhance the integrity of match play and the decisions which are made.”

BWF Athletes’ Commission Chair Emma Mason said, “The inclusion of such modern technology brings badminton into line with leading sports such as tennis and football which are already using or implementing this type of system. The Athletes’ Commission looks forward to working closely with the players and the BWF to ensure the instant review system is a successful and valuable introduction to our sport.”

The technology will involve a slow-motion video replay and will thus differ significantly from the celebrated Hawk-Eye system used in professional tennis, technology that has been found to be unworkable in badminton due to the shape of a shuttlecock.

The review system is something that has been long anticipated in badminton, where many line call disputes have involved accusations of national bias.  The first major step, taken by the BWF following the 2002 Asian Games, gave umpires the authority to overrule calls by line judges in cases where they perceive a clear error has been made.

Since 2007, the BWF has begun recruiting international volunteers to serve as line judges at major BWF events and since 2011 at Superseries Premier tournaments.  This has been intended primarily to avoid dependence on local line judges for matches involving one visiting athlete and one competitor from the host nation.  However, the review system that will be used at the Indonesia Open Superseries Premier this year marks the first departure from relying purely on the real-time judgment of the human eye.

Click here to read the complete BWF press release