Boe blocked from Malaysia again

For the second straight year, Mathias Boe’s intent to enter the Malaysia Open was thwarted by a national badminton federation, this time by an administrative error at Badminton Denmark.

Photo: Badmintonphoto

Badminton Denmark announced yesterday that it had been forced to issue an apology to former world #1 Mathias Boe / Carsten Mogensen after staff there made an administrative error that resulted in the top Danish pair not having been entered in the upcoming Malaysia Open Superseries Premier.   In an article posted in Danish on the national body’s website, Boe announced that he and Mogensen had accepted Badminton Denmark’s apology but criticized the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rules that require players’ entries to be submitted by national associations, rather than directly by the players themselves.

Last year, Boe was actually entered in the Malaysia Open with former Olympic gold medallist Cai Yun but later complained on the pair’s Facebook page that the Chinese Badminton Association had withdrawn their names without consulting either player.

For now, Boe and Mogensen will be concentrating on the Singapore Open.  The Singapore entry deadline was yesterday and no doubt Badminton Denmark ensured the pair’s entry was completed for that tournament, which takes place the week following the Malaysia Open.  Boe and Mogensen are past champions at 7 of the current 13 Superseries events but both the Singapore and the Malaysia Open are among the 6 titles they have yet to win.

Missing the Malaysia Open is unlikely to keep the pair out of this summer’s World Championships.  They are currently leading the standings to qualify for Glasgow and have a 20,000 ranking point cushion over the next two Danish men’s doubles pairs.

For more on the recent problems caused by the BWF’s player entry system, see here.