New BWF Vice-President calls for fewer tournaments

In an interview given to the Chinese state press agency Xinhua, the newly-elected Vice President of the BWF Liu Fengyan – who was elected last month in Tokyo to replace India’s VK Verma – said that he was proposing small changes to lighten the players’ schedule.

“I propose small changes, cutting the 10 highest points to 6, to give players more rest between the tournaments,” said Liu, China’s badminton and table tennis chief.  “The current schedule makes players prone to injuries and could shorten their careers, especially damaging to those top players,” added Liu, pleading against recent media reports which were questioning the many withdrawals of China’s jewel Lin Dan.

The Olympic Champion was said to have thrown matches away in order to leave points to his compatriot Chen Jin for him to qualify for the Olympic Games in 2008. On Friday, Lin is set to play against Chen Jin in the quarter-final of the French Internationals in Paris. A win from Chen Jin would put him back on track to get closer to a potential quallifying top 4 spot in the world while Lin Dan, who has dropped down to #4 in the latest World Ranking, still has a lead in points.  Lin complained about the demanding tournament schedule after his early-round loss to Wong Wing Ki in last week’s Denmark Open, which current BWF rules compelled him to attend.