THE Badminton World Federations (BWF) seedings for theWorld Junior Championships has become a farce.
The top seeds in the boys doubles are Malaysias No 3 pair of Mak Hee Chun-Lim Khim Wah while South Koreas Asian junior champions Lee Yong Dae-Cho Gun Woo have been seeded third.
But even more shocking is that Mongolias Bakhturel Ochirpurev-Enkhbat Olonbayar, unheard of in the world of badminton, are the second seeds.
Which is why the BWF must introduce a world ranking for the junior shuttlers as soon as possible.
Since there isnt a separate junior ranking available, the BWF had to base the seedings on the senior world ranking and this saw most of the favourites not given top billing.
Yong Dae, who is ranked World No 3 with Jung Jae Sung, has never played in a senior event with Gun Woo and this has probably resulted in them being left out as the top seeds.
In the boys singles, Asian junior champion Kenichi Tago of Japan was not even seeded. Indonesias Tommy Sugiarto was seeded No 1.
Chinas Wang Yihan, who beat World No 2 Xie Xingfang, to win the World Cup on Saturday, was only seeded third in the girls singles while Malaysian Lydia Cheah, who finished runner-up to Yihan in the Asian Juniors, was unseeded.
The BWF, however, has agreed to a redraw today after requests from their affiliates but it remains to be seen how the international body is going to address the problem.
The Asian and European Junior Championships are regarded as equal tournaments and both continental federations Badminton Asia Confederation and European Badminton Union would want their respective champions to be featured in the seedings.
The redraw will definitely make several nations unhappy especially Indonesia and India if Tommy and Saina Nehwal, the girls singles top seed, are relegated to lower seedings.
Little can be achieved in solving the matter in Incheon but the BWF can make a proactive move by establishing a world ranking list for the juniors.(K.M. Boopathy)
Source:nst.com.my
The top seeds in the boys doubles are Malaysias No 3 pair of Mak Hee Chun-Lim Khim Wah while South Koreas Asian junior champions Lee Yong Dae-Cho Gun Woo have been seeded third.
But even more shocking is that Mongolias Bakhturel Ochirpurev-Enkhbat Olonbayar, unheard of in the world of badminton, are the second seeds.
Which is why the BWF must introduce a world ranking for the junior shuttlers as soon as possible.
Since there isnt a separate junior ranking available, the BWF had to base the seedings on the senior world ranking and this saw most of the favourites not given top billing.
Yong Dae, who is ranked World No 3 with Jung Jae Sung, has never played in a senior event with Gun Woo and this has probably resulted in them being left out as the top seeds.
In the boys singles, Asian junior champion Kenichi Tago of Japan was not even seeded. Indonesias Tommy Sugiarto was seeded No 1.
Chinas Wang Yihan, who beat World No 2 Xie Xingfang, to win the World Cup on Saturday, was only seeded third in the girls singles while Malaysian Lydia Cheah, who finished runner-up to Yihan in the Asian Juniors, was unseeded.
The BWF, however, has agreed to a redraw today after requests from their affiliates but it remains to be seen how the international body is going to address the problem.
The Asian and European Junior Championships are regarded as equal tournaments and both continental federations Badminton Asia Confederation and European Badminton Union would want their respective champions to be featured in the seedings.
The redraw will definitely make several nations unhappy especially Indonesia and India if Tommy and Saina Nehwal, the girls singles top seed, are relegated to lower seedings.
Little can be achieved in solving the matter in Incheon but the BWF can make a proactive move by establishing a world ranking list for the juniors.(K.M. Boopathy)
Source:nst.com.my
