Tuesday, May 29, 2012

No qualifying tournament for 2014 Thomas-Uber Cup Finals

Fortunately for Malaysia, there will no longer be a qualifying tournament for the Thomas-Uber Cup Finals in 2014.
The qualifiers have been scrapped and the Badminton World Federation (BWF) will soon unveil a modified tournament.
The format of the Finals, which is expected to comprise 16 teams based on world ranking, was to be discussed during BWF’s six-day meeting, which ends on June 1.
Yesterday, BWF deputy president Paisan Rangsikitpho said the world body were committed to presenting a team event which was fair and competitive.
“In future, the teams for the Thomas-Uber Cup Finals will be selected solely on the world rankings. They do not have to qualify from another tournament,” said Rangsikitpho.
“There will be some modifications to the format though. We want continental representation but their participation will not be guaranteed as they will have to justify their place in the Finals,” he said.
The scheduling of the tournament will also be reviewed to give the players some breathing space and there will be evenly distributed matches so as not to tax the teams.
“The qualifying tournament is no longer interesting and there have been complaints that it lacked quality,” he said.
“It also saves us calendar time. Players have been complaining that there are too many tournaments. We have looked into all this.”
Courtesy of The Star

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