Short and sweet: Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet reach Taiwan Masters final under new scoring system
The Hong Kong badminton pair seem to like the five games by 11 point rules as they win in just 37 minutes against their Indonesian opponents
Hong Kong shuttlers Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet were the benefactors of a new badminton scoring system at the Taiwan Masters after reaching the final in Taipei.
Playing an experimental five games by 11 points scoring system, which has been enforced by the World Badminton Federation (WBF), the Hong Kong mixed doubles duo would probably admit that they are all in favour of the new system, especially after beating Riky Widianto and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja 4-1 (11-5, 7-11, 11-8, 11-6) in 37 minutes.
Tang and Tse, who also reached the Thailand Open final last week, will now meet Ryota Taohata and Koharu Yonemoto of Japan for the trophy.
The WBF is testing the new scoring system in an attempt to shorten the duration of games. The current three games by 21 rally point scoring system was first introduced in 2006 but the time to complete games seemed to have increased over the last ten years.
Most of the matches in Taipei were able to be completed within an hour – some even under 30 minutes – while 60 minutes or more seemed to be the norm for the current three-game system.
Earlier veteran badminton star Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia said he might consider extending his career if the new system is adopted for future major tournaments, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Hong Kong Badminton Association chairman Tong Wai-lun said the world body was keen to employ the new system as it would make the game more unpredictable in a sport currently dominated by Asian players.
