Transmenu powered by JoomlArt.com - Mambo Joomla Professional Templates Club

On Thursday, May 1st, the final list of international rankings used to decide the qualifiers for the 2008 Olympics for badminton was issued.

Qualification, selection and genuine medal contention are all interlinked but ultimately distinctly separate agendas. The way each can turn out is not perfect although the Olympic rules endeavour to help it to.

By Aaron Wong, Badzine Correspondent. Photos: Badmintonphoto (archives)

World Number Ones Safe

Badzine has been updating a dummy list of qualifiers. This is a list of likely qualifiers based on ranking and interpretation of the Olympic rules for how many athletes each country is allowed to send.

Selection follows on from qualification. The process could take up until late July to be finalised. It must be an anxious wait for a handful of players.

Figuring out who some of the Olympians will be is clear cut, such as those ranked world #1. On the other hand, even being world #2 is not a sure bet. So much depends on the country that you represent.

China has to choose from amongst their women’s singles. With Lu Lan and Zhu Lin (photo) both snagging top four spots in the last month, joining Zhang Ning and Xie Xingfang, China can now choose any 3 they want. Fans and keen observers ought to prepare themselves not to be surprised at the outcome regarding Zhang Ning’s selection. She may be the world #2 but age is not on her side as far as Olympics selectors may be concerned. Xie Xingfang will almost certainly attend. Notice that Lu Lan and Zhu Lin both have more individual ranking points than Zhang Ning right now. (For more on that story, see here)

Sporting culture in China does not make a habit of being sentimental when going to “war”. Sacrifice for the greater good is the policy. Any Chinese women’s singles line-up will be formidable. In spite of team orders, China in women’s categories has a track record of making prudent decisions and retaining big titles in the last decade.

There are no guarantees where selectors and bureaucrats are involved in decision-making. For the athletes, it comes down to a mix of their credentials, pedigree, their voice and relationships to those in power that could make the difference in which of the world’s top four will stay home – er, watch from the stands..

At least in women’s doubles, they possess only the top 3 pairs in the world and can hence send all three, each of whom has taken turns at the number one spot in recent months. Ironically, China’s not having to make any tough decisions for doubles is the result of the bad news China received late last year when the departure of Huang Sui left Gao Ling and replacement partner Zhao Tingting effectively out of the running. Despite making the finals at 3 of their next 4 Super Series events, they were nowhere near making the top 4.

The Difficult Decisions

The selection process can be fraught with weighty issues and it is possible to use rules to circumvent a decent explanation of the outcome. Additionally, it would be harder for players to bear the results of decisions if they were made by non-badminton officials.

Rexy Mainaky, the Malaysian doubles coach, is a wonderful exception. When his highest ranked pairs were both within the top 4 in the world, he publicly stated he had no qualms about selecting the third ranked pair, currently Abdul Latif/Mohd Tazari (photo) to replace anyone that was underachieving. There was always that transparency and integrity to the power of discretion involved in his decision-making.

The Netherlands have famously set stricter selection rules than the Olympic qualification ones, so much so that they have indicated that they will not send anyone. It makes you wonder why, given that the players have steadily worked towards a solid resume of achievement for a small nation. The Netherlands have an Olympic badminton medal and been Uber Cup finalists. Is the nation cash strapped?

Presumably the Netherlands Olympic Committee is refusing to be represented by players they don’t feel stand a fighting chance. Palyama, Yao, and Meulendijks will be missed by the rest of the visiting field, however, as they are all known for troubling the Chinese stars.

Local vs. Import

Some countries came to ponder their national identity because they have home-grown and immigrant talents competing for the same Olympic berth. Such national introspection might have helped the immigrant realise how much they have been embraced by their new home country.

Hong Kong did not have to make the difficult decision regarding their second Olympic women’s singles shuttler. Instead, the Olympic committee refused higher-ranked Zhou Mi (photo), thereby enabling local youngster Yip Pui Yin to go ahead. (The top Hong Kong representative Wang Chen was formerly a mainland citizen just like Zhou). In Singapore’s men’s singles case, the opposite decision presents itself as both Ronald Susilo and Kendrick Lee failed to make it within the top 16, a result that would have allowed both of them to go. Ronald, originally an Indonesian, is presently ranked 4 spots higher.

Athletes are best able to handle the news about their selection when it is based on objective criteria such as world ranking but some worthwhile questions remain. Should selectors go on rankings alone? How much should player commitment and national commitment matter?

Close Compatriots

The phrase “close compatriots” took on another meaning in the race for qualification when their rankings were just a few notches apart and there was only one slot left. The slim difference between catching the plane to Beijing and watching proceedings on television would have been on the minds of players including:

Men’s singles:
Hong Kong - Ng Wei and Chan Yan Kit
Malaysia - Wong Choong Hann, Mohd Hafiz and Lee Tsuen Seng
The Netherlands - Eric Pang and Dicky Palyama

Women’s singles:
China - Zhang Ning, Zhu Lin and Lu Lan.
Hong Kong - Zhou Mi and Yip Pui Yin
The Netherlands - Yao Jie and Judith Meulendjks

Ironically, as we have seen, 3 of these races were decided by exogenous factors. Hong Kong and China could yet choose not to send a higher-ranked player but Malaysia’s race was the only one of these that was decided purely by ranking points. Only Wong Choong Hann (photo) made it into that crucial top 16 to qualify along with Lee Chong Wei.

One of the tightest races overall was the women’s doubles, where Kim Min Jung and Ha Jung Eun, at #15, were the last of the non-continental qualifiers. Finishing within 2500 points of Korea’s #2 pair, was a pack of 6 pairs, including two from Russia and two from Indonesia, all of whom were within striking distance going into the Asian and European Championship week.

Disappointment

True disappointment arises in terms of showcasing of the world’s premier athletes when the Olympic rules have no way of accommodating their inclusion.

There are some very likely candidates who cannot qualify, therefore missing out on selection and yet you can imagine them vanquishing any opponent and standing on the podium.

Case Studies

It is a pity that world #6 doubles pair and 2000 Sydney Olympic Gold medallists Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan won’t be competing in Beijing. Independent players or anyone outside the national system are almost never prime candidates to selectors, only to badminton aficionados.

Another case in point is Zhou Mi. Take her recent achievements alone. In little more than a year, her ranking has only proceeded with an upward trajectory until she now finds herself at #10, a Super Series winner, having forced all top 4 players to 3 games or beating them. Add her earlier pedigree of being a former world #1, All England champion, and Olympic bronze medallist and this strengthens the argument of how much of a loss it is that an athlete whose results speaks for themselves is denied the chance to compete in the biggest tournament of all by the stroke of a pen.

Oldies

Wearing the getting old tag proudly are Zhang Ning, Wong Choong Hann, Xu Huaiwen, Flandy Limpele, and Martin Lungaard Hansen / Jens Eriksen (photo). All are past 30 years old. Remarkably, and uniquely, the Danish gents are in the second half of that decade.

The Olympics and World Championships have seen older finalists such as Poul-Eric Hoyer Larsen and Fung Permadi. In pure terms, this is what the Olympic spirit is all about: that an athlete of any mould can compete and go all the way, rather than everyone fitting a certain template. The generation of small Chinese women players is dwindling, with the highly visible exception of Zhang Yawen. Of course, that generation also includes veterans Pi Hongyan and Xu Huaiwen, former Chinese nationals who still have a chance to shine in Beijing by representing European countries.

Coming from America

What is not well-known is that in every Olympic event there needs to be representation from each of the five Badminton World Federation (BWF) Continental federations, namely Asia, Europe, the Americas, Africa and Oceania. This translates to a tight race for selection in all 3 of the doubles disciplines as there will be a total of only 16 pairs in competition for each event; whereas there are 38 places on offer for both singles events.

What is even less well-known is that no single nation can have more than 2 entries qualify under the continent-leader rule.  This  rule only applies this year to the United States, which has 3 doubles pairs qualify by topping the Pan American region.  Canada's Mike Beres is eagerly awaiting this decision, as he, along with either of two partners, will be next in line should the U.S. decide against sending either their men's or mixed doubles pair.  The third option, leaving women's pair Lee/Mangalakiri at home, would give the green light to Canadian veteran and sometime TV-commentator Charmaine Reid.

Conclusion

The host nation has the task of choosing 3 from 4 players in women’s singles. Indonesia, Japan, Great Britain, Denmark and Malaysia must deal with choosing 2, which is tough when you have several candidates floating amongst the top 16.

It is important for the Olympics to have a variety of players from around the world and limiting the selection of the dominant nations so that they send those whom they think are the best.

Nevertheless, rules are imperfect. Unfortunately for some players, they are real contenders but they do not qualify or will not get selected. We have negligible insight into whether selectors make these decisions seriously or lightly, and how much they even know about badminton.

It is strange to have to say that it is not uncommon that being in the top 10 is not sufficient for a player to compete in the Olympics.

Click here to access the Badzine Olympic Dummy Lists.

Comments

Add New Search RSS