BWF TO INTRODUCE NEW FORMAT FOR 2010 KL THOMAS CUP

By Dan Guen Chin

GUANGZHOU, May 18 (Bernama) -- The 2010 Thomas/Uber Cup finals to be hosted
by Malaysia will see a new format, aimed at eliminating the suspicion of teams
purposely losing matches for their own benefit.

What happened in the final round in Jakarta last year where certain
teams fielded weakened sides, especially in the Thomas Cup, during the
preliminary round matches in order to lose so as avoid certain opponents in the
knock out stages, has prompted the Badminton World Federation (BWF) to review
the current format.

The current format calls for 12 teams, including the host, which made it
past the five qualifying venues, to be divided into four groups and after a
round robin format, the winner of each group advance into the knock out stages
of the quarter-finals.

The teams which finish second and third in each group will then play each
other for the other available ticket to the last eight, which means all 12 teams
in the competition, irrespective of how they finished in the group stages will
have a crack at the title.

But a BWF Events committee recommendation which was endorsed by the council
recently, has decided that in the 2010 edition, the third placed team after the
group matches, will be eliminated from the tournament.

"And then there will be a draw to decide which of the four teams that
finished second in their respective groups, play the group winners in the
knock-out stages.

"I feel the new format will remove all those suspicion of teams throwing
away matches in the early rounds to jockey for positions. Also the decision to
eliminate the third placed team after the round robin is to make matches more
competitive," said Paisan Rangsipitkho, chairman of the events committee and
also the newly elected deputy president of the BWF.

Paisan also hinted that there could be changes to the Sudirman Cup format in
the next edition.

"Right now my committee is looking at various options including a proposal
that all teams in the competition have a chance to win the trophy instead of
the present format which only allows the eight teams in division one to have a
shot at the title.

"We expect a final decision on the proposal to be submitted to the council
for endorsement," he added.

A total of 34 teams took part in the 2009 edition with the teams divided
into four divisions.
--BERNAMA