New Delhi: Chief Indian national coach Pullela Gopichand believes that the Olympic qualification system in badminton is ‘unfair’ and putting a ‘lot of strain’ on the players.
The Olympic qualification period for the Tokyo Games starts April 29 this year with the Badminton World Federation (BWF) considering the ranking list, to be published April 30, 2020 to allocate spots and Gopichand feels BWF needs to have a relook at the qualification system.
“I understand it is very important that players earn good amount of money and the prize money goes up but it is also unfair that the Olympic qualification should last a year long. It is something which needs to be looked at,” Gopichand told this agency in an exclusive interview.
“I think if you win an All England or a World Championship or Asian or European Championship, there is a moment where you could think of direct qualification for these five six slots at least, something like an Olympic quota, rather than spreading it over a year’s time.
“It just makes a mad rush, travelling across the world. It is a lot of strain and it is making things difficult for players,” he said.
The BWF revamped its structure in 2018, making it compulsory for the world’s top-15 players in the singles events and top 10 pairs in the doubles disciplines to play a minimum of 12 out of 15 World Tour tournaments or face a penalty.
The first three months of the new BWF season has already seen injuries to top players such as three-time world champion Carolina Marin, former world no.1 Korean Son Wan Ho and China’s fast-rising Gao Fangjie.