Badminton World Federation (BWF) has announced a slight change in the rules for qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics today (6 June 2020). Mixed doubles players from China and Hong Kong will no longer get Olympic qualification points through the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships in 2021.
On May 27, BWF announced that it will allow players from China and Hong Kong to earn Olympic qualification points from the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships in 2021 because the two countries could not participate in the Badminton Asia Team Championships 2020 in Manila because of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Goh Liu Ying voiced her protest to BWF regarding this rule. Through The Star, Goh Liu Ying had said, “Chan Peng Soon and I did not play in Manila so did many other mixed doubles pair. So now, the BWF are giving China and Hong Kong a chance to earn Olympic points at next year’s meet and since it’s a mixed team event, their mixed pairs will have an advantage. “
“With the race for the Olympics a close contest, every qualifier is important… I think, it’s unfair,” said Goh.
In 2020, a Thomas and Uber Cup year, mixed doubles matches were not played during the Badminton Asia Team Championships as it followed the format of the Thomas and Uber Cup. 2021 is a Sudirman Cup year. Mixed doubles will be contested in the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships as it will follow the Sudirman Cup format.
Goh’s protest reached the eyes of Thomas Lund, BWF’s secretary-general. Lund sent a response by saying, “Liu Ying has raised a fair question. We’ve heard what she has to say. This (plan to give China and Hong Kong a chance to get Olympic qualifying points at next year’s Asia meet) will be discussed internally and will be further reviewed.”
The rules were finally updated today (6 June 2020) by BWF to allow Chinese and Hong Kong players of categories other than mixed doubles to get points from the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships 2021.