New service rule 'ridiculous': Viktor Axelsen

Danish badminton player and world champion Viktor Axelsen has criticised the Badminton World Federation's (BWF) new service rule to fix the height of the shuttle, calling it 'ridiculous'.

Earlier, to overcome questionable decisions by service judges, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) decided to test an experimental service law involving a fixed height for the shuttle from March 1.

According to the new rule, the shuttle should be 'below 1.15 metres from the surface of the court at the instant of being hit by the server's racket'.

The first tournament where the new law will be tested is at the All England Open Championships next year.

Criticising the new rule, Viktor told ANI, "It is a ridiculous rule. It is like to lower the basket in basketball just because taller player have an easier time in dunking. I think it is really a bad rule."

He added, "It is strange to start it at the All England, the most prestigious tournament during the calendar year. So, I don't like it."

According to the previous service rule, the shuttle had to be below one's waist when it is hit.

Commenting on next year's cramped international calendar, Viktor said the BWF should improve the quality of tournaments rather than increasing the number of events.

"I try to see BWF really trying to raise the quality of the tournaments. It is not bad at the moment but we can do better. Instead of having a lot of tournaments, not only do we have time to practice. Also I think a few important tournaments than just a lot of tournaments," he said.

Indian stalwarts Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu had also expressed their displeasure over the cramped scheduling as the BWF made it compulsory for the top 15 global players to play in singles events and the top 10 doubles pair in the doubles to play a minimum of 12 tournaments or face penalties.