Awarding wild cards is the norm in tennis, the Grand Slam, even routinely trading wild cards between the tournaments. Wild card has its purpose and it is commonly practised in many professional sports. Be flexible, look at the big picture, don't be a sticker of rules. The law is made for man, not man for law - heard of this maxim ? I mean, what's the World Championships when one of the main contenders, veritably the reigning World Champion and Olympic Champion, in three successive years to boot, is kept out from defending his title due to a technicality ? The true world champion has to prove he is the best of the best by taking on all worthy challengers and beating them and ready to conquer all comers. Otherwise the title of World Champion is not befitting its name, but diminished, significantly. I believe BWF would agree with me if they read my post.
Or CL shouldn't take a holiday after Rio Olympic? Not to scorn but to be fair, the rules are there. You have to qualify by winning points via tournaments. There is no reason for WC's status to be diminished if the reigning World Champion can't even qualify after a long holiday.
I (probably) misread racketman123's post. I thought he was taunting him for his lack of results. And if you compare him to Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei in their heydays I think it's actually true. Of course he is two time WC and has won an Olympic gold, but LCW and LD were completely dominating the circuit in almost every tournament they played. CL on the other hand is not that dominant with lots of early round exits and surprising upsets. Maybe it's a bit harsh because LD and LCW set the standard really high and maybe he is still struggling with his wrist injury. Anyways, he seems like a really nice guy, I just don't like his game that much.
I think the BWF needs a bit more consistency with giving out wildcards. Maybe some rules about being eligible for one should be made.
In my humble opinion, if CL cannot qualify for World Championship, then he had no one but himself to blame. It is unlucky that he is injured in the qualifying period but he shouldn't have took a few months off after Rio. Not to mention the early round exits this season. Even he, as the World and Olympic Champion should have no problem is he were not to qualify. What about others who compete in every tournament to qualify? His standard should have enabled him to win but he couldn't.
Why? It's all unforeseen circumstances. The Regulations for Eligibility says maximum 4 per MA ranked in the top 8,max 3 ranked 9 to 24, or max 2 ranked 25 to 150. Nobody at that time, not even CBA, knew in advance Chen long would injure his wrist slightly at the MAS Open in R2 and had to retire and skip the following week's SIN Open as well. Even so, his Race to Glasgow Standing at that moment stood at No.7, only Shi Yuqi was higher at No.6 while Tian Houwei was at No.8 whereas Lin Dan was in the high 20s and he had only the MAS Open and the CHN Masters to have an outside chance of qualifying, and most people thought he wouldn't make it. In the end, almost beyond expectations, Lin Dan won the MAS Open in spectacular fashion and only needed to advance to the QFs of the last and final qualifying tournament, the CHN Masters, to earn the requisite ranking points for a ticket to Glasgow which he duly succeeded, thereby leapfrogged to within top 8 above Chen Long at No.7. Not only that, even Tian Houwei who was originally at No.8 before the MAS Open, actually managed to improve his standing by winning the CHN Masters to rise above Chen long as well, thereby nudging out Chen Long to No.9 ! That's how the story goes. Nothing was pre-planned or orchestrated, too far-fetched. How to, and why make life difficult for oneself?
In that case, you don''t understand the purpose of wild cards or why it even exists. Not to mention my compelling arguments.
OK. Scottish BA should offer to arrange Wang ShiXian to immigrate to UK, along with a wild card to Chen Long. This way, Chen Long gets to play the WC and WSX gets to play in the Olympics.
The fairness argument cuts both ways. In the first place, who sets the rules? And , as I've said, the law (rule) is made for man, not man for law(rule). Moreover, man-made law (rule) is not perfect, if it ceases to serve its purpose or becomes an impediment, then amend or change it. Is it fair for a 150th ranked player to qualify for the WC but not the 9th ranked Chen Long, the reigning WC and OG champion who is technically denied the right to defend his title due to unforeseen circumstances ? If I may push the argument further, tongue-in-cheek, why not ask the 150 and the next one or two lower ranked players, 'why didn't you work harder and do better and/or not take a break, or not get injured, or not fall sick, so that your ranking is higher?' Obviously, we need to strike a balance, weigh the pros and cons, and consider the big picture. And, would we rather watch a 150th or lower ranked player, 'what's-his-name?', compete for the world title than Chen Long, the, there I go again, 2xWC and 1xOG Champion ? Lastly, I urge BWF to introduce automatic qualification for the reigning OG/WC titleholder to the World Championships just as they did for the year-end Super Series Finals but still subject to the limitation of max 4 per MA for each category.
I don't think Xie Xing Fang had anything to do with influencing BWF. It's quite obvious they gave the wildcard to stir up interest in the game.
Now , let's see how Chen Long fare at the BAC. With his wrist injury at the MAS Open,he probably went easy on his training for a few days , I supposed. Wonder what's his match fitness level now. If not at or near his best, he might not even progress to the final.
Wild cards in tennis are regular and well systemized. In badminton they are haphazard. I can't even remember if they were given to anyone after Lin Dan in 2013. So they need to regularize them. Make clear rules.
Not XXF per se, but the tournament having been held in China was indeed a reason for giving Lin Dan a wild card.
The ideal scenario would be this: the bwf awards CL a wildcard, only for him to have his complacent ass kicked in the first round by the WR#1745 player.