The current scoring system in badminton is the 3 × 21 rally point scoring system. This means that three games (i.e. one match) are played to 21 points each, with a required two point difference between scores (meaning scores can go above 21, to a maximum of 30). The winner of a rally scores a point regardless of who served. This scoring system was adopted from August 2006. A player wins a rally when he strikes the shuttlecock and it touches the floor of the opponent's side of the court. The court size varries when playing singles or doubles. If the shuttlecock goes out of bounds it is called a fault.
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A rally must be started from one side of the court with both opponents standing diagonally across from each other. When a player serves the racket must be served from under the waist. The shuttlecock must move over the net and into the same section of the court that the opponent is standing in. The opponents will then hit the shuttlecock back and forth, one time each until one of the opponents is unable to hit the shuttlecock and it hits the floor of the court. A rally ends once the shuttlecock reaches the floor of the court.
A fault is called when the shuttlecock touches the ceiling, net, goes under the net, a player catches or touches the shuttle cock with anything other than the front face of the net, or if the shuttlecock goes outside the boundaries of either side of the court. The serving team loses the serving right and it is passed onto the opponent. No points are awarded to any team.
The original scoring system in badminton dates back to as early as 1873,[1] A match or rubber is decided by the best of three games. Each game is played to 15 points in the case of mens singles and any doubles games. In the case of ladies singles, a game is played to 11 points.
The traditional scoring system also allows for a single game to determine a match or rubber. In this instance the game would be played to 21 points.
The first service is usually determined by the equivalent of a coin toss. Thereafter a rally has to be won for service to change or a point to be won.
In singles, if the server loses a rally, the service would be transferred to the opponent. If the server wins a rally, their score is increased by one point. In doubles, if the server loses a rally, the service would transfer to their partner (except if serving first in the game) presenting a second opportunity to maintain scoring (second server). If service is lost again, service is transferred to the opposition. If the server's team wins a rally, their team score is increased by one point.
In a game to 15 points, if the score reached 13–13, the player reaching 13 first would have the choice of "setting" or playing straight through to 15. If they choose to "set", the score reverts to 0–0 and the first to score five points is the winner of the game. If the score reached 14–14, the player reaching 14 first would again have the option to "set" or play straight through to 15. This time however, the winner would be the first to score three points. In a game to 11 points, setting would occur at nine and 10 with "setting" to three and two points respectively. In a game to 21 points, setting would take place at 19 and 20 points "setting" to five and three respectively.
In 2002, "setting" at 13-13, 9–9 and 19–19 was dropped[2] from the rules.
In 2002 the BWF, concerned with the unpredictable and often lengthy time required for matches, decided to experiment with a different scoring system to improve the commercial and especially the broadcasting appeal of the sport. The new scoring system shortened games to seven points and decided matches by the best of five games. When the score reached 6–6, the player who first reached six could elect to set to eight points.[3]
The match time remained an issue, since the playing time for the two scoring systems was similar. This experiment was abandoned and replaced by a modified version of the traditional scoring system. The 2002 Commonwealth Games is the last event that used this scoring system.[4]
In December 2005 the BWF experimented again with the scoring system, intending both to regulate the playing time and to simplify the system for television viewers. The main change from the traditional system was to adopt rally point scoring, in which the winner of a rally scores a point regardless of who served; games were lengthened to 21 points. However, in the old system, competitors may not be able to score after many exchanges, since serving is often slightly more difficult than defending, especially in professional badminton. The new scoring system thus makes the game duration significantly shorter. The experiment ended in May 2006, and the BWF ruled that the new scoring system would be adopted from August 2006 onwards.[5]