Spin serve brings new twist to Sudirman Cup

Ready for Suzhou battle: Malaysian shuttlers (from right) Ong Yew Sin, Aaron Chia, Teo Ee Yi and Soh Wooi Yik taking a break during a training session in China ahead of the Sudirman Cup.

PETALING JAYA: Decades after Malaysia’s Sidek brothers saw their unique serve – the Sidek-serve – outlawed, the similar spin serve has now been banned, but it will not affect our national doubles shuttler Aaron Chia.

Of all the Malaysian players, Aaron is the one who seems to fancy the spin serve the most but his is not that bad, said national doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky.

“Aaron’s spin serve is not too cruel, it’s playable, so I don’t see it as a problem,” said Rexy.

“But I agree, if it’s done too much, it can destroy the game.”

The world body decided to ban the serve starting with the Sudirman Cup, which begins today in Suzhou, China.

On Friday, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) approved an interim ban on the “spin serve” at all international tournaments until further consultation at their annual general meeting on May 27.

The ban will also be imposed at the Malaysian Masters the following week.

The amendment to the laws of the sport now states that the server should release the shuttle “without adding spin” as the BWF look to improve rallies after the spin serve proved to be tough to return or completely unplayable.

BWF president Poul-Erik Hoyer said the spin serve was similar to the ‘Sidek serve’ which was banned after the technique - which involved slicing the shuttle across its feathers – created an uproar in the early 1980s.

“BWF also wanted to avoid a scenario where the Sudirman Cup and other international tournaments could be platforms to test the new ‘spin serve’ and ultimately disrupt the competitions,” said Hoyer.

“BWF welcome players creating innovation in our game and experimenting with techniques to get a competitive advantage on court.

“However, we have received several points of feedback from within the badminton community, including the Athletes’ Commission, expressing that this ‘spin serve’ could have a negative impact on the game.”

Former international Rashid Sidek said the spin serve was played more by the Danish doubles players but he was fine with the technique.

In fact, the technique was first tried at the international stage by Danish doubles player Marcus Rindshoj in the second round of this year’s Polish Open. It was then picked up by South Korean Chol Soi-gyu in the Korean league and several others, especially the doubles players.

“The technique is to spin the shuttle before the racquet makes contact with it. It does not spoil the shuttle,” said Rashid.