Fuming mad: Men’s doubles coach Herry Iman Pierngadi's trying to reason with the umpire on some of the calls during his boys' Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing match in the second round.
PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles coach Herry Iman Pierngadi is not keeping quiet over what he believes was biased officiating during the Malaysian Masters second round match involving his charges Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing on Wednesday.
The 62-year-old plans to lodge a report with the Badminton World Federation (BWF), accusing umpire Peter Meszaros of favouring the Danish pair Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard during the match.
The clash ended in controversy during the rubber game. With the world junior champions trailing 14-12, the Swiss umpire awarded the 15th point to the Danes, claiming the shuttle had brushed Aaron’s ear before landing out, a decision that stunned the Malaysian camp as Aaron had appeared to avoid it.
The call sparked an uproar not only from the crowd at the Axiata Arena but also from Herry and assistant coach Muhd Miftakh, who rushed to confront the umpire in protest.
"I told him that he was being unfair. This is the third time something like this has happened, and these are young players," said Herry.
"If it happened once, maybe I could let it go, but three times and all of them questionable? If the decisions were correct, we would accept them. But the umpire rotation, which includes both Asian and European officials, needs to be reviewed to ensure fairness.
"I will inform the coaching director Rexy Mainaky and BAM to file a complaint with the BWF. We want better and fairer officiating moving forward," said Herry.
The incident clearly unsettled Aaron and Khai Xing, who looked dejected after going down 10-21, 26-24, 16-21 and were left speechless after the match.
The defeat also dashed their hopes of setting up a much-anticipated quarter-final clash with seniors Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik on Friday.
Added Herry, "Winning or losing is part of the game, but fairness must prevail. If the shuttle is in, it’s in. If it’s out, then it’s out.
"These are young players and incidents like this can affect their focus. But overall, I felt they played quite well," he added.
This is not the first time that questionable umpiring decisions have come under the spotlight, as such incidents have occurred far too often.
Just a few weeks ago, Indonesia found themselves on the receiving end of a controversial call when a Hong Kong umpire made a glaring error during a Sudirman Cup match in Xiamen, China. The tie involved Indonesian pair Rinov Rivaldy-Gloria Widjaja and Denmark’s Jesper Toft-Amalie Magelund.
During that match, a shot by Toft clearly landed out but the point was still awarded to the Danes.
The Badminton Association of Indonesia lodged an official complaint, and after reviewing the incident, the BWF acknowledged that the umpire had indeed made a mistake.
