Ignorant umpires

I was not able to come up with my regular badminton column last weekend. My schedule was tight as I participated in the 1st Metro Sports Anniversary Badminton Smash (July 23-24) at the Metro Sports Badminton Club in Lahug.

Among all the categories, I teamed up with my brother-in-law Ferdinand Ong in the Class C men's doubles event for the 36 yrs. old and above age bracket.

There was a very good turn-out of participants not only from Metro Sports and other Cebu - based badminton clubs but also from nearby provinces and cities like Bohol, Bacolod, Tacloban, Ormoc, Butuan, and Davao.

All in all, more than 300 teams participated in the different categories and age groups in the men's doubles, women's doubles, mixed doubles, including the singles events for the 12 yrs. old and under category. All the levels were represented from the Class A (Open) level down to levels B, C, and D. There was even a Beginners' level.

Among the prizes up for grabs were chao pai rackets for the champions of each event and Metro Sports gym bags for the runners-up. There were also lots of raffle prizes given away courtesy of the many sponsors of the event.

The tournament was generally successful and orderly. Apart from the usual complaints about leveling, the tournament went on very smoothly that all the events during the first day (Saturday) for the men's and women's doubles events were done on that day despite ending the games by past 10 pm already.

Except for one terrible experience I had during the championship round in the event that we played in. It was the 2nd set of the match when I smashed the shuttlecock down the line to the far corner along the umpire's chair. The line judge called the ball in. But our opponents disputed the call and insisted that it was out. The line judge called it in the 2nd time. And this time, the teammates of our opponents seated near the area joined the dispute and called it out. After the 3rd time, the line judge gave in and decided that the ball went out.

I complained to the umpire that the players nor their teammates should not try to influence the decision of the line judge much less gang up on him to change his decision. To my surprise and shock, the umpire decided to overrule the line judge and called a "let".





This time, I was really pissed off since we fought hard in the match only to be denied a legitimate point. The lady umpire who obviously do not know International Badminton Federation basic rules that umpires cannot overrule the line judge insisted that she called it a "let" because she doesn't trust that particular line judge and that he is "new".

I argued that why was he allowed to officiate as a line judge if he cannot be trusted? And besides, he already was officiating the whole day including the 1st set of the match we were playing.

Although our opponents eventually gave in and withdrew their protest of the call, the point was that the umpire was very ignorant about the basic rule of officiating. An umpire can never over-rule another official's call (including a line judge or a service judge) except when that particular official did not see the ball and cannot make a decision himself.

I was repulsed at the ignorance of this particular umpire's insistence that she can over-rule a line judge's decision. And she was not even anywhere near the ball to make a qualified decision herself!

Let this be a warning to all badminton players out there who may encounter this similar situation in future tournaments. Beware of ignorant umpires who make bad calls. ([email protected])