The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has extended the ban on the new ¡°spin serve¡± until after next year¡¯s Paris Olympics and Paralympics, it said on Monday.
The BWF this month temporarily banned the serve, which involves a player spinning the shuttle before launching it, after it proved to be tough to return or completely unplayable.
¡°After consultation with the badminton community, BWF Council believed it best to forbid the ¡®spin serve¡¯ for another 15 months so as to not impact the Olympic and Paralympic qualifying periods and the Games themselves,¡± the BWF said.
The BWF secretary general Thomas Lund said the governing body ¡°welcomed innovation in badminton¡± but added that ¡°more evidence was needed on the potential effects¡± of the serve before introducing it.
The ban will be in place for the Thailand Open, which begins on Tuesday.
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