Malaysia to submit protest over electronic scoreboard glitch

Malaysia will submit an official protest to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) regarding a technical problem in the electronic scoreboard when Malaysian mixed doubles pair Tan Aik Quan/Lai Pei Jing were in action against China's Tang Jinhua/Tao Jiaming in the first round of the World Championships 2013, here, Monday.

Without blaming anybody for the technical glitch, Malaysian mixed doubles coach Jeremy Gan said the glitch cost the Malaysian pair the match since the duo lost their focus due to a contentious point decision made by the chair umpire.

"I had analysed the video recording and saw the scoreboard blackout when the Malaysian pair earned a point.

"The score should have been 20-20 and that situation was crucial. However, the chair umpire announced the score as 19-20, and the duo went on to lose the first set and never managed to recover, losing the second as well," he said here.

Aik Quan-Pei Jing lost 19-21, 7-21 to the Chinese pair.

Team manager Tony Tan also said that he would raise the matter with the BWF to avoid a similar incident during the championships.

"I am disappointed that such a glitch has happened at a prestigious tournament like the World Championships. Winning and losing is normal in sports but players must have a fair and level playing field," he said.