Scoring System Development of Badminton

The current scoring system in badminton is the 3 x 21 rally point scoring system. This means that matches are played to 21 points, with a required 2 points difference between scores (meaning scores can go above 21). The winner of a rally scores a point regardless of who served. This scoring system was adopted from August 2006.

Traditional System

In the traditional scoring system in badminton, games were played to 15 points, except for women's singles which was played up to 11. A match was decided by the best of three games. Only the serving players were able to score a point. In doubles, both players of a pair would serve before the service returned to the other side: in order to regain the service, the receiving pair had to win two rallies (not necessarily consecutively).

1992 Scoring System

In 1992, the BWF introduced new rules: setting at 13-all and 14-all. This meant that if the players were tied at 14-14 for men's singles or 10-10 for women's singles, the player who had first reached that score could elect to set and play to 17 (for men) or to 12 (for women). If the players were tied at 13-13 (for men) or 9-9 (for women), the player could elect to set and play to 18 (for men) or to 12 (for women). This last tie election rule was removed a few years later.

2002 Scoring System - 5 x 7

In 2002 the BWF, concerned with the unpredictable and often lengthy time required for matches, decided to experiment with a different scoring system to improve the commercial and especially the broadcasting appeal of the sport. The new scoring system shortened games to 7 points and decided matches by the best of 5 games. When the score reached 6-6, the player who first reached 6 could elect to set to 8 points.

Return to the original scoring system

Yet the match time remained an issue, since the playing time for the two scoring systems was similar. This experiment was abandoned and replaced by a modified version of the traditional scoring system. The 2002 Commonwealth Games is the last event that used this scoring system.

3 x 21 rally point scoring system

In December 2005 the BWF experimented again with the scoring system, intending both to regulate the playing time and to simplify the system for television viewers. The main change from the traditional system was to adopt rally point scoring, in which the winner of a rally scores a point regardless of who served; games were lengthened to 21 points. However, in the old system, competitors may not be able to score after many exchanges, since serving is often slightly more difficult than defending, especially in professional badminton. The new scoring system thus makes the game duration significantly shorter. The experiment ended in May 2006, and the BWF ruled that the new scoring system would be adopted from August 2006 onwards.