A 25-second time clock is being piloted at the Indonesia Masters, which opened on the 20th. A timer is running under the scoreboard at the top right of the screen, indicating 25 seconds. BWF TV broadcast screen capture
Ahn Se-young roars after winning the India Open held last week. Photo provided by Korea Badminton Association
[스포츠조선 최만식 기자] Badminton, which is receiving increasing attention due to the outstanding performance of world number one Se-young Ahn (women’s singles) and Seo Seung-jae and Won-ho Kim (men’s doubles), is expected to be upgraded to ‘exciting’.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is pushing for major changes such as a ‘time clock’ that places a limit on serving time to speed up the pace of the game, and a reduction from 21 points per game (set) to 15 points. BWF announced in an official announcement that it will further test the ‘time clock’, which was piloted in all qualifying matches at the ‘2025 Australian Open’, at the 2026 Indonesia Masters tournament, which opened on the 20th. In the future, we plan to gradually increase the number of competitions applied to the world tour hosted by BWF.
The ‘Time Clock’ is intended to prevent players from unnecessarily delaying time and thus reducing the ‘excitement’, and to increase the enjoyment of watching for the consumer (audience). Similar examples include baseball’s ‘pitch clock’ and basketball’s ‘5 second rule’.
The ‘pitch clock’ sets the pitcher’s pitch interval at ’18 seconds when there is no runner’ and ’23 seconds when there is a runner’. Last year’s 20 seconds and 25 seconds respectively were shortened by 2 seconds this year. The ‘5 second rule’ is a rule that gives a violation if the player who caught the ball starts an attack with an inbound pass outside the baseline and the time exceeds 5 seconds.
BWF announced on its website the pilot introduction of a 25-second rule ‘time clock’. BWF homepage capture
Preventing game delays is a long-standing challenge not only in baseball and basketball, but also in professional soccer. Since 2019, the Korea Professional Football League has been carrying out the ‘5 Minutes More Campaign’ to increase the actual game time by more than 5 minutes, and starting from the 2022 season, it is adopting a method of placing the ball on a total of 12 small cones around the touchline and endline to eliminate intentional time-consuming by ball boys.
For this purpose, BWF introduced a ‘time clock’ of 25 seconds. After the rally ends, the attacker must be ready to serve within 25 seconds. During this time, you can freely perform actions such as wiping sweat or drinking water. However, players must observe the 25 seconds by looking at the timer installed next to the court. When the attacker is ready to serve within 25 seconds, the defender must respond immediately.
If the referee determines that either side delayed time, a warning (yellow card or red card) will be given. Sweat on the coat is frequently wiped off with a mop, and when a large mop is used, the timer is paused, and the 25 second rule applies to small mops.
Gold medallists South Korea?s Seo Seung-jae (L) and Kim Won-ho (R) pose with their trophy during the awards ceremony after the men?s doubles final match against Malaysia?s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik at the Malaysia Open badminton tournament in Kuala Lumpur on January 11, 2026. (Photo by MOHD RASFAN / AFP)
In addition, BWF will submit a plan to change the current ’21 points – 3 out of 2 wins’ to ’15 points – 3 out of 2 wins’ at the regular general meeting held in Denmark in April. If the final decision is made through a vote by member countries, it will be the first major revolution in 20 years since the 21-point system was introduced in 2006.
The ’11-point-5-out-of-3-win system’ was proposed twice in 2018 and 2021, but was rejected as it did not meet the quorum (two-thirds of member countries) for approval. This time, BWF came up with a compromise solution, the 15-point system.
Some pointed out that this change was a ‘trick’ to keep Ahn Se-young, who enjoys unrivaled power as the world’s best, in check. This is because there is a high risk that it will be detrimental to Ahn Se-young, who has a slow starter style based on strong physical strength.
Kim Dong-moon, president of the Korea Badminton Association, also expressed concern, saying, “I guess they are trying to change the rules because they can’t catch top-ranked Korean players with the current method. There will be some impact until they adapt.”
However, Ahn Se-young showed a calm stance, saying, “It may be difficult in the beginning, but if I adapt, I think it will lead to good results. If the score decreases, I think the physical burden will be lessened.”
Reporter Choi Man-sik cms@sportschosun.com
