Who are the officials of badminton?

by Allyson

(Arayat, Pampanga, Philippines)

Question
Who are the officials of badminton?

Answer

The officials are the judges responsible to ensure a fair badminton game is being played.They consists of:

Umpire: The ‘main judge’ for the particular badminton game. He/she has the power to overrule any decisions made by the service judge or line judges. The umpire is the person ensuring that the badminton game is run smoothly and prevent any players from delaying the game play.

Whenever a player requests to change the shuttle, the umpire will need to approve that the change could be made.

The umpire also looks out for faults committed around the net area such as whether a player touched the net when returning the shuttle.

Besides, the umpire is responsible to make a ‘fault’ call when the shuttle touches the player or the players’ attires except for the badminton racket. In badminton, it will be a fault/foul to a player if the shuttle touches any part of that player’s body or attire.

Service Judge: The service judge is responsible in making a ‘service fault’ call and to provide shuttles to the players.

Line Judges: Line judges sit beside the badminton court (right in front of every in/out lines) to determine whether the shuttle is inside or outside the boundaries of the court.

Their calls are usually very subjective and are often controversial.