The Badminton World Federation's (BWF) ruling Council have amended the regulations to permit the introduction of a challenge structure and have chosen the event in the Indonesian capital Jakarta to test it. 

The instant reviews will allow players at the tournament, which is due to be held between June 11 to June 16, to contest line calls.

A similar system has been in place in tennis since 2006 when the Hawk-Eye system was officially introduced at the US Open having been first used four years earlier as part of the BBC's Davis Cup coverage.

BWF Deputy President and Chair of the Events Committee, Paisan Rangsikitpho, revealed that the plan is to introduce the new system into the BWF World Superseries and other leading events over the next few years.

"There will be a test set-up at next month's Sudirman Cup in Kuala Lumpur and thereafter the intention is to go live at the Indonesian Open," he said.

"We are obviously still in an experimental phase so we will likely not implement instant-review technology in all tournaments right now.

"We are certain players will welcome this news as BWF continues its quest to be innovative and advance badminton.

"We have already received the full support of the BWF Athletes' Commission which represents players.

"What we are doing is similar to other sports - the rules and principles are essentially the same as sports such as tennis, though the technology and process may differ slightly.

"At the end of the day we want to further enhance the integrity of match play and the decisions which are made."


Emma Mason, the recently elected chair of the BWF Athletes' Commission, welcomed the launch of the new system. 

"The inclusion of such modern technology brings badminton into line with leading sports such as tennis and football which are already using or implementing this type of system," she said.

"The Athletes' Commission looks forward to working closely with the players and the BWF to ensure the instant review system is a successful and valuable introduction to our sport."

While various review technologies are available, including Hawk-Eye, Rangsikitpho claimed BWF is focusing on how the challenge system will work while the world-governing federation "continues to look at the technologies on the market".

"This decision is more about the rules than [about] the exact technology," he said.

"We are still considering various options but it will be a camera-based system which makes it possible for a line-call referee to reassess the call with slow-motion technology.

"We want to get the mechanics of this operation working properly and ensure that both players and match officials understand how it should be done - step by step.

"That's our priority right now."

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