Wednesday 17 August 2011

More isn't always merrier

An interesting take on the World Junior that just finished in India. The argument is that with so many Indian players in both tournaments, they often took points away from other Indian players, rather than from overseas players.
Of course this is the trade off when hosting such an event. By allowing so many home players in, the organisers can generate extra income through entry fees (unlike the old days when each country only had a single representative). And to be frank, I'm not sure whether there is a downside to this (unless there is a desire to keep the World Junior and 'elite' event). Of course you will get local v local match-ups, but the top players should make it to the top, regardless of who they have to play.
I'm not sure where future World Juniors are likely to end up being held, but I would be interested if a similar phenomenon occurs if it held in China or Russia. (I'm betting that it would btw)

1 comment:

Garvin said...

I think the issue with so many players from the host country would be with norms ie needing to meet so many number of players not from your own federation.

For the host country, getting someone from your own country would hurt that criteria, especially if there were plenty of foreigners in your score group, but you got another player from your own federation.