YICHUN, Jiangxi province - Newly-elected Badminton World Federation (BWF) vice president Liu Fengyan said he backed the efforts to lighten the players' load and cut off some of required events.

With a punishing schedule that runs from the beginning of January to the end of December, which features 12 BWF Superseries, 16 Grand Prix, Thomas Cup & Uber Cup, Sudirman Cup and world championships, many shuttlers have called for the revision of the calendar.

According to the BWF world ranking system, the higher the level of tournament is and the farther a player goes, the more points are earned. Meanwhile, if a player or pair have competed in 11 or more world ranking tournaments, only the 10 highest points scored in their tournaments during the previous 52-week period count towards their rankings.

"I propose small changes, cutting the 10 highest points to 6, to give players more rest between the tournaments," said Liu, China's badminton and table tennis chief who was elected as BWF vice president in September.

"The current schedule makes players prone to injuries and could shorten their careers, especially damaging to those top players," added Liu.

China's top shuttler Lin Dan retired five times midway in tournaments in the previous 12 months, and was ousted in the first rounds of Indonesia and Denmark Superseries. He was accused of throwing some of his matches against compatriots in order to help teammates gain valuable qualifying points for the London Olympics, a charge Lin has categorically denied.

Liu also denied the accusation against Lin, saying fatigue and a tough schedule should be blamed for the player's withdrawals.

"Top shuttlers like Lin always reach semifinals or final, after which they usually have no time to rest as the next tournament comes only a few days later," he said.

"People don't understand Lin, because they want to see him playing on the court."