BWF President Poul-Erik Høyer had proposed a change to the scoring system, which would see games go from the best-of-three sets of 21 points to the best-of-five sets of 11 points.

This required a two thirds majority to change the system, with it not reaching that threshold by less than 0.5 per cent.

It was reported that 66.31 per cent were in favour of the proposal, while 33.69 per cent were against.

To pass, it required to pass 66.66 per cent.

"Our membership has spoken, and despite the very small margin in which the two-thirds majority was not reached, the BWF respects the outcome to retain the three games to 21 points scoring system," said Høyer.

"It is now the second time such a proposal has not been approved, but I see the fantastic participation of the membership and the decision reached today as an indication that the badminton community is very much engaged in the best interests of the sport during these difficult and challenging times. 

"So, for that, I thank everyone for their role in this process.

"While the proposed scoring system change has been part of my vision to make badminton more exciting and to increase the entertainment value for stakeholders and fans, this will not deter us from continuing our efforts to increase excellence in badminton for all concerned in line with our Strategic Plan 2020-2024."

It would not have been introduced until after the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.

With backing from the BWF President, the proposal was put forward by the Indonesian Badminton Association and the Badminton Association of Maldives, and seconded by Badminton Asia, Badminton Korea Association and Chinese Taipei Badminton Association.

An attempt was made to change the scoring system at the 2018 AGM in Bangkok, but of the 252 votes cast only 129 were in favour.

This year's AGM, which was held virtually due to COVID-19 restrictions, saw Høyer re-elected for a third term as President of the BWF unopposed.

"I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the confidence you have put in me to be your President for another term," Høyer said. 

"I will do whatever I can to live up to your trust and to work hard to develop badminton to an even higher level.

"I would also like to thank all candidates who participated in the election and offered their time, experience and commitment to developing BWF and badminton. 

"The participation in the election of all candidates is extremely important and we are grateful for your contribution.

"With this election we welcome a range of new Council members for the next term and I look forward to working with all of you for the development and progress of our sport.

"At the same time, we say goodbye to a number of Council members who served last term and I would like to acknowledge the huge contributions you have made."

Patama Leeswadtrakul and Paul Kurzo were also re-elected to their positions as Deputy President and vice-president of Para-badminton respectively.

Zhang Jun of China was elected with the most votes to the BWF Council of Asia and was joined by seven other members from the continent.

These are Indonesia's Rudy Roedyanto, India's Himanta Biswa Sarma, South Korea's Kim Jong-soo, Malaysia's Goh Chee Keong, Japan's Kinji Seniya, Tajikistan's Rukhshona Narzulloeva and Bahrain's Sawsan Haji Mohammed Taqawi.

Pan America elected two Council members - Peru's Pilar Carrillo la Fuente and Guatemala's Jose Gabriel del Busto Fernandez - while Cameroon's Odette Assembe Engoulou and Chipo Zumburani of Zimbabwe were elected as African members.

Europe elected seven Council members - England's Nora Perry, Scotland's Emma Penelope Mason, Spain's David Cabello, Russia's Ella Diehl, France's Etienne Thobois, Switzerland's Robbert de Kock and Belgium's Sven Serre.

New Zealand's Nigel Skelt was elected as a member for Oceania.

The inaugural members of the BWF Vetting Panel as well as the BWF Independent Hearing Panel were voted in too.

A motion from Badminton Peru - which was seconded by El Salvador and Guatemala - was rejected, which would have seen French and Spanish as official languages of the BWF.