8 Badminton Players Disqualified for Throwing Matches

[tokugawa]

Associated Press

LONDON - Eight female badminton doubles players were disqualified from the London 2012 Olympic Games after trying to lose matches to receive a more favourable place in the tournament, Indonesia's team leader said Wednesday.

The Badminton World Federation investigated two teams from South Korea and one each from China and Indonesia. It accused them of "not using one's best efforts to win a match" and "conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport" in matches Tuesday night.

Erick Thohir, the head of Indonesia's Olympic team, told The Associated Press that the Indonesian team will appeal. He also accused China of losing on purpose in the past.

"China has been doing this so many times and they never get sanctioned by the BWF," Thohir said. "On the first game yesterday when China did it, the BWF didn't do anything. If the BWF do something on the first game and they say you are disqualified, it is a warning for everyone."

IOC Vice-President Craig Reedie, the former head of the international badminton federation, welcomed the decision.

"Sport is competitive," Reedie told the AP. "If you lose the competitive element, then the whole thing becomes a nonsense.

"You cannot allow a player to abuse the tournament like that, and not take firm action. So good on them."

The eight disqualified players are world doubles champions Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang of China and their South Korean opponents Jung Kyun-eun and Kim Ha-na, along with South Korea's Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung and Indonesia's Meiliana Jauhari and Greysia Polii.

The players went before a disciplinary hearing Wednesday, a day after spectators at the arena booed their performance after it became clear they were deliberately trying to lose.

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge had been at the venue but had left shortly before the drama unfolded. The IOC said it would allow badminton's ruling body to handle the matter.

Paul Deighton, chief executive officer of the London organizers, said there would be no refunds for the evening's badminton program. Chairman Sebastian Coe called what happened "depressing," adding "who wants to sit through something like that?"

Teams blamed the introduction of a round-robin stage rather than a straight knockout tournament as the main cause of the problem. In the round-robin format, losing one game can lead to an easier matchup in the next round.

The Chinese players were accused of leading the way by deliberately losing a game. This led to other teams behaving in a similar way to try to force an easier quarter-final. At one stage, both teams appeared to be trying to lose.

Wang and Yu and their opponents were booed loudly by the crowd after dumping serves into the net and making simple errors, such as hitting the shuttlecock wide.

The longest rally in their first game was only four strokes. The umpire warned them, and tournament referee Torsten Berg spoke to all four players but it had little effect. At one stage, Berg showed a black card, which usually means disqualification, but the game continued.

Eventually, the Chinese women lost 21-14, 21-11 and both pairs were jeered off the court.

The teams had already qualified for knockout round, but the result ensured that the top-seeded Wang and Yu would have avoided playing their No. 2-seeded Chinese teammates until the final.

The problem was repeated in the next women's doubles between South Korea's Ha and Kim Min-jung and their Indonesian opponents. Both teams were also warned for deliberately losing points in a match the South Koreans won 18-21, 21-14, 21-12.

China's Lin Dan, the No. 2-ranked men's singles player, said through an interpreter the sport is going to be damaged.

"Especially for the audience," he said before the disqualifications were announced. "This is definitely not within the Olympic spirit. But like I said before, it's not one-sided. Whoever sets the rule should make it knockout so whoever doesn't try will just leave the Olympics."

Beijing badminton silver medallist Gail Emms said the matches were embarrassing to watch.

"It was absolutely shocking," she said. "The crowds were booing and chanting 'Off, off, off.'"

To see how bad it was see video: http://www.ctvolympics.ca/racquet-sports/news/article/eight-badminton-players-disqualified-from-london-2012.html?cid=rsstsn

China 'to probe badminton loss' as players charged

BBC News

China's Olympic sports delegation has begun an investigation into allegations two badminton players "deliberately lost" their match, state media say.

Doubles players Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli are among eight players charged by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) with "not using one's best efforts to win".

Four players from South Korea and two from Indonesia have also been charged.

Some of the players said they were saving energy. Reports say they wanted to lose to secure an easier draw.

China's Olympic Committee opposed any behaviour which violated "sporting spirit and morality", a spokesman said.

Further action could be taken based on the results of the investigation, the spokesman said in a report published by Xinhua news agency.

London 2012 chairman Lord Coe said the scandal was bad news for the games and "unacceptable".

It was "depressing - who wants to sit through something like that?" he said.
'Why waste energy?'

The match between the top-seeded Chinese duo and South Koreans Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na came under scrutiny after the longest rally in their game lasted four shots.

Match referee Thorsten Berg came on court at one point to warn the players, who also appeared to make deliberate errors.

Both pairs were already through to the quarter-finals.

The Chinese duo lost, meaning - Xinhua noted - that if both Chinese pairs continue to do well, they will not meet until the final.

Ms Yu said after the match that the performance was about saving strength.

"We've already qualified, so why would we waste energy? It's not necessary to go out hard again when the knockout rounds are tomorrow."

A subsequent match between South Korean third seeds Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung and Indonesian pair Meiliana Juahari and Greysia Polii also came under scrutiny, with both teams apparently keen to lose - and so avoid the Chinese in the next round.

A statement from the BWF confirmed that all four pairs would face charges of "not using one's best efforts to win a match" and "conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport".

It is not clear what kind of penalties they could face. They are due to play in the quarter-finals later on Wednesday.
'No respect'

Australian coach Lasse Bundgaard said the group format of the tournament was to blame.

"If you can win a medal by losing, but not by winning, that's not a good situation to be put in," the Associated Press news agency quoted him as saying.

But a commentary piece carried by Xinhua was more reflective. The players' actions did not "break any rules", it said, but such behaviour damaged "sportsmanship and ethics".

"It is purely an act just for getting gold, with absolutely no respect to the spectators. You will be widely criticised even if you win the gold medal in the end," the commentary read.

"Is it more important for us to ensure a gold-winning opportunity, or to protect China's image and to spread the Olympic spirit?"

The row provoked heated debate on Sina Weibo - one of China's Twitter equivalents. Moderators put up a page dividing comments into support and criticism of the players - and 70% of commentators backed the players.

One user in Beijing said: "It all depends on the result! Once the result is right, the way you achieve it doesn't really matter."

But another from Foshan in southern Guangdong said: "Passive competition, no matter what, goes against the Olympic spirit. All you want to achieve by doing this is to secure both gold and silver."

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-19074280

The row provoked heated debate on Sina Weibo - one of China's Twitter equivalents. Moderators put up a page dividing comments into support and criticism of the players - and 70% of commentators backed the players.

One user in Beijing said: "It all depends on the result! Once the result is right, the way you achieve it doesn't really matter."

Unbelievable! I guess for China the end justifies the means. But then again this is the same China that thinks Tibet and all of the South China Sea belongs to them.

 

[Cock Throppled]

So, the corrupt, bribe-taking, bribe-paying, bullying freeloaders of the International Olympic Committee are the arbiters of sports ethics?

 

[uncleg]

That's funny,usually the Chinese athletes are good at hiding their cheating. I can't believe how blatantly obvious both sides made it that they were throwing the match. If they went through the motions, nobody would have said anything. On the plus side, at least Canada's team benefitted from this disgrace.

....usually it's easier to hide you're throwing a match if the other side is trying to win. When both sides are trying to throw the match it becomes a matter of who can out fumble who...................

 

[Cock Throppled]

Its in all sports today and not just the Olympics. All sports is nothing but business nowadays. Money changing hands in the upper class. For us.....its just entertainment and nothing more.

Business is business in pro sports, but the Olympics tout themselves as being pure, while the Olympic Committee is very corrupt.

 

[blazejowski]

I think the bigger new here is that there is a Badminton World Federation in the first place....
What's next, the Global Tiddlywinks Consortium?

 

[CorriGuy]

It's clear that China is the new Russia / USSR (of the 1970s) in the Olympics. Winning lots of medals, but using any means necessary to do it, including doping, cheating, influencing, the works.

 

[badbadboy]

Those badminton players deserved to be tossed since they were warned by the officials to quit the crap and they ignored the warning.

Unfortunately, this is the thing that major tournaments are made of and it is not unusual to 'hold back' and perhaps get a better place in the next rounds seedings. Perhaps unusual at the Olympics but certainly not in some tournaments I have witnessed in ice hockey plus a couple of other sports.

 

[mik]

Torture or training? Inside the brutal Chinese gymnasium where the country's future Olympic stars are beaten into shape

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-legs-young-boys-hang-bars.html#ixzz22M8Vc4KY

 

[grusse]

while those throwing the match fully deserve disqualification I wonder about the structure of an event that opens the option
of being better off,down the road, to lose a match.

does this not need to be addressed?

 

[jbseeker]

Not a problem in Tennis, boxing, wrestling, fencing: 1 match direct elimination win or go home.

 

[mercyshooter]

Not a problem in Tennis, boxing, wrestling, fencing: 1 match direct elimination win or go home.

the format is also not a problem in soccer (football) too. badminton is also using soccer (football) format!

 

[tokugawa]

Disqualified Chinese badminton player Yu quits sport after scandal

LONDON — The Associated Press

A Chinese badminton star is apparently quitting the sport after she was one of eight players disqualified from the doubles tournament at the London Olympics for trying to lose.

A comment on a verified account for Yu Yang on the Tencent microblogging service late Wednesday read: “This is my last game. Farewell Badminton World Federation. Farewell my dear badminton.”

Yu and Wang Xiaoli were one of four doubles teams which appeared to play poorly on purpose to secure a more favorable position in the next phase of the event.

Two teams from South Korea and another from Indonesia were disqualified from competition but allowed to stay at the games — a step lighter than expulsion, the penalty for positive drug tests.

It appeared to be the first mass disqualification in Olympic history.

The feeble play was obvious to fans who attended the matches Tuesday night at Wembley Arena — they chanted, “Off! Off! Off!” — and to incredulous television broadcasters and viewers watching around the world.

“They're serving fault and fault! They are just hitting the ball into the net!” the BBC's David Mercer said in disbelief. “They are both trying to lose, and that is unforgivable. This is the Olympic Games.”

None of the players was made available for interviews.

The official Xinhua news agency quoted Yu apologizing “to all the badminton fans and friends over yesterday's game, because we did not comply with the Olympic spirit, and did not deliver a match with our true level to the audience, the fans and the friends.”

In a statement released to Xinhua, the Chinese Olympic delegation criticized its players' actions.

“The behavior by Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli on court violated the Olympics ideal and the spirit of fair play. The Chinese delegation feels distressed over this matter,” the delegation said.

Xinhua also reported Chinese badminton coach Li Yongbo apologized and accepted blame for the scandal.

“As the head coach, I owe the fans and the Chinese an apology,” Li said. “Chinese players failed to demonstrate their fighting spirit of the national team. It's me to blame.”

Read More: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/olympics/disqualified-chinese-badminton-player-yu-quits-sport-after-scandal/article4457154/

Heart wrenching!:violin:

 

[Bartdude]

The organizers invited this sort of BS by changing the format. Doesn't completely excuse the actions, but they were warned that "pool play" encouraged this sort of thing.

Also, you can't totally blame the athletes, especially the Chinese ones, for basically being forced to comply with their coach's/authorities' orders. I imagine the consequences of defying those orders would have gone beyond perhaps getting cut from the team.

 

[crunkory]

play for sport. It sucks how they threw the game.

 

[Tugela]

That's funny,usually the Chinese athletes are good at hiding their cheating. I can't believe how blatantly obvious both sides made it that they were throwing the match. If they went through the motions, nobody would have said anything. On the plus side, at least Canada's team benefitted from this disgrace.

Ya, but the problem was that BOTH teams were trying to lose. If either one went through the motions they would have won, which would have defeated the purpose.

The way to fix the problem would be to randomize each round so that any particular preliminary match doesn't decide who you face next.

Just think how you would feel if you paid 100 bucks for a seat to watch that though ound:

 

[mercyshooter]

The organizers invited this sort of BS by changing the format. Doesn't completely excuse the actions, but they were warned that "pool play" encouraged this sort of thing.

Also, you can't totally blame the athletes, especially the Chinese ones, for basically being forced to comply with their coach's/authorities' orders. I imagine the consequences of defying those orders would have gone beyond perhaps getting cut from the team.

if all of you hate china's way to get whatever they want, then this format will enable every team including their coaches to not to violate the sportsmanship.

 

[mercyshooter]

Ya, but the problem was that BOTH teams were trying to lose. If either one went through the motions they would have won, which would have defeated the purpose.

The way to fix the problem would be to randomize each round so that any particular preliminary match doesn't decide who you face next.

Just think how you would feel if you paid 100 bucks for a seat to watch that though ound:

if you randomize each round, then you won't see upsets, and every match can be predictable. in this sense you could lose ratings, lose the competition purpose, etc. so, there will be no competition.

 

[Dgodus]

Those badminton players deserved to be tossed since they were warned by the officials to quit the crap and they ignored the warning.

Unfortunately, this is the thing that major tournaments are made of and it is not unusual to 'hold back' and perhaps get a better place in the next rounds seedings. Perhaps unusual at the Olympics but certainly not in some tournaments I have witnessed in ice hockey plus a couple of other sports.

It's easier to do in other team sports as it can be done under the guise of resting players or getting bench players some experience.

To those mentioning someone paying for a ticket. That's not nearly as heinous as professional teams "tanking" away 1/3 or a 1/4 of their season for a better draft pick. We're no longer talking about a couple hundred bucks for a ticket, we're talking about a couple thousand dollars wasted for your season's ticket. But yet, more often than not fans condone a team tanking (I'm willing to bet they haven't purchased a season's pass though), and at times encourage it.

And wtf it's badminton, there's ping pong, wouldn't surprise me if lawn bowling (bocchi ball or w/e it's called) was in the olympics. But yet baseball isn't? It's not like baseball isn't international (Asia and the Cubans, Domincans area love the game). The IOC states it's expensive for a host country to build a ballpark. Funny, we've got football/baseball combo stadiums, and soccer/football combo stadiums - why not just make a soccer/baseball combo. It's not like FIFA isn't holding out the best footballers around the world anyways to make the WC the preeminent footballing event, olympic soccer is largely a farce. No I'd say it's because there wasn't pro baseball players in the Games, which makes it harder for the IOC to market, and doesn't help their push for higher tv/sponsorship deals.

The IOC and by proxy the olympic games have become a joke. Yes sports are about business and making money. At least if you own a professional sports franchise, you pay for your venue (one way or another, purchase or lease), you pay for infrastructure, you pay for training, and most importantly you pay your athletes; then you reap the profits. The IOC is having someone else build the venues on their dime, someone else is training and supporting the athletes while they do so, and the IOC is doing it all under the guise of "amateurs competing for the glory of their countries" and avoiding having to dish out any real compensation towards the athletes (who in some cases are risking incredibly lucrative professional contracts - amateurs my ass! There isn't one amateur on the USA bball team and they're stuffing the stadium for those games right now). They just like their profits, which they're reaping because of the efforts made by so many before them to establish the games as a worldwide "event".

Most of the team games which are using professionals for the IOC benifit should pull a lot of those professionals out and create their own worldwide tournament (much like football's World Cup) hosted every 4 years (to give it meaning). Put the olympics back to being a "showcase for amateur talent and of lesser popularized sports".

 

[Cock Throppled]

Try playing badminton at that level and see how wimpy it is.

I'd rather watch badminton than some guy do the same moves over and over on a pommel horse.

Tug of war would be awesome to bring back, too.

Baseball should be in.

But, Ballroom Dancing?, WTF?

 

[tokugawa]

China's Olympic badminton players slam teammates' ban, defend their coach as match-throwing scandal grows

LONDON — China's Olympic badminton players backed their under-fire head coach Li Yongbo and slammed the expulsion of two of their team mates as the match-throwing scandal continued to overshadow the tournament on Thursday.

"I think it's extremely unfair. Firstly, it's a problem with the format, that's what I believe," Xu Chen, who will partner Ma Jin in Friday's mixed doubles final against another Chinese pair, told Reuters at Wembley Arena.

"I also thinks it's extremely regrettable because an athlete's highest goal is to be an Olympian.

"Even if they weren't allowed to compete for the gold medal, they should still be allowed to compete. It's such a shame."

The Badminton World Federation expelled four women's doubles pairs from the Olympic tournament on Wednesday for deliberately trying to lose their matches to secure an easier run through the knock-out rounds.

World champions Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli were among the casualties for China, who many competing teams blamed for instigating the farcical scenes at Wembley Arena on Tuesday.

The top-seeded pair and the other six athletes were being removed from the athletes' village, an IOC spokesperson said earlier on Thursday.

Yu also promptly announced her retirement from the sport in a post on her Chinese microblog, slamming the federation for shattering her and her doubles partner's "dream."

China's world number two singles player Wang Xin told Reuters she hoped her Olympic champion team mate Yu would change her mind about pulling out of the sport.

"I will urge her to continue playing," she said. "Regardless of what happened, that disqualification was too much. Those girls have been working so hard for four years to get to these Olympics."

The spotlight has turned onto coaches' roles in the unedifying charade, which saw the players deliberately dump shots into the net and hit long, prompting jeers from the crowd.

An IOC said spokesman said he had requested the Chinese, South Korean and Indonesian delegations to investigate the entourages of the disqualified players.

China has already announced a probe into the team and Li apologized to the Chinese people in quotes to state media.

But pundits have demanded he step down for bringing shame to the nation of 1.3 billion people.

"The bat should not strike the Chinese players. The head coach Li Yongbo is the main reason for the use of the 'malicious strategy' employed at the Beijing Games," state news agency Xinhua said in a commentary.

Xu and Ma celebrated their 21-23 21-18 21-13 semi-final victory over Indonesia's Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir by pointing at the Chinese team in the stands, where Li, wearing the national team's yellow jacket and his traditional black baseball cap, gave a standing ovation with other team officials.

"I don't know about what is happening in China right now, because I've just been concentrating on my own game," Wang said.

"But of course I support Li ... I will continue to. He's our head coach after all."

Xu said the Chinese team were trying to draw a line under the match-throwing scandal and that the fall-out had not affected the team's mindset.

His words rang true for his match at Wembley Arena, where he and Ma overhauled their opponents despite the crowd being firmly in the Indonesians' corner.

"It's in the past, so we'll let it stay in the past. The competition's not over yet. We've still got the final tomorrow," he said, referring to the gold medal decider against team mates Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei.

"They'll be going all out and we'll be going all out."

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/...be+badminton/7030905/story.html#ixzz22PYpUXuq

Guess there's no such thing as humility or integrity or sportsmanship in China. It's so evident in the video what they were doing was wrong yet they're still defending their actions and making excuses. I guess two wrongs make a right in China.