Olympic Badminton Controversy: 8 Women's Doubles Players Disqualified For Throwing Matches
BBC World Sport, 1 August 2012
LONDON -- Eight female badminton doubles players were disqualified Wednesday from the London Olympics after trying to lose matches to receive a more favorable place in the tournament.
The Badminton World Federation announced its ruling after investigating two teams from South Korea and one each from China and Indonesia. It punished them for "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.
"We applaud the federation for having taken swift and decisive action," IOC spokesman Mark Adams told The Associated Press. "Such behavior is incompatible with the Olympic values."
Erick Thohir, the head of Indonesia's Olympic team, told the AP that the Indonesian team will appeal. The BWF said South Korea had also appealed.
The competition was to continue later Wednesday. It was unclear if four eliminated teams would be placed into the quarterfinals or if the competition would restart at the semifinal stage.
Thohir accused Chinese players 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 quarterfinal. 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 shuttle**** 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.
One of the world's top male players, 2004 Olympic singles champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia, called the situation a "circus match."
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 medalist Gail Emms said the matches were embarrassing to watch.
"It was absolutely shocking," she said. "The crowds were booing and chanting 'Off, off, off.'"
END
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smh.com au, 2 August 2012
THE HEAD of international badminton has defended the sport's position at the Olympics in light of the scandalous disqualification of eight athletes for deliberately throwing matches.
The bombshell that saw the Chinese top seeds, four South Korean athletes and an Indonesian pair ejected gave a reprieve to Australian duo Renuga Veeran and Leanne Choo, who went through to play Canada in the quarter-finals. The pair lost in three sets after losing the first then coming back to win the second.
China's Wang Xiaoli, right, and Yu Yang Photo: Reuters
As the competition was thrown into chaos, it emerged that India had made an official complaint against Japan, though that was dismissed by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) whose chief, Thomas Lund, said he was "sorry" rather than "embarrassed" by the episode.
The case was condemned by London Games boss Sebastian Coe as "depressing" and "unacceptable" on Wednesday morning before a BWF disciplinary committee ruled that eight players had sought to lose their qualifying matches in an attempt to manipulate their draws.
The four sets of doubles teams were charged after matches on Tuesday littered with basic errors. Accused by badminton's international governing body of "conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport", they were ultimately found guilty of trying to lose with the motive of improving their positions for the knockout stages.
South Korea's Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na. Photo: Reuters
"All such cases are never nice to deal with," Lund said on Wednesday afternoon.
"I think the most important thing for BWF as governing body is that we deal with such cases when and if they occur and we can deal with them in a firm and respectful way to the players and the people who have trained for so many years to get to this Olympics.
"You will never go through an era as governing body without having problems, but if you can't deal with the problems then you have a problem yourself."
Leanne Choo, right, and Renuga Veeran were put through to the quarter-finals. Photo: Getty Images
None of the players disqualified were entered in other events in London so will take no further part in the Games. The banned athletes are Chinese world doubles champions Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang, South Koreans Jung Kyun-eun, Kim Ha-na along, Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung and Indonesia's Meiliana Jauhari and Greysia Polii.
Lund said the BWF had monitored the new round robin tournament for the Olympics in qualifying competition before the London Games, and had no reason to be concerned it would be rorted though the reality was very different.
Australia's badminton coach Lasse Bundgaard, who made a submission to the probe of the offending teams, applauded the ruling. "It is a good decision and the right thing to do," he said. "It sends the right signal that world badminton won't accept that kind of behaviour.
Women's badminton quarter-finals
Leanne Choo and Renuga Veeran (pictured) suddenly find themselves in the quarter-finals after four teams were disqualified. Photo: Jason South
"It doesn't really influence us. We just thought how the incident would affect badminton. Our players will be ready to play."
According to reports, the head coach of South Korea, Sung Han-kook, admitted before the disciplinary hearing that his players threw their games, but he blamed the Chinese team for initiating the contest to lose so that the teams didn't have to meet again in the semi-finals.
"Who would want to sit through something like that?" Coe said on Wednesday morning before the disqualifications were confirmed."It's unacceptable. And I know he badminton federation really well and they will take that really seriously. It is unacceptable."
Bundgaard become involved in the case after lodging an official protest over the alarming 'contests' at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday night that provoked booing from the crowd. The players served into the net repeatedly and hit wide.
Before the decision to disqualify the players was reached, London's Olympic organising committee said it would not refund tickets because spectators had watched other matches in the session.
"You get into all sorts of strange precedents if people aren't satisfied with what they see," London organising committee CEO Paul Deighton said on Wednesday morning.
"If you get into that territory it's very grey."
END
The Indonesians were part of this, but I couldnt find a pic of them on line....Judge by yourselves Folks, the crowds booed, throughout all 4 of the matches.. they felt something was wrong......
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