Could anyone please tell me whether there is any truth in what I was told by a reliable source from within the badminton industry that when certain pairings from any Asian nation are in need of some points in order for them to qualify for lets say the Olympic games, they are told to loose the match/es in order for the pair that needs the points to qualify.

Although I personally dont think that the 2000 All England Mens Doubles Ch'ships was fixed between Koreans, but maybe that was because they were not in need of qualifying points for forthcoming tournaments.

I hope no one is offended by my asking this question but I need reassurance that Match fixing does not take place, (as i will never be able to watch a badminton video the same way again.

Appreciate any response.

Because of this, I almost never watch matches between
asian players from the same country. You never know
what the politics are at any given moment......

that really depends. i am sure some level of match fixing does take place.

one that i think is suspect is the 1999 Indo open MD final. Candra/Tony were playing quite terribly against Ricky/Rexy. that was teh time when Ricky/Rexy was low in the world ranking and then the Olympics was coming up in a year's time..

a well known one is of course Gong vs. Ye in the Olympics. but we shouldn't bring that up again....

i always wonder about the Chinese ladies. on one hand, they have so many players / pairs, it give them more opportunities to match fix. but then, they are so dominant in their events, they probably won't need to match fix.

My two won worth:

The Gong and Ye controversy is well-known, but how abt Gao Ling and Huang Sui (apparently) throwing their SF Olympic match against Ge Fei and Gu Jun? This was (again) verified by the Chinabadminton site and Gao/Huang's province was awarded the gold medal points in the jiu3 yun4 hui4 (I STILL dunno whazzit called in English). I'm sure everyone knows that Ge/Gu are abt the most amazing WD team in the world and probably didn't need that "extra assistance" to win... s'ppose it was to prevent them from tiring out in the SF so they would be able to beat Ra Kyung Min/Chung Jae Hee in the finals (but this final never occurred coz Yang Wei/Huang Nanyan won the other SF match)... no doubt Ge/Gu have a better record agst the Koreans, but the latter have beaten them on some very rare occasions and it was probably a preventive measure.

Another one on WD: Indarti Issolina/Vita Marissa (dunno them very well) were s'pposedly asked to lose their match agst Etty Tantri/Cynthia s'pposedly to allow the latter to gain more pts and be seeded at Sydney. That was during the 2000 Indonesian Open and IBF even asked PBSI to carry out an investigation (what's it come to?). Source was the JKT Post.

The solution is for other countries to improve their players.

For the record (the Olympic semis), it's Gao Ling/Qin Yinyuan vs Ge/Gu. I am not sure whether the match was fixed, but looking at their previous encounters, there is no fight at all (look at the low scores)..

It's called strength preservation or strategic planning or however you like to call it. It most likely to happen when players from same country play each other. It does not only happen with China but also with Indonesia, Korea, etc. It's present not only in badminton but you can find it also in table tennis, track and field, formula 1, etc.

Oops...sorry, yes it was Qin Yiyuan. Huang Sui took over after she reitred.

Cheung, isn't the better solution to give the coaching staff a 1 year ban from coaching and give a six month suspension from international competition to all players knowingly participating in the scheme? It's a harsh remedy, but it should provide a good incentive for teams to play fairly instead of cheating in this fashion.

It might be hard to prove some of these violations, but I think it's still worth the effort. By analogy, many crimes are difficult to investigate, but that doesn't stop our law enforcement agencies from trying to arrest the criminals and produce sufficient evidence for a conviction.

What a load of ********.

Whether you like it or not it's present and it's the way most countries do. Isn't Adel doing a favour translating some news from Chinese papers where the coach admits that? Wasn't Korean players warned in badminton tournaments for not playing their best when not in finals? Have you paid attention to Indonesian players competing each other when not in finals? And possibly even in finals where finalists are players from same country they may not be giving their best.
About other sports, how about table tennis? Who are the Chinese players that have migrated for not obeying their coaches? Do you watch the track and field in Olympics? In middle/long distance runs what do runners from same country do? In formula 1, didn't you see the leading pilot slowing down the car in the last lap so his teammate could cross the finnish line and win the points to get the championship? Well, just a question of looking around.

Viver is basically right. The idea for this "match fixing" is to allow the player to score as many points as possible so that he/she can rise in the seedings. Now, if your country has, say, 8 players in the top 16 seeds, the chances of your country winning any major tournament is greatly increased. In the World Grand Prix, only top 16 players are invited!! So, if you are not in the top 16, very sorry!! Try again next year!!

About other sports, how about table tennis? Who are the Chinese players that have migrated for not obeying their coaches? Do you watch the track and field in Olympics? In middle/long distance runs what do runners from same country do? In formula 1, didn't you see the leading pilot slowing down the car in the last lap so his teammate could cross the finnish line and win the points to get the championship? Well, just a question of looking around.

Rubens Barichello and Michael Schumacher in Austrian GP 2002.
Schumi never won in Austria before.

that really depends. i am sure some level of match fixing does take place.

one that i think is suspect is the 1999 Indo open MD final. Candra/Tony were playing quite terribly against Ricky/Rexy. that was teh time when Ricky/Rexy was low in the world ranking and then the Olympics was coming up in a year's time..


it's interesting to heard the reason why PBSI did it?

wow...
revive after 8 years.......
this is how long BC been through

and the topic discussed in this thread is still happening

The practice might have happened long time ago. It does not mean they are still doing it. It's less relevant to discuss those old instances now. The countries may have improved or changed since.

We may rest assured that these things still happen. The MS final of this years' All England was defenitely fixed and I am also suspicious about a few of the other ones.

We may rest assured that these things still happen. The MS final of this years' All England was defenitely fixed and I am also suspicious about a few of the other ones.

That has been discussed in each respective tournament. The sub forum of "Badminton Tournament" is the place now to discuss any new developments and specifics regarding competitions.

source: SCMP 22 March, 2008

Mainland import Zhou Mi lasat night all but confirmed she was ordered to throw her Olympic semi-final against teammate Zhang Ning at Athens in 2004.

Chinese badminton coach Li Yongbo has admitted he told Zhou to give up the fight, allowing Zhang to go on and win the final and make sure the "gold medal ends up in Chinese hands".

Zhou would not confirm nor deny the revelation, saying: "Ask the coach".

Li's admission, on state-run CCTV sports channel on Thursday, reopened the debate over mainland sports' deep-rooted malaise of prioritising national pride at the expense of fair play.

The decision was made after Indonesian Mia Audina-Tjiptawan upset the expectations of an all-Chinese final by beating Gong Ruina in the first semi-final.

"To ensure our finalist's full fitness for the most important gold medal match, the coaching staff decided that whoever lost the first set in the Zhou-Zhang encounter would have to relinquish the game," Li told CCTV. "Zhang was in better shape and when she took the first set we asked Zhou to give up the fight."

Zhou, who came to Hong Kong last year under the government's Quality Migrants Admission Scheme and is hoping to compete in Beijing in August, crashed out in straight sets.

"It might be difficult for people to grasp [our philosophy], but we did this to make sure the gold medal would end up in Chinese hands," Li said. "I feel proud of our team spirit."

The energy-saving tactics worked for Zhang, who rallied from one set down to a 2-1 victory over Audina-Tjiptawan.

Hong Kong badminton head coach Chan Chi-choi last night said he was "amazed" Li would make this admission.

"I'm amazed the Chinese coach has come out and said this openly. I don't know what the real reason is for Zhou coming to Hong Kong, but I believe things like this sometimes happen in sports in China. Of course, such a thing would never, ever happen in Hong Kong.

"She never mentioned anything about this to me. The only reason she gave for moving to Hong Kong was her knee injury, which ruled her out of competition and saw her drop out of the China national squad."

Zhou has climbed back into the world's top 10 and is fighting locally born Yip Pui-yin for the second spot on the Hong Kong Olympic team, but will still need a special eligibility dispensation from the International Olympic Committee.

"Everything is going smoothly with her preparations for the Olympics," Chan said. "She has made remarkable progress since she returned from injury last May. In the past 10 months, she has come from nowhere and entered the top 10 in the world. It is just fantastic.

"It will be a battle between Zhou and Yip for the second place in the Olympic singles."

Former mainlander Wang Chen is the clear choice for the top spot.

Reaction to Li's revelation on the mainland yesterday ranged from silence from most state-run media to outrage in internet chat rooms.

"Shame on you, Li Yongbo," said a posting on Sohu.com. "We don't need gold medals won in this kind of fashion to fuel our national pride."

"Nobody cared about how Zhou Mi felt at that particular moment," said another. She trained as hard as Zhang Ning but was denied the equal treatment. It's pathetic."

Allegations of results fixing under the banner of "best serving national interests" is not a novelty on the mainland. The most publicised example was paddler He Zhili, who ignored an order to throw a semi-final to teammate Guan Jianhua at the 1987 world table tennis championships and went on to win the women's singles title. As punishmet, He was banned from taking part in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

He, who later emigrated to Japan, told all in her autobiography in the mid 1990s, becoming the first Chinese athlete to expose the controversial practice.

For players (current or formal) "bravely" standing out and make such statement, I want to ask them the following:

1. In their career, do they ever being on the "benefit" side before? If they do, why don't they say something when they are the ones raise the final trophy? I will show much more respect to them, if they speak of their mind after they are crowned, rather than on the losing side and swallow the "sour grape". :cool:

2. If they know such system long long time ago, why don't they quit the team, and train on their own to enjoy the freedom? Players like Pi Hongyan going to France, and now she made a name of her own. I don't have an issue. For whatever reason, she does not like/fit into the system, she picked her own choice. The so-call "former champion / national players" fully enjoyed the benefit from the team, which to me, means they signed (agreed) to a contract. You can't expect to taking full advantage, but not obeying regulations, when you make a commitment, right?

3. Yes, the "deciding" match might be shorten to 1 set, instead of 2. However, you got your chance, right? ZN did not break ZM's leg, or poison her food to make her losing 1st set, I assume? You can't control your own destiny, whose fault is that? Yes, you can argue 1 set is too short, then how many you want? If you are on a bad day, the result can be 5-0, 7-0, even if u planning to play more. If you want to win, control every single point, play as it's your last, and don't expect the miracle comeback will always come back.

4. A draw is a draw, a regulation is a regulation, you have to face it, regardless if that's favorable for you or not. You can argue that CHN player might have an "easier" SF, but what about the overall draw. Mia or CM, or anyone never got an easier draw before due to other factors such as non CHN players' W/O, weaker and lowered ranked opponents, etc?


Over and over again, put away the banners, save some mouth water from all the blame and crying, hide the so-call "brave and fair" masks. If you lose, you lose. If you think you can change it, in a positive way, in a hard working fashion, you get my support. Crying about "unfair" after 1 match, while enjoy the same "benefit" from the prior 10, 15 yrs, only make me feel sick... :cool:

In team China, you better be #1 otherwise you'll probably be the one being "sacrified".
Imagine scenario like this in Beijing Olympic's MS semi's later this summer that LD & BCL been drawn together on one side, LCW & CH on the other, I think BCL would be "sacrified" for sure. Therefore, I really hope that BCL would be drawn together with LCW so that he can play his best & win gold.
Luckily, LD is being ranked #1 & located at the 1st quarter & BCL's #2 would be placed in 4th quarter.
Would they fix the draw too?

i would not be surprised if they did!

when it is available in internet betting. There's always a chance and temptation. Some may be obvious but it is up to you to guess if there is or not. Human factor.