BWF made STUPID rules, which were taken advantage of. Those FOUR teams were all trying to lose the games. I have to guess all the EIGHT player were following their coaches' instruction. If I were the BWF governor, I would ask the 1st pair of each group to select whichever 2nd pair of each group.
The WINNER should be given chance to decide, who to take those points.. (say a WINNER can decide whether the POINTS to be taken by the LOOSER.) Just like the way the TOSS is won, so that the WINNER gets to decide who to make the FIRST-SERVE
What you said fits our gang of 4's vision like a glove. We believe and argue our right to fix matches whenever possible and screw those sportsmanship thingie, we worship LYB as king maker, win at all cost even via unscrupulous means, money overides all, zero OLY spirit. We need a leader, I vote for you and TwoBeer can be Veepee. V1Lau wants out, no man. Oh, 1 thing I forgot...those Danes are mighty stupid especially Peter Gade...I heard they don't fix matches, that's taboo and they kill themselves on the court...what stupid players
This kinda stuff happens in all sports. Teams lose group matches on purpose to avoid strong opponents in the playoffs, I've seen it the WC football(soccer) and NBA a few times. Although undesirable, it is not as bad as throwing games to advance teammates which imo is a lot worse and should be punished.
Group stage tournaments are open to this kind of thing. The system is flawed and it is difficult to assess if players are throwing points or not. One idea could be that the top of the group team go through and the 2nd placed teams go into a draw to see which top of the group team they will face instead of mixing it all up. This will increase the competition for the top of the group spot as players won't know who they will face in the knock out stages and the top seeds will want to finish top to avoid the other top seeds. I guess if the Chinese or Korean pairs win a medal it will be a hollow victory but with the 'win at any cost' mentality this is bound to happen. Another thing to mention is some people won't see this as being wrong but tactically astute.
And also even if it might be true, I don't think LYB or any other country's coaches are solely responsible. Players know who they want to face in the next round as well. It is a strategic move based on their own interests, totally different from giving walkovers for the so-called 'Greater Good'.
in essence, this is precisely what YY/WXL did! they intentionally lost the match to avoid meeting (and defeating) TQ/ZYL in the SF.
Concur the setup is flawed that encourage match fixing, but still I am flabbergasted that they are still people who can't see the match was rigged and in denial...folks, we are seeing World/OLY/AE champs serving into the nets or out repeatedly....dah!!! I actually missed the whole match. My wifey was watching the entire 4 hours badminton livefeed on TV. It was over dinner that she mentioned to me that she seemed something not right that players served into the net and she said, she can serve better than that. She knew something was cooking and she asked me expecting me to know why. I told her that in BC, it was already mentioned the night before that this match could be fixed because CHN 2nd pair lost and if CHN top pair win, they will meet in the same half, so expect a fix.
Nope cos 1) H2H LYD/CJs has defeated KKK/TBH far more times. 2) The Koreans are ranked higher thus supposed is better. 3) The young Thai giant killers are not easier opponents. Bona/Ahsan are easier, they are known pair. 4) Both pairs would want to avoid Fu/Cai in semi. To do that they need to top the group. So,both pairs would want to play to win, not lose.5) This KKK/TBh, they have dished worse performances before, haha.
James and I were on our way home from our get-together when, inexplicably, Gail Emms came on the radio. Uh-oh... The group stage is a fine idea but, as James and I discussed, they should have thrown the #1 and #2 from each group into a free draw (keeping the seeding structure intact), or played the last matches simultaneously. And why did I leap to "China" before the teams were even mentioned? Gail mentioned that two teams had been black-carded... then she came on twitter this morning and said both teams were still in the fray. So, the black card was rescinded or what? When the umpire/referee is telling them off, do they even understand? And, to top it all off, Jacques Rogge was there in person. Fantastic.
The BWF hearing is underway: http://www.greenwichtime.com/sports/article/BADMINTON-HEARINGS-UNDER-WAY-3752534.php
Oh uncle c'mon. Don't be so harsh on them. Anyway this match fixing stuff is not something that happens regularly in badminton and last night's was the first. Although there were suspected cases in the past where team Denmark were alleged to have got matches involving their players thrown (Peter Gade esp.), in the end there was a no case even after a royal commission of inquiry was launched to investigate the matter. No proof according to them. Their fav quote is 'Proof It. You are innocent unless proven guilty'. So badminton is actually a clean sport until last night. Come looking at it, did us as members of Badminton Central (the largest badminton community) has got anything to do with what had transpired yesterday night, by any measure, taking into consideration that we as one voice always condemned any unsportsmanlike conduct and match rigging regardless of what justifications that exist. The answer is YES. So in my mind I have better candidates than yours.
Did these players cheat? No Did these players fix the match. Yes. (the strength of the opposition has little effect if you serve into the net) Did these players break olympic rules and the oath. Yes. Is the format setup to allow this type of thing to happen. Yes. Why is it morally wrong? Spectators paid a lot of money to watch world class competitive badminton. The fans got screwed over. Prize money, broadcasting rights, sponsership etc is all driven by sales to the fans. The reputation of the game is now in tatters. Long term it hurts the game. Sad sad day for badminton. It's also a sad reflection that some fans would rather see their players win medals whilst trashing the image of the game and see nothing wrong with it.
They didn't do anything wrong, technically. However they just destroyed the public image of badminton. Perhaps a young Taufik, a juvenile Gade and a little Chongwei out there might now ask for a pair of speedos instead of a At700. IMO, they need to go for acting classes if they wanna play the system. I'm sure they can throw a smash or a nice net shot, and not screw up things that beginners wouldn't.
Agreed. As a top representative of the sport they've done more damage than anyone before. Do they even understand that? ? Do they love a owning a gold medal more than badminton? For those of us that wish there was more badminton on TV, More badminton courts being built to play on. More prize money to encourage more participation. More coaches available to us. . . The chances of that happening has just taken a massive nose dive. This will effect grass roots badminton & it was done by players we're supposed to respect.
A young Wang Xiaoli or Yu Yang would be thrilled after seeing compatriots lose on purpose: "That's our way!" and "I wanna be such a badminton player too!", or "Losing for Mother China is an honour!" F-ing Chinese
Reading a article on BBC website. Opinion divided on Sina Weibo: 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." That's the problem with the mentality out there & it projects further than sports. If your result/aim is to make money. It doesn't matter how many babies die due to fake milk powder. . . If your aim is to win gold it doesn't matter how much damage you do to the reputation of the game.
