That's not correct either, or what my point was. My point being a pressured situation, where players must act to enhance the way they can play the game to the best of their ability, with the best possible chance at winning. This involves something more meaningful than world championships. Olympic glory is a lifetime. We still mention Taufik today, even though his victory was 8 years ago! Almost a decade! I'm just saying that it's not cheating in the sense that the rules allow a team to lose in group play, but still be able to qualify for the quarterfinals. With that in mind, teams/pairs are able to jockey for position of which place they want to be in, top draw or bottom draw. Match fixing is unapplicable of a term. They don't know who they're going to face, so they can't really fix the match to play specfically 1 party. Just a a "chance" to play them. And also, match fixing involves knowing beforehand a clear winner and a clear loser. BOTH of which we did not know ahead of time. Why? Because BOTH wanted to lose. So having established that this isn't match fixing or against the rules of the format, they are technically not cheating. They are cheating: 1: Olympic ideals/oath 2: Ethics and sportsmanship/competitiveness 3: BWF's system and rules - which I have argued that it isn't fit to govern if their rules themselves aren't ethical themselves. Broad terms, umbrella terms, wishy washy decision making (like changing the format/scoring system after a successful tournaments) Why? Something works, not broken, don't fix it. So yes, and no, to answer you =] I'm not defending or condoning the actions. I'm just saying this thing roots one way. And the problem is bigger than the players. It's the system and the governing body.
i just read, india have just raised a claim that the match against JPN and CTP should be examined, as to whether they played within the olympic spirit. the federation ****ed up so bad this time. not only is there a controversy now as to match fixing, but subsequently countries whom mindlessly appeal, in hopes of getting into the quarters. This is all the good work of the federation changing the format. Great JOB!
It's not acceptable, but it's understandable. Each pair got the correct punishment imo. The argument from the Korean's of "they started it" is complete BS, just because the other team started it does not give you the right to do the same. With all that being said, when it comes down to it, it really is the system to fault. This would have never happened if they just stuck to a normal knock out draw. Tell me how i'll be judged and i'll tell you how i'll perform. That is the best way to describe this situtation. If you remove these incentives to throw a match you remove all these problems.
this is a really well written article. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympi...ooted-from-olympics-for-throwing-matches.html Eight badminton players booted from Olympic tournament for throwing matches LONDON – Olympic badminton authorities booted eight players out of the games' tournament for attempting to throw matches, but the real culprits are the officials who organized the event. Two South Korean pairs, a Chinese and an Indonesian team will be stripped of their place in the quarterfinals unless an appeal against the punishment is granted. All four teams were determined to have tried to lose their final matches in the women's doubles group stage in order to secure a more favorable draw in the knockout round. While the matches led to ugly scenes of players deliberately serving into the net while the Wembley Arena crowd booed and jeered, it is the organizers of this event who are responsible for allowing the tanking to happen in the first place. By implementing a controversial group system instead of a single-elimination format as used previously, Games chiefs left themselves open to the kind of nightmare that transpired late Tuesday When highly rated Chinese team Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei surprisingly finished second in their group, it suddenly became more beneficial for group opponents Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang of China and Kim Ha-na and Jung Kyung-eun of South Korea to lose and avoid meeting them. After Wang and Yu capitulated amid a series of embarrassing mistakes, they then became the newest opponent to avoid. Therefore, Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung of South Korea and Meiliana Juahari andGreysia Polii of Indonesia then needed to lose to avoid them, leading to another farcical match of little effort. The pairings could all afford to lose, having guaranteed a qualifying spot by winning their first two group matches. China's Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang (Reuters) The disqualification of the teams has created a logistical nightmare. As of Wednesday it was still being decided whether to simply have the four remaining teams in the competition play the semifinals and cancel the quarterfinals session, or to promote teams that had already been knocked out to take their place. In the badminton community, there has been widespread fury at an incident that has thoroughly besmirched the sport. "It was sickening, disgusting," said retired British badminton great Gail Emms, who won a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games. "They should be banned." Chinese badminton authorities promised to look into the matter independently. However, suspicions that Chinese players have regularly thrown matches against teammates in the past are rife. The real issue here is that this is a problem that could have been foreseen and it is the main reason why a group system in a tournament such as this doesn't really work. Table tennis caught on a decade ago, getting rid of the groups in singles and doubles play after the 2000 Sydney Games. [ Photos: Worst badminton game ever as both teams try to lose ]"People will do whatever they can to get an advantage," said former American track star Michael Johnson, commentating for the BBC. "The only way to stop it is to change the rules." Those rules with surely change but it is sadly too late for this tournament. There is no attempt here to defend the actions of the players, who cast their sport in the worst possible light and created the most humiliating of incidents. Badminton does not get many chances to show itself off on a big stage, and the theory that all publicity is good publicity doesn't really wash in this instance. But temptation should have been taken out of the players' grasp. What they did was wrong. It was ugly. It was completely against the Olympic ideal. But it wasn't cheating. The only cheating that took place was from the organizers, who shortchanged the public and did their sport a disservice.
They should get rid of the WD event for this olympic and further olympic , it does more damage to the sport than good,,,,,,, it is bad to watch in the first place and not many people find it exciting ..........it delay the other matches that are due to be on Problem solved .........LOL.......
When you start using the word 'technically' it is usually a good indication your logic is on thin ice. They are cheating because they are not being punished for match fixing exactly. The quoted regulation is failing to play at your best level which is pretty clear they weren't. I completely agree with this. It is sad that yet again during a major badminton competition we have yet another thread on this topic. (Perhaps the admins should just start adding a match fixing thread to each tournament thread topic like they do for PAW and Livescore.) That this has happened on this stage is tragic. What is even more tragic is that the BWF is likely to learn about as much from this as they have from all the other routine incidents... nothing. I guess as long as there are people willing to make excuses there really isn't much hope for this game evolving into a sport.
All the arguments against their disqualification are non sense. This is the Olympic Games, the most prestigious sports competition in the world, attracting hundreds of millions of spectators around the world. People like the Olympics because they can see the BEST of the BEST competing against each other. When something like this happens, you're not only disrespecting the sport, but also the fans. When you disrespect the fans, you kill the sport, plain and simple. Fans are what makes it so athletes can do what they like and aren't forced to work at Mc Donalds on the weekends. This alone, is a better reason to try your best to win than any non sense argument you can find to try to lose a match. The image of the sport is also tarnished by this scandal, which is a huge deal considering the current situation of the sport. As a badminton fan, I feel ashamed and betrayed. The disqualification was the right thing to do and countries should take it as an exemplary sentence.
Even if I agree with the decisions to disqualify the pairs (I have yet to make up my mind), how can a pair who won by 21-14, 21-11 (the Koreans) be said to be deliberately losing? Well ok, they aren't trying their best to win for sure. But if your opponents are trying to lose, you don't have to try your best.
They have updated the scores http://www.london2012.com/badminton/event/women-doubles/groups.html If it's right, seems like only the Chinese and Koreans (in Group A) are disqualified, and the other two pairs in Group A are upgraded.
The IOC commended BWF for their prompt action at upholding the integrity of the Olympic norms. Reaction from netizens and the Chinese media, sports associations is mixed. A clarification that the affected players are not "expelled" from the London Olympics. This means they can continue to compete in other events, I suppose like the XD and WS. It was also reported that INA and KOR have claimed reconsideration/review with the hope of reinstatement before the QF begins.
For the same reason me grabbing my shotgun and using some guy jumping off a bridge to kill himself as skeet shooting practice is still murder.
If IOC gave in to retract, then we can call this yoyo decision. We've already seen to many yoyos. Enuf. Will it happen?
But exactly, why would you kill someone who is committing suicide? Unless there is some seriously strange motive, and I can't think of one in my wildest imagination. The Koreans have little motive to lose. It's the Chinese (who in their mind are entitled to both gold and silver) who wants to lose.
Because it's the most prestigious sports competition, players are more eager to win the title and medal. what the federation has done, subsequently caused players to change their tactics, so that their chances of winning the title are even higher. if the federation had not changed it from KO to RR, none of this would have happened. everyone would have had a 50% chance to move to the next round, without being able to choose which half of the draw they play in. whereas in RR, due to the dead rubber, players will then have an incentive and ability to choose. The federation is the root of the problem; not saying the countries are right. But, the decision to disqualify yu/wang and the korean pair is not justifiable. The federation's decision to change the draw would undoubtedly attract controversy. They should have been aware of this, and altered the rules or even remained with the same format, in order to avoid issues, such as the current one. Sportsmen have an aim to win and succeed. Their priorities should always be above fans. Fans will still love the sport, no matter how much controversy there is. Simply, Thomas Cup, where an asian team lost their game without any sense of hiding it. Do people hate the sport? No. If anyone would be tarnished, then it goes the same as sportsmen whom cheat by taking drugs. Won't that tarnish the sport then? Players cheating with an incentive to win. Its the same situation, yet no sport's reputation has been destroyed due to the controversy.
yes gail emms just confirmed that on her twitter....along with russian and canadian...omg...at least one of them will have a chance to win bronze...perhaps the best chance lies with the russians
