Farewell my dear badminton.. disgraced Olympian Yang quits sport after scandal

[chowka]

Farewell my dear badminton.. disgraced Olympian Yang quits sport after scandal

By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER PUBLISHED: 08:57 GMT, 2 August 2012 | UPDATED: 10:55 GMT, 2 August 2012


One of the players involved in the badminton match-fixing scandal at London 2012 has reportedly quit the sport.

Yu Yang, who was one of eight players disqualified on Wednesday for deliberately trying to lose matches on Tuesday night, reportedly made her announcement via a verified account on Chinese social media site Weibo.

'This is my last game. Farewell Badminton World Federation. Farewell my dear badminton,' she posted.

Conspirators: Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli have a word and Ha Jungeun and Kim Min-jung get a black card (below)

Four women's pairs, Yu and Weng Xiaoli from China, South Korean pairs Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na, and Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung, and Indonesian duo Meiliana Jauhari and Greysia Polii, were disqualified after throwing games in order to manipulate the draw in the round-robin stages.

They were replaced in the quarter-finals by the pairs who finished third and fourth in the two groups affected by the scandal.

The Koreans failed to overturn the decision after lodging an appeal, while the Indonesians withdrew their attempt to contest the charges.

Meanwhile Chinese head coach Li Yongbo has taken responsibility for the farce, telling Chinese news agency Xinhua: 'As head coach, I owe the supporters of Chinese badminton and the Chinese TV audiences an apology.

'Chinese players failed to demonstrate the fine tradition and fighting spirit of the national team. It's me to blame.'

The fiasco had its roots in the unexpected loss of China's second seeds Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei to Denmark's Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Christinna Pedersen early on Tuesday.

Named and shamed (clockwise from top left): China's Wang Xiaoli (L) and Yang Yu, South Korea's Jung Kyung Eun (Top) and Kim Ha Na, Indonesia's Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari and South Korea's Ha Jung-eun (L) and Kim Min-jung

Top seeds Wang and Yu then tried to engineer defeat against Jung and Kim Ha-na to avoid finishing top of Group A and going into the same half of the last-eight draw as their compatriots.

The Koreans rumbled the ruse and vainly tried to copy it in retaliation before the second Korean pair, Ha and Kim Min-jung, went a step further by refusing to play properly against Jauhari and Polii.

The Indonesians did not prove innocent bystanders either as they tried to deny them their objective by attempting the same thing.

Serves were hit straight into the net or out of court and other shots put wide.

The large evening crowd were incensed and booed almost every defective shot.

BWF secretary-general Thomas Lund said: 'The regulations clearly state you have to win every match and you cannot throw some matches to win other matches.

'There's no two ways about that and that is what the disciplinary committee found in the principles of the Olympic spirit.

'The disqualification is from this event and there are no further punishments from now on.'
​

 

[chowka]

Chinese player quits badminton after scandal, IOC pressures sport for format change

Were they really trying to lose?

LONDON – Disgraced badminton star Yu Yang quit the sport on Thursday after being kicked out of the Olympic Games, banished from the Athletes' Village and sent home to China.

Chinese newspapers, including the Shanghai Morning Post, reported that Yu had retired from competition in the wake of the scandal that saw her and seven other athletes disqualified for attempting to lose women's doubles group matches.

China's Yu Yang, left, retired from badminton after being kicked out of the Olympics. (AP)

Yu was claimed to have posted a message on the Tencent microblogging service that indicated she would no longer represent her national team or take part in the international professional tour.

"This is my last game," said the message from a verified account in her name. "Farewell badminton world federation. Farewell my dear badminton."

According to the Associated Press, Yu also appeared on Chinese state television and made an emotional apology for her actions and those of her teammate Wang Xiaoli.

"We did not comply with the Olympic spirit," she said. "And did not deliver a match with our true level to the audience, the fans and friends."

Badminton’s world governing body bowed to pressure from the International Olympic Committee to revamp its controversial format in the wake of the match-fixing scandal that saw the four women’s doubles teams banished from the tournament.

IOC chief Jacques Rogge held talks with badminton world federation secretary general Thomas Lund and made it clear that change in the tournament would be expected ahead of the next Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

"The overall principle is that the Games are about a good sporting performance," said IOC communications director Mark Adams. "When that doesn’t happen we need to take action."

The eight athletes have been sent home from the Olympics in disgrace while the actions of their coaches are now under investigation.

It is unlikely that any announcement regarding the new format will be made before the end of these Games as badminton tries to draw a line under the embarrassing incident. However, Rogge and Lund have a tacit agreement in place that the system will be overhauled in a satisfactory manner in the future.

"They spoke and the outcome was actually very positive," an IOC source told Yahoo! Sports. "But that was primarily because the badminton people were not just open to change, but proactive about it."

Lund is reluctant to abandon the group formula entirely, even though it was responsible for the farcical scenes that saw two South Korean pairs, one Chinese and one Indonesian team deliberately try to lose matches in order to secure a more favorable quarterfinal draw.

"I think that the group system has been a great success but, obviously, given what has happened, it is something that needs to be looked at," Lund said.

The events of this week have made it clear that the present system is unworkable. Two options are being discussed and either of them appear to offer a solution that would eradicate the possibility of match-fixing. One is that group play is retained, but that only the pool winner progresses to the knockout stage instead of the top two finishers.

Another is that a single-elimination tournament is implemented similar to other sports like table tennis, tennis and boxing.

​

The concept of groups with just one qualifier may win out, as the governing body wants to avoid a situation where weaker players from some less-established badminton nations travel to the Olympics and get to play only one match.

Appeals from the eight players by their federations were summarily rejected and replacement teams that originally lost in the groups were brought in instead.

Badminton has been an Olympic sport since the 1992 Barcelona Games. Despite this week’s controversy, its place in the Games is not considered to be under any threat.

 

[scroobal]

The fact that they are butt ugly further compounded the matter. Honestly I do recall badminton player of the past were much better looking.

 

[Television]

They should have been eliminated because of their ugliness.

 

[wendychan]

The fact that they are butt ugly further compounded the matter. Honestly I do recall badminton player of the past were much better looking.

oh my god, i was just thinking that, but thought i should not say it out loud
but anyway, i am a bloody bitch anyway, according to some people