Bad-minton Times Ahead: Chinese Players Throw the Game

Olympic badminton has just gotten a bit more interesting after the disqualification of four women’s doubles teams, including Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli, the Chinese top seeds. The pair, along with two teams from South Korea and one from Indonesia, were booed roundly and then booted from the Games after attempting to intentionally lose in order to secure an easier bracket position in the quarterfinals. We've got a bit of what’s being said on Weibo and a clip of the farce that results when both teams are trying to lose.

All the players involved have been disqualified for breaching two parts of the Badminton World Federation players' code: "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.”

Observers are blaming the new round-robin format that was adopted for these Games in an attempt to offer less-dominant countries a chance to play more opponents. One of the Chinese players, Yu, has defended her actions by saying “Actually, these opponents really were strong. This is the first time we have played them, and tomorrow it's the knockout rounds. So we've already qualified, and we wanted to have more energy for the knockout rounds.” Chinese sporting officials, who were less than impressed with the playing and this explanation, are demanding a public apology.

The players do have their defenders, but it seems to be a minority opinion.

The attacks on Chinese and Korean badminton players are grossly unfair. They were doing their best with added cunning …. Faced with the risk of a tougher opponent later and thus losing a medal, the players did what their tacticians said. They lost a round. I cannot see how, in sporting terms, this is any different from sprint cyclists hovering for an age on a curve, waiting for the right moment to surge forward. Anyway, the athletes were not trying to lose, they were losing so as being more likely to win.

The truth of the matter is that the actions of these badminton players are in the spirit of the modern Olympics. It is not a spectator sport but a deeply serious competition for national pride. The players should be congratulated on their ingenuity.

Weibo users offer their opinions:

• "Finally, time for the Western players to grab some medals."
• "These people deserved to be treated like this. There’s no one else to blame!"
• "You ignore the Olympic spirit, the game will ignore you."
• "This is really embarrassing."
• "They dishonored the Olympic Games, and dishonored badminton as a sport!"
• "Whoever watched that match live was so lucky to see a pirated badminton match! I’m so jealous."
• "It’s a pity, but I feel the punishment is right. While watching the game on TV, I was so so so disappointed."
• "It’s not the players' fault, it’s the coach’s fault."
• "With all the good players gone, who’s going to take advantage of this situation?"
• "You can’t even play a performance match right. You deserved this."
• "However we want to play is a matter of tactics. As long as it’s beneficial to the whole team, playing with or without effort shouldn’t be judged."
• "Blame the players – without coaches, would they dare do this? Blame the coaches – without instructions from higher up, would they dare arrange this? Blame the top officials – without [the new] Olympic format, would they dishonor themselves like this? Allowing an individual to set aside pride for a greater good is what’s wrong with this system!"
• "They overused the 36 Strategies." [referring to traditional Chinese strategems]

Want to see what a match looks like when no one wants to win? Watch the full 30 minutes of play here. Below is a short clip of the thrown game as well as what a real game looks like when the players are playing their hearts out.

Update: Yu Yang, one of the disqualified Chinese players, has now announced that she is quitting the sport completely.

Photo: CNN.com