Badminton action call after matches 'thrown'

Robertson urged badminton chiefs to take action against matches being thrown after 2 fixtures ended with players being booed off court

I / London August 01, 2012, 10:43 IST

Ex-Olympic silver medallist Nathan Robertson urged badminton chiefs to take action against matches being thrown after two fixtures ended with players being booed off court at the London Games.

The Briton was one of many who were shocked at the conduct of the women's doubles matches, which involved serving repeatedly into the net and hitting the shuttlecock out of court yesterday.

In one match, there were no rallies of more than four shots. At stake was position in the next round, with two pairs who had already qualified from the group stage apparently jockeying to play against weaker opponents.

Robertson said the Badminton World Federation (BWF) should "take a stand". And he wondered if the International Olympic Committee (IOC) might also get involved.

"It's obviously embarrassing and needs to be stopped," said Robertson. "Throwing of matches has happened many times before. I've been in matches myself where it's happened.

"But it's particularly embarrassing that it should happen in an Olympics. It's time the BWF took a strong stand. And maybe the IOC will consider whether this is in breach of the Olympic code of fair play."

Observers said tournament referee Torsten Berg issued warned players in the first match they would be disqualified if they didn't play properly.

But it brought no obvious change of attitudes in a contest in which Yu Yang, a defending Olympic champion, and her fellow Chinese player Wang Xiaoli, lost heavily to two unseeded South Koreans, Jung Kyung Eun and Kim Ha Na.

"We've already qualified, so why would we waste energy?" Yu said. "It's not necessary to go out hard again when the knockout rounds are tomorrow."

As a result Yu and Wang avoided playing their compatriots Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei, who had finished second in their group.

South Korean head coach Sung Han-Kook reportedly said: "It's not the Olympics spirit to play like this. How could the number one pair in the world play like this?"