Badminton players charged with playing to lose
Updated at 8:30 pm on 1 August 2012
The Badminton World Federation has charged eight female Olympic doubles players with "not using one's best efforts to win a match."
Four pairs of players - two from South Korea, one from China and one from Indonesia - could be disciplined, the BBC reports.
In the doubles match between China and South Korea in London both teams appeared determined to lose. The longest rally of the first game was four shots.
Both pairs were already through to the quarter-finals. Reports have suggested they both wanted to lose to secure an easier draw.
Spectator displeasure and referee intervention did nothing to encourage the Chinese or Koreans to raise their game, a dead rubber at the Wembley Arena.
South Korea eventually won, meaning China's world champion duo will meet the number two pair if both teams reach the final.
The Koreans may now have to get past the Chinese No 2 team to reach the final.
A later match between South Korean third seeds Ha Jung-Eun and Kim Min-Jung and Indonesian pair Meiliana Juahari and Greysia Polii is also under scrutiny by the Badminton World Federation.
Both pairs of those teams had also already qualified for the knockout stages, with the winner of Group C to play Yu and Wang and the Korean pairs to face each other if Ha and Kim lost.
The Koreans eventually won by two sets to one.
A statement from the BWF confirmed that all four pairs would face charges of "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".
Copyright © 2012, Radio New Zealand
