4 Nov 2012

Olympic badminton cheats return to competition

4:10 pm on 4 November 2012

The Indonesian Badminton Association has lifted a ban on its star women's doubles pair after a three-month suspension for throwing a match at the London Olympics.

Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari were disqualified from the Games in early August after they tried to lose matches in the first-round group phase to manipulate the knockout draw.

Two South Korean pairs and one Chinese pair were also disqualified for the offence of "not using one's best efforts to win a match".

Indonesia's Badminton Association suspended them from national and international competition for four months, later revised to three, and the incident prompted Indonesia to call for a review of the game's Olympic format.

Indonesia is a former badminton powerhouse but its fortunes on the international stage have waned, with Chinese shuttlers now dominating the sport.