Eight disqualified for manipulating badminton draw

Four women’s doubles pairs have been disqualified from the Olympic badminton competition after deliberately trying to lose matches.

The eight players all conceded points on purpose in their final group matches in an attempt to manipulate the draw for the knockout stage of the London 2012 event at Wembley Arena.

The Chinese top seeds, two pairs from South Korea and another from Indonesia were all effectively found guilty of match-fixing following a disciplinary hearing by the Badminton World Federation.

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.

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.”

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.

Top seeds Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang then tried to engineer defeat against Korea’s Jung Kyung-eun 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 Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung, went a step further by refusing to play properly against Indonesia’s Meiliana Jauhari and Greysia 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.

In another twist, India accused Japanese pair Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa, the fourth seeds, of throwing their match against Chinese Taipei’s Cheng Wen Hsing and Chien Yu Chin.

Fujii and Kakiiwa’s unexpected loss denied India’s Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa a quarter-final place.

Coach Pullella Gobi Chand said: “Just because it’s subtle and the crowd didn’t make a noise, the TV didn’t make a noise, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”

An official complaint was made but rejected due to lack of evidence.

Lund said: “There has been no referee’s report or match reports whatsoever. Scoresheets have been gone through and the case has been rejected.”

Skate away

Orders for bikes, skateboards, in-line skates, and scooters by Londoners have soared over the past fortnight.

Amazon.co.uk said sales of skateboards were 167% higher in London than last year.

The website’s sports manager, Julian Monaghan, said: “It appears that Londoners are looking for creative and active ways to get around the capital during this busy few weeks.

— Josie Clark