LONDON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - The London Games badminton
tournament was rocked by the biggest scandal to hit the sport in
its 20-year Olympic history, casting a pall over China's
stunning sweep of the five titles on offer.
The sport's federation sowed the seeds of the scandal by
introducing a much-criticised format of round-robin matches in a
pool-based first round, which left the tournament ripe for
manipulation by teams seeking to secure preferable positions in
the knockout rounds.
Organisers brushed off warnings from team officials and the
competition was plunged into turmoil on day four when four
women's doubles pairs deliberately played to lose their matches
in farcical scenes at Wembley Arena.
China's world champion pair of Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli were
blamed for kicking off the match-throwing antics against South
Korean opponents, but both pairs were culpable as they blatantly
sprayed shots out and hit serves into the net, sparking jeers
from a disgruntled crowd.
Despite repeated warnings from tournament referees, the
shenanigans continued in a later match between South Korean and
Indonesian opponents.
"Who would want to sit through something like that?" London
organising committee chairman Sebastian Coe asked. "It is
unacceptable."
Within hours, all eight players had been charged with
misconduct and they were subsequently expelled from the
tournament in a stunning decision that polarised teams and
officials.
South Korea and Indonesia appealed against the expulsions
but China's delegation backed them and ordered head badminton
coach Li Yongbo and the players to issue a public apology.
Indonesia subsequently withdrew its appeal.
The scandal rumbled on, with the IOC demanding the affected
delegations investigate their coaches' involvement in the
negative tactics, overshadowing fiercely contested matches
played out in front of near-packed houses every day.
TITLES SWEEP
China's peerless badminton team shrugged off the furore,
saying it would motivate them to an unprecedented sweep of all
titles and they duly backed up their fighting words.
After Yu and Wang were expelled from the Games and booted
out of the athletes' village, China's second-ranked women's
doubles pair of Zhao Yunlei and Tian Qing stepped up to win the
gold by thrashing Japan's Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa.
That made Zhao, a round-faced, 25-year-old from a bustling
Yangtze river port, the first to win badminton golds in two
events at the same Games, having already won the all-China mixed
doubles final with partner Zhang Nan.
Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei set up a shot at redemption and
re-match with reigning champion Lin Dan to make the final of the
men's singles, four years after losing the gold-medal decider to
the Chinese at Beijing.
Lin prevailed in a three-game classic to become the first
male player to defend a singles title, underlining his claim as
the finest badminton player of all time.
Lee, who held the number one ranking for much of his career
but never won an Olympic, world or Asian Games title, was
crushed after coming within two points of gold in his final
Games.
China hailed a bright new talent in 21-year-old Li Xuerui,
who mowed through a succession of opponents before upsetting
top-seeded compatriot Wang Yihan for the women's singles title.
China's veteran pair of Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng completed the
sweep by capturing a long-awaited men's doubles gold after being
denied on their home court in Beijing.
They blitzed Danes Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen in the
final, but Denmark were thrilled to defy Asia's badminton powers
by poaching a silver and a mixed doubles bronze.
India celebrated a maiden badminton medal with a fortuitous
bronze in the women's singles to Saina Nehwal after her Chinese
opponent retired hurt.
Indonesia, though, were plunged into gloom when their proud
record of producing an Olympic champion at every tournament
ended with a thud, the team failing to take a single medal.
Russia snatched an unlikely bronze in the women's doubles
after the already-eliminated Nina Vislova and Valeria Sorokina
were re-instated in the draw following the expulsions.
Questions about the tournament's credibility are likely to
continue, with the heat still on world badminton to probe the
role of the coaches behind the disqualified players.
(Editing by Clare Fallon)