China's alleged Badminton match/age fixing

[up and down 82]

In China competition is always very stiff and very tough. If the players want to be part of the national team, they must be able to win medals in AJC and WJC. In China only players who are part of the national team can go out for international tournaments. That means if the player is not selected to be part of the national team they cannot play in tournaments. So we have more than 1 billions of badminton players in China. But we all know not all those 1 billions can get selected to be part of the national team. Hence all the players had to cheat to survive. In fact in China all the players cheat their age. They have no choice. So it goes like a player is 23 years old but he or she makes him or her age 5 years younger so that he or she can be eligible to play in AJC and WJC and win medals. Well it is difficult for 18 or 17 year old kids to win medals. It looks easier when adults play in junior high school tournaments and they can win. That is why out of no choice all those China players are forced to cheat their age so they can survive. Well if the player did not cheat his or her age and the rest of the other players do it then he or she will be the odd one out.

 

 

So the example is this. My friends all cheat their age. They are 23 years old but make themselves look 5 years younger. So they declare themselves as 18 years old and get to play in WJC and AJC plus win gold medals. Whereas I am so honest here and refused to cheat my age. So I am 18 years old but play in AJC and WJC but win no medals. So in the end my friends who cheated their age to win medals in WJC and AJC all got selected to be part of the national team. Whereas poor me the honest person that refused to cheat the age won no medals in AJC and WJC thus I cannot get selected to join the national team and cannot play in international tournaments.

 

So you see I am giving the above illustration as an example. The honest person lose out. So in the end under such a cruel system every athletes cheated their age in order to survive. Such a sad situation indeed.

[up and down 82]

In fact in WJC 2018 held in Canada last year, all those Chinese players from China playing there are all caught age cheating. All of them falsity their age and make themselves look younger than their actual age. This article and news came out is written specifically targeting at those China players playing in WJC 2018. Yet no action is taken against them and despite being caught age cheating to win medals, their medals are not even confiscated or taken back. You see to play in junior tournaments the players must be below 18 years old. That is why China players tend to cheat their age in order to play in junior high school tournaments.

 

However in normal World Tour tournaments held on weekly basis by BWF, that is no problem because it is a senior tournament and the age of the players is not important. When you play in senior tournaments there is no age limit. But if you play in junior high school tournaments you cannot be more than 18 years old.

[up and down 82]

More proves about age cheating here. In this link below.

 

http://www.badmintonplanet.com/badminton-news/4618-how-old-are-chen-qingchen-chen-long.html

 

 

[up and down 82]

More evidence of age cheating here. In this link below.

 

http://www.badmintonplanet.com/badminton-news/4617-whether-the-korea-open-champion-qiao-bin-is-23-or-26-years-old.html

 

 

[up and down 82]

My suggestions here is BWF really must come down hard in these age cheaters. If not these age cheaters will continue to cheat and there will be no end to the age fabrication issues. So many cheaters here. Referring to the news above it is stated that Qiao Bin, Chen Long, Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan have all cheated their age. This is getting more and more serious.

[up and down 82]

Badminton Disgraced at Olympics?

After watching a China versus South Korea Match on TV I was appalled at the blatant cheating of the players to lose their match in order to ensure an easier route into the latter stages of the tournament.

There has been another incident reported too involving Indonesia and South Korea again.

Having read the reports earlier today and watched some of the match yesterday, I am astounded that BWF has not taken swift and serious action. I understand there are huge political issues in the background here, that we know little about. However, it is clear that match “fixing” has been taking place for some time, especially in the lead up to Olympic qualification and this needs to be stamped out. Sadly, BWF appears to turn a blind eye to it.

In my opinion, some of these players, or should we say the coaches/decision-makers have long since forgotten what particiapting in the Olympics or any sport at professional level should be about. What we as spectators wish to see are players wearing a gold medal to honour the fact they have strived, sacrificed and above all, beaten rivals fairly on their way to winning the coveted gold medal. This is what every tournament is about, or should be about and the Olympic spirit should be present in every match of every event.

Sadly, this blatant cheating, supposed a copycat response from South Korean players to the Chinese players, resulted in the crowd booing the players and the referee showing the players a black card but NOT following through and properly issuing it. Shame, because this would have sent ripples through the badminton tournament world that this behaviour is totally unacceptable.

From what I can gather, the Chinese No1 seeded players were deliberately trying to lose to avoid playing the No2 seeded Chinese pair at the latter stages of the tournament. This, in my opinion is blatant cheating by the organisors of the team, although not unusual.

I believe the players should have been immediately disqualified, therefore ensuring they had no say in the outcome of the tournament and their place should have been taken by those who were knocked out by them.

Thankfully the BWF in a meeting later in the day, disqualified the players and gave their places to pairs who had previously been knocked out of the competition in the group stages.

On the one hand this is definitely the right thing to do – make an example of the pairs. However, there are many sides to this decision. Firstly, this sends a message to the badminton world that this behaviour will not be tolerated. Question is, is the disqualification a big enough punishment and is it the players who should be disqualified?

Second, this means there is potential that we as an audience are deprived of watching some of the best pairs compete in the latter stages of the competition. Why on earth should the world’s number 1 ranked pair, and winners of numerous tournaments need to perform like this? The answer is that they were told to do so. And that is where we have a problem. Yes, they may wish to save themselves having already qualified, but really, is there any need to not try? Why not do the opposite and go full out, win in two games and get off court knowing you’ve had more court time, getting used to the conditions, which is far better preparation for the next stage in the competition.

The biggest issue here is that the players were told to throw the games. The South Korean coaches admitted copying China. That was a bad judgement. However, the Chinese have been allowed to “fix” matches in order for players to qualify. Nobody can forget Lin Dan losing in 2008 All England final to Chen Jin which gave the latter sufficient points to qualify for the Olympic games in Beijing. And, history was repeated this year when Chen Jin won virtually the last qualifying event of the year, beating Lin Dan, which gave him sufficient points to overtake Peter Gade’s 4th place ranking which gained him qualification to London.

So, this kind of match fixing has been happpening for years and BWF has consistently turned a blind eye to it. Chen Jin is a brilliant player. But, if it wasn’t for his win, he would not have qualified. Personally, I believe BWF has a very difficult decision to make. Thankfully they made the right decision in disqualifying the players concerned in the matches. However, steps should be taken to address the greater concern that match fixing of sorts exists in our fantastic sport at the highest level and BWF doesn’t do a thing about it.

At the end of the day, China is a superb badminton and sporting nation. However, if they have to resort to cheating to win more tournaments, then something needs to be done. The problem is, I’m not sure BWF has the bottle do it.

[up and down 82]

Players' Chief Wants More Action on 'Match-Fixing'

More should be done to combat match-fixing in badminton, the head of the Players Federation said in an article in Denmark's Play The Game website.

Bobby Milroy, president of the Badminton Players Federation, said the admission earlier this year of Chinese coach Li Yongbo that they had arranged the result of an Athens Olympic match should be taken seriously. Prompted by Li's statement, world governing body the Badminton World Federation (BWF) formed an Ethics Committee. However, Milroy wants more. "Not enough action has been taken," Milroy, President of Badminton Players Federation was quoted as saying. "In such a case where Li Yongbo feels it appropriate to boast about match-fixing, the BWF should do whatever it takes to ensure his immediate dismissal. "My recommendation at the time was to ban Chinese players from all competitions, including the Olympics, until such time as Li Yongbo was fired." Li said that the Athens Olympics women's singles semi-final between Zhou Mi and Zhang Ning was arranged to make the latter win. The Chinese coaches felt Zhang had a better chance of winning gold, which she did. This was the first time that a high-ranking member of the Chinese coaching staff had admitted what everybody else suspected. At the Asian Championships in April, China's world number one Lin Dan was easily beaten by his compatriot Chen Jun in the semi-final. Chen had to win the match to secure a world-ranking of four and guarantee a place in the Olympics. Lin denied he had thrown the match. However, it is highly unlikely if BWF would consider banning the Chinese team. The match-fixing affecting badminton is not due to third parties gambling on the sport but "team orders", very much like Formula One racing. However, many players are unhappy with the situation. Given the depth of players China possesses, they are in a position to arrange results in almost any tournament, sometimes at the expense of players from other countries. Li said there was no shame in the Chinese team's action but rather it was patriotic. However, Canada's Anna Rice, the world number 30, doesn't agree. "Apparently Chinese coaches have publicly admitted fixing matches for years, and to the Chinese it is regarded to be an act of patriotism to make the best win," she was quoted as saying. "In Asia there seem to be widespread knowledge about the fixing of matches, apparently without this being a matter of major concern within the national federations."

[up and down 82]

BWF Wants Explanation from China Over Match Fixing Comment

Badminton World Federation (BWF) is still seeking an explanation from China over recent comments by their head coach that they have fixed matches in the past.

BWF posed 10 questions to Chinese badminton officials during the council meeting on the sidelines of last month's Thomas Cup and Uber Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia. The Chinese failed to provide a full response to the 10 questions. In addition, they failed to comply with a deadline to answer the questions that expired last week. It is not known what the BWF's next move will be, while the Chinese appear happy to let the issue drag on. It all started early this year when national coach Li Yongbo admitted publically that the 2004 Athens Olympic women's singles semi-final between Zhou Mi and Zhang Ning was arranged. Chinese coaches felt Zhang would have a better chance of winning the gold so they told Zhou to not try so hard. Zhang advanced to the final and won the gold medal, as scripted by the Chinese. Li said he had no problems with such arrangements, saying it was patriotic. China has a history of favouring certain players when two of them meet at international events. At April's Asian Championships in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, world number one Lin Dan failed to play his best as he lost to compatriot Chen Jin in the semi-finals. All England champion Chen needed to enter the final to ensure a ranking of fourth in the world and thereby guarantee his place in the Olympics. Countries are only allowed two singles players in the main draw of the Olympic competition unless one nation has more than two ranked in the top four of the world. China fulfilled this condition with Chen's victory over Lin. Also joining them in Beijing is Bao Chunlai, the world number three. Match-fixing is a problem in badminton, though not from illegal betting but from countries wanting to make use of loopholes to enhance their chances of winning. At May's Thomas Cup in Jakarta, South Korea lost all their group matches so they could avoid China in the quarter-finals. As it turned out, they met Denmark instead and reached the final, losing to China 3-1.

[up and down 82]

How China fixes matches to remain badminton powerhouse

  

 

In the semifinal of the Badminton Asia Championship in China last week, Olympic Champion Lin Dan was injured during the morning training session and forfeited his match against compatriot Chen Jin. Chen went on to win the title, which made a considerable contribution to his ranking points.

The victory took Chen closer to his goal of breaking into the top-four in the world rankings before 3 May, a pre-requisite for him to qualify for the Olympics. According to the qualification rules, any country can field three singles players in the Olympics only if all three are in the top four in the world rankings after the qualification period ends on 31 April 2012.

 

Under normal circumstances, the incident could have been ignored as a stroke of good luck for the 2010 World Champion, who is still struggling to cement his berth in the forthcoming London Olympics.

But when such incidents involve two Chinese players the badminton fraternity cannot help but look at these developments with suspicion since the sport's powerhouse has been known to “fix” the result of such matches for a bigger goal.

The biggest of such controversies had broken out when China’s head coach Li Yongbo once publicly admitted that he asked Zhou Mi (former world number one) to throw her 2004 Athens Olympics semifinal against compatriot Zhang Ning since he felt that the latter was more likely to get the better of Dutchwoman Mia Audina who had already booked her final berth.

He had defended his decision saying Zhang had already won the first game in the semifinal and hence “as a patriot” he decided Zhou to take it easy and not try and win the match.

In the last couple of years, Lin Dan has forfeited his matches twice against Chen Long to allegedly keep him fresh for a crucial match against Malaysian world number one Lee Chong Wei. He also forfeited the final of the Singapore Open Super Series last year against Chen, which ultimately helped the latter to gain valuable ranking points.

In the 2011 Malaysia Open, there were quite a few walkovers in the all-Chinese encounters forcing the governing body, Badminton World Federation, to issue a warning to the coaching staff.

 

Then the bigger goal for the Chinese contingent was to earn the full quota of qualifiers for the World Championship. In the same tournament, Xin Liu forfeited her women’s singles quarterfinal against Jiang Yangjiao citing a toe injury. That move not only helped Jiang, but also helped their men’s doubles pair as they were already warmed up when their match, scheduled immediately afterwards, was called while their Korean opponents were in for a surprise.

For the last few years, former world and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia has been petitioning the BWF to make stringent rules to curb these Chinese tactics, but the world body has expressed helplessness time and again since it cannot force any player to take the court and risk further injuries.

The other strategy the Chinese contingent employees in the run up to major events like the Olympics and World championship is to enter many new players into major tournaments to shield their top players from their challengers.

India’s Saina Nehwal got the taste of that game plan during the Badminton Asia Championship last week when she was shown the door by Asian junior champion Xiao Jia Chen in the second round.

The youngster had obviously come prepared with a game plan for Saina, while the Indian ace was completely clueless about the strengths and weaknesses of her opponent.

Saina has time and again said that it is difficult to keep up with the Chinese only because of the sheer number of players they have and their different game plans. “It is easy for them to prepare for me. But the other way round is very difficult.”

In the women’s category, the Chinese ensured that they have all the top-four spots secured when world number four Li Xuerui won the Asian title beating world champion and compatriot Wang Yihan. The badminton powerhouse will now have the choice to field any three players for London Olympics on the basis of their current form.

The Chinese are already geared up for a clean sweep of Olympic medals, it would be interesting to see who manages to break their stranglehold in London.

[up and down 82]

BEIJING, March 22: China’s badminton head coach has admitted ordering a player to throw a crucial tie at the 2004 Olympic Games.

Coach Li Yongbo told China Central Television’s sports channel that the 2004 Athens Olympics semi-final was fixed to improve China’s chances of winning a gold medal.

Two Chinese players, Zhou Mi and Zhang Ning, were drawn together in the semi-final tie.

After watching Zhang win the first game, the coaching staff decided that she would have a better shot at winning the final against a non-Chinese opponent rather than Zhou.

“After the first game, Zhang looked in better all round shape,” Li was quoted as saying in a report on the interview by Sina.Com website.

“So we told Zhou Mi not to work too hard and let Zhang into the final.”

Li said he and the Chinese team had nothing to be ashamed of.

“It shows our patriotism and in fact I am proud of it.”

Zhang won the gold as planned and is expected to defend her Olympic title at the Beijing Games here in August.

For her part, Zhou quit the Chinese team and went to Hong Kong. She is currently hoping to qualify to represent the territory in badminton at the Beijing Olympics.

Li’s admission revived long-standing concern about behind-the-scenes arrangements at top international table tennis and badminton events by Chinese teams.

The practice first surfaced in 1987, when He Zhili ignored an order to throw a semi-final to team-mate Guan Jianhua at the 1987 world table tennis championships.

She went on to win the final, but was left out of the 1988 Seoul Olympic team as punishment.

In badminton, suspicions are still rife about Wang Dan’s defeat to team-mate Chen Jin in the recent all-England final, with some experts suggesting that Wang threw the game.—AFP