Chinese Olympic badminton coach apologizes for throwing matches
Posted August 2, 2012 7:11 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
China’s Olympic badminton team chief has made a public apology following the deliberate throwing of matches during the London Games, at the request of Chinese national officials, state media reported on Thursday.
“As chief coach I really feel I must say sorry to fans and viewers nationwide. It’s true that we really didn’t display the fighting spirit of China’s outstanding badminton team,” said Li Yongbo, chief coach of the Chinese badminton team.
Li said the poor behaviour of his players reflected the shortcomings of the new regulations in the sport.
“We didn’t understand all the match system well enough, be it as the chief coach or as a player. Because we didn’t have a thorough understanding of the match system, we probably didn’t try our best during the match, for the sake of performing even better after entering into the next round,” said Li.
Yu Yang, one of China’s top-seeded duo who was disqualified along with teammate Wang Xiaoli, two South Korean doubles teams and an Indonesian pair, also apologized.
“(We) apologize to all our fans, because it is true that we didn’t display the Olympic sports spirit, and we didn’t give the audience and fans the chance to enjoy a game at the level of our competence,” said Yu.
The eight players were thrown out of the Games for throwing matches in a bid to secure more favourable draws later in the tournament.
Following her disqualification, the disgraced player announced on her Chinese micro-blog that she has decided to quit badminton.
Yu wrote that the Badminton World Federation (BWF) had “heartlessly shattered our dreams”, adding that it was “unforgiveable”.
The world champion said that the Olympics this year would be her last competition.
The disqualification of eight players helped move Canada’s doubles team of Alexandra Bruce and Michelle Li to the semi-finals. The Canuck pair plays Japan on Thursday.
