London, Aug 1: The World Badminton Federation (WBF) will shortly decide whether the eight women players who participated in two 'fixed' matches at the London Games yesterday should be expelled from the competition.

With the International Olympic Committee (IOC) taking a dim view of the manner in which two pairs from South Korea conspired with their respective Chinese and Indonesian opponents to manipulate the quarter-final lineup, the WBF is under pressure to take stringent action against the players.

World champions Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang apparently wanted to avoid their counterparts Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei, ranked no 2, until the final. Hence Wang and Yu deliberately lost to Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na of South Korea.

The spectators did not get their money's worth as Wang and Yu either served into the net or hit the shuttlecock out of the court. The Korean pair played poorly too.

Not even a single rally in the entire match extended beyond four shots. No wonder the referee issued a stern warning in the middle of the match.

When Indonesia's Greysia Poli and Meiliana Jauhari squared up against Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jing of South Korea, things were more or less the same. Both pairs showed no interest in winning the match.

Though angry spectators booed loudly to show their resentment at the farcical proceedings, it had no effect on the players. Tournament referee Torsten Berg flashed a black card to disqualify all four of them but the Korean and Indonesian coaches convinced him to rescind their dismissal.

Though Jung-eun and Min-jing emerged victors in the end, their head coach Sung Han-kook admitted that the intention of his wards was no different from that of the Chinese.

He said that Jung-eun and Min-jing did not want to face Kyung-eun and Ha-na in the quarter final. Han-kook also accused Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang of setting a wrong precedent.

Later the WBF said that the eight players concerned have been charged "...with not using one's best efforts to win a match and conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport."

Incidentally, IOC president Jacques Rogge was present in the Wembley Arena here and watched the four pairs present an unedifying spectacle.

OneIndia News