Olympics : Trivia / sidelights

[third eye]

The aim of this thread is to share Trivia with regard to the Olympics that are underway.

To start with...

BBC News - Olympic female badminton players face charges

The Badminton World Federation has charged eight female Olympic doubles players with "not using one's best efforts to win a match".

Four pairs of players - two from South Korea, one from China and one from Indonesia - could be disciplined.

Meanwhile, Team GB's gold medal hopes on day five of the Games lie mainly with rowers Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, and cyclist Bradley Wiggins.

And America's Michael Phelps has won a record 19th Olympic medal.

Spectators booed the two badminton matches played at Wembley Arena on Tuesday, in which the four accused pairs of players were appearing.

China's Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli and South Koreans Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na are among those facing charges.

The longest rally in their game lasted four shots, with match referee Thorsten Berg coming on to court at one point to warn the players. The players also appeared to deliberately serve into the net and hit the shuttlecock out of the court.

Both pairs were already through to the quarter-finals. Reports have suggested they both wanted to lose to secure an easier draw.

The unseeded South Koreans eventually won their match, meaning they would next play China's Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei.

The South Korean pair did not comment, but Yu said she and Wang were saving energy for the knockout stages.

And a later match between South Korean third seeds Ha Jung-Eun and Kim Min-Jung and Indonesian pair Meiliana Juahari and Greysia Polii is also under scrutiny by the Badminton World Federation.

Both pairs of those teams had also already qualified for the knockout stages, with the winner of Group C to play Yu and Wang and the Korean pairs to face each other if Ha and Kim lost.

At one point the referee, Berg, again intervened and brandished a black card to disqualify the players. However, he then rescinded his decision following protests from the two teams.

Both teams appeared keen to lose and therefore not play the Chinese in the next round, but the Koreans eventually won by two sets to one.

A statement from the BWF confirmed that all four pairs would face charges of "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".

 

[RPK]

I think Trolling become part of life

 

[third eye]

London is the first city to be officially listed as hosting the Games three times: 1908, 1948 and 2012.

Athens was host in 1896, 1906 and 2004, but the Intercalated games of 1906 were de-listed as being 'Olympic Games'.

 

[third eye]

The only Olympian ever to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize was Philip Noel-Baker of Great Britain, who won the silver in the 1500 metres in 1920.

 

[RPK]

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/08/02/12/badminton-chief-apologizes-players-thrown-out


LONDON - World badminton apologised on Wednesday for a scandal that has sullied the sport's reputation at the London Olympics and resulted in eight women being disqualified from the tournament.

The expulsion of four women's doubles pairs sent shockwaves through the tournament, removing China's top-seeded duo and other doubles pairs from the South Korean and Indonesian teams.

"I'm very, very sorry this has happened for both the players and for the sport," Badminton World Federation secretary general Thomas Lund told a media conference.

"We made this decision for the best interests of all the players. The most important thing is to deal with such cases in a firm and fair manner."

The head coach of China's badminton team Li Yongbo told Chinese media he was responsible for his world championship duo Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli's failure to compete for victory.

"As head coach, I owe the supporters of Chinese badminton and the Chinese TV audiences an apology," he was quoted as saying. "Chinese players failed to demonstrate the fine tradition and fighting spirit of the national team.

"It's me to blame."

Both the South Korea and Indonesia teams appealed the decision, but the Indonesians later withdrew theirs. China's delegation said it 'fully respected' the punishment and would launch an investigation into its badminton team.

The BWF upheld all of the disqualifications.

"The last thing we'd like to do is to DQ (disqualify) anyone," added Lund. "We're so sorry it has come to this. It was a very difficult decision for the technical official to make."

Tuesday's evening session of the badminton descended into chaos, with fans jeering two separate matches as players deliberately missed shots and dumped serves into the net in a race to the bottom, forcing the BWF to mount an investigation.

A BWF panel charged the players 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".

The decision knocked China's top-seeded pair of Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli out of the tournament, along with South Korean pairs Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na, and Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung.

Indonesia's Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari were also expelled for their involvement in the second of the two tainted matches on Tuesday.

The head of Indonesia's badminton federation denied it had instructed its players to 'throw' their match.

"We come here not to lose medals, we want to have medals," Indonesian Badminton Association chief Erick Thohir said.

"I think to blame China is also not fair.

"I think the BWF (Badminton Wold Federation) should take a look at the history of the last tournaments before they make judgements."

OPINIONS SPLIT

The disqualification polarised players and team officials.

While some regarded it as unduly harsh, others welcomed it as a good precedent for the sport, which has been dogged by complaints from players about similar manipulations in other tournaments.

Most pointed the fingers at the Chinese team for creating the scandal.

"I can say China has played dirty," said a coach with the Korean delegation. "Unsportsmanlike. They fixed the matches, that's why everything is messy here."

Players slammed the BWF for instituting a format that was ripe for manipulation.

Badminton officials introduced a preliminary pool round for London after starting the tournament with knockout rounds in previous Games. Denmark's head coach called for it to be overhauled, given it was prone to manipulation.

"Why would the tournament rules people have (a format) like this?" men's singles world number one Lin Dan told reporters at Wembley Arena. "If they just had a knockout round it would all be fine. You lose and that's it," the Chinese added.

Lund said the BWF needed to review its regulations to prevent a similar scandal from reoccurring.

"The group play has generally been a tremendous success for this tournament, it has created really good matches and a lot that we've never seen before," he added.

"But we also have to be clear that there has been a problem here, we have to take that problem very seriously."

India's badminton team stepped into the furore, accusing a Japanese women's doubles team of going easy against Taiwanese opponents from the same group as India's doubles pair Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa.

Lund said there were no grounds to take the matter further.

Danish mixed doubles player Thomas Laybourn spoke of a "tragic" situation in which the scandal had overshadowed the genuine competitors and blackened the sport's name.

"I heard the news yesterday and everyone was talking about this and all the newspapers were writing about it, so in the end it could mean that badminton is being taken off the Olympic programme in 2020," Laybourn told Reuters.

"When something like this happens it's not good publicity."

Four teams were promoted into the quarter-finals to replace the disqualified pairs.

The scandal overshadowed the day's play at Wembley Arena where world number one Lin Dan booked a quarter-final place after beating old rival Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia. (Editing by Ken Ferris)

 

[third eye]

Some Olympic and Sporting Bloomers..

1. Weightlifting commentator: "This is Gregoriava from Bulgaria. I saw her snatch this morning during her warm up and it was amazing."

2. Dressage commentator: "This is really a lovely horse and I speak from personal experience since I once mounted her mother."

3. Paul Hamm, Gymnast: "I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father."

4. Boxing Analyst: "Sure there have been injuries, and even some deaths in boxing, but none of them really that serious."

5. Softball announcer: "If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing again."

6. Basketball analyst: "He dribbles a lot and the opposition doesn't like it. In fact you can see it all over their faces.

7. At the rowing medal ceremony: "Ah, isn't that nice, the wife of the IOC president is hugging the cox of the British crew."

8. Soccer commentator: "Julian Dicks is everywhere. It's like they've got eleven Dicks on the field."

9. Tennis commentator: "One of the reasons Andy is playing so well is that, before the final round, his wife takes out his balls and kisses them.. .......Oh my God, what have I just said?"!!

 

[get straight]

9. Tennis commentator: "One of the reasons Andy is playing so well is that, before the final round, his wife takes out his balls and kisses them.. .......Oh my God, what have I just said?"!!

that was hilarious