Poll: 8 Olympic Badminton Players Disqualified for Throwing Matches

[ProtoChimp]

Well, there's a big difference between taking it a bit easier in the heats as a swimmer and deliberately screwing up the game. World class badminton players don't suddenly start serving repeatedly into the net, or barely managing to uphold rallies of four strokes. This wasn't just resting to save themselves for the knockout stages, this was a cynical and blatant attempt to throw the match to their own advantage. The umpire admonished the players halfway through the match, and they still persisted in mucking about rather than playing properly. They had their warning, and I frankly think they deserved disqualification.

Should the tournament be reorganised at the next Olympics to stop this situation happening? Of course. Are the athletes scapegoats and personally blameless? Absolutely not.

I couldn't even read your post that avatar was so adorable it was hypnotic.

 

[Yureina]

Absolutely. These players symbolize the attitude that has become far too pervasive these days: that winning is more important than anything else, and that anything can be sacrificed or discarded in order to achieve it. Sure, being fair and honest and all that even if it costs you victory might seem out of place in some venues (i.e. war), but in sports I say it is essential.

They deserved to get thrown out, and I am glad that they did. Even if the round robin rules that were set up sort of enabled that behavior, what those players did was a disgrace.