Olympic female badminton players face charges [View all]

[Nye Bevan]

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.

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.

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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 However, he then rescinded his decision following protests from the two teams.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.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19074013