[Epoch Times, March 28, 2022](The Epoch Times reporter Tang Yiren comprehensive report) The Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced on its official website on March 25 that He Jiting, Tan Qiang, Li Junhui (retired) and Liu Yuchen are four Chinese badminton players The team’s men’s doubles player has been suspended for three months for failing to do his best to win the 2018 Fuzhou China Open. They violated Article 3.1.2 of the BWF Code of Conduct on Betting, Wagering and Irregular Match Results 2017.
The BWF’s Independent Hearing Panel (IHP) ruled a three-month ban on the four players from all badminton-related activities from January 25, 2022. The sentence was suspended for two years, with a three-month injunction to take effect if there were any repeat offenses during the two-year observation period.
Each player was also ordered to forfeit the 2018 Fuzhou China Open prize money: He Jiting/Tan Qiang ($12,250) and Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen ($2,187.50). Under judicial procedures, athletes have the right to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within 21 days of being notified of a reasonable decision. However, the four mentioned above did not appeal.
In response to the penalty imposed by the World Badminton Federation, the Chinese Badminton Association expressed its respect for the result of the penalty, which means that the Chinese Badminton Association agreed that four players had experienced negative competitions. In addition, the Chinese Badminton Association also issued a statement expressing that it respects the decision of the World Badminton Federation to suspend the players who violated the rules; at the same time, the National Badminton Association will impose additional internal penalties to set an example.
Chinese players often “handicap the ball”
The Chinese Badminton Association expressed its “recognition” of the matter, but the most innocent are the athletes. Because the situation of “handicap” is not uncommon in Chinese badminton and table tennis teams.For example, another Chinese pair, Zhu Junhao and Zhang Binrong, were also banned for two years by the BWF in 2021 for “fixing” in the 2019 international competition. This is also very innocent and helpless for the athletes themselves. of
In the 2012 London Olympics, the women’s doubles team Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli were determined to qualify ahead of time. In order to avoid teammates Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei in the points grouping, there was a negative game and intentionally lost the game. This time the “handicap” “It was noticed by the World Badminton Federation and was disqualified from the Olympic competition at that time.
In the Chinese badminton team, there was also a case of being forced to give the ball, involving Zhou Mi, the world number one women’s singles player at the time. In the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Zhou Mi played against teammate Zhang Ning in the semi-final, but since Zhang Haili from the Netherlands won the other semi-final, head coach Li Yongbo considered that Zhang Ning had a higher chance of winning against Zhang Haili, so he made “Zhou Mi let the ball go.” Zhang Ning’s decision. Zhou Mi was very puzzled by Li Yongbo’s arrangement, because she was in very good shape at the time, and she would not be at a disadvantage even against Zhang Haili.
And Zhou Mi’s handicap allowed Zhang Ning to enter the final smoothly, and finally defeated Zhang Haili to win the women’s singles championship, while she only won a bronze medal.
Years later, Zhou Mi, who has retired, still feels aggrieved when she talks about letting the ball go. According to her, it was not the first time she gave the ball that time. As early as the 2003 Open, Li Yongbo asked her to give the ball to Gong Ruina.
Every time she gave the ball, Zhou Mi was very unwilling, but Zhou Mi felt that she was just an athlete. She had no strength to resist the arrangement from her superiors, so she could only obey silently.
Because the Chinese team has obvious advantages in table tennis since the 1960s, it has caused the “handicap” storm in many important events. In the beginning, Li Furong gave the ball to Zhuang Zedong, and then Cai Zhenhua gave the ball to Guo Yuehua. Cao Yanhua, He Zhili and Jiao Zhimin were all victims of handicap by the Chinese table tennis team in the 1980s.
In the 26th to 28th World Table Tennis Championships held in 1961, 1963 and 1965, the finalists in the men’s singles were Zhuang Zedong and Li Furong. Li Furong was ordered to give the ball to Zhuang Zedong twice because he wanted to produce a “three consecutive championships” according to the “plan”! This kind of handicap is because a certain athlete has relatively old qualifications or a special status, so the organization arranges the team to hand the ball to him as a world champion. For example, Li Furong handed the ball to Zhuang Zedong, Cai Zhenhua handed the ball to Guo Yuehua, and Cao Yanhua handed the ball to Tong Ling.
Zhang Li, a Chinese female national table tennis player, was a very famous athlete in the 1970s. She has won 26 championships. Four of them were gold medals at the World Championships. She was the champion of the women’s team at the 33rd, 34th and 35th World Championships, and the champion of the 35th women’s doubles.
Such an excellent athlete did not win the singles champion of the World Table Tennis Championships. She lost to North Korean player Park Young-soon twice in 1975 and 1977. Zhang Li lost twice in the World Table Tennis Championships, not only was not criticized, but also highly recognized by the leadership, the reason is of course for politics.
In 1981, Cao Yanhua, who was only 19 years old at the time, reached the women’s singles final of the World Table Tennis Championships. At that time, Cao Yanhua’s opponent was the chipper Tong Ling. However, before the start of the game, the leaders of the coaching staff asked Cao Yanhua to give the ball to Tong Ling in the final, on the grounds that Tong Ling had made great contributions in the previous team competition. The result is that in the final, Tong Ling “defeats” Cao Yanhua to win the championship.
In the 1985 World Table Tennis Championships, the performance of Chinese women’s table tennis was very good, and 7 of the top eight seats were occupied. In this case, in the quarter-finals, the coaching staff once again ordered Cao Yanhua to give the ball to Tong Ling. This time, Cao Yanhua resolutely said one word to the handicap order: No! Cao Yanhua swept Tong Ling 3-0 to advance to the semi-finals. In the semi-final and final, she defeated her teammates respectively and won the World Table Tennis Championships singles championship for the second time in her career.
But after winning the championship, Cao Yanhua announced his retirement soon. Because she knew that if she didn’t retire and continued to play, she would have serious consequences. If she dared to disobey the leader’s orders in the World Table Tennis Championships, she would definitely be retaliation.
Of course, there was also the case of He Zhili’s disobedience to the “handicap” incident, which was so noisy at the time, and Jiao Zhimin’s experience of handing the ball 5 times, to name a few.
Responsible editor: Li Rongshi
