Jwala-Ponnappa out officially as BWF rejects India’s appeal; Gopi Chand fumes

Booing at the London Olympics has so far been confined to just good humoured discouragement directed at athletes taking on local British players. On Tuesday night, however, it erupted at the Wembley Arena in two matches that figured players from the other side of the world attempting to lose instead of trying to win, says a report in Hindustan Times, adding that a day later, all the eight women badminton players were kicked out of the Games for deliberately trying to lose their doubles matches.

India's coach Gopi Chand had alleged even before the scandal erupted that the number four seeded Japanese pair lost to an unseeded Chinese Taipei combo only to influence a better draw for themselves. This saw the exit of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa as the Taipei team managed to sneak ahead.

Meanwhile a report in The Times Of India says that a day after Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa's heartbreaking exit from women's doubles, the pair had to endure anxious moments after Badminton World Federation banned eight shuttlers for 'throwing' their matches. The Indian team, which missed the quarterfinal spot by a point, lodged an appeal with chief referee Torsten Berg, alleging the final Group B match between Chinese Taipei and Japan, played on Tuesday before the Indian pair's clash against Singapore, had been 'manipulated.'

But much to the disappointment of Indian fans, the appeal was rejected. Taipei and Japan will now play the quarterfinals. "I strongly feel Japan deliberately lost the match to Taipei so they can avoid China's Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei in the quarters. Had Japan won, we could have made it to the quarters. Losing the second spot by just one point is disappointing," Gopichand told TOI from London.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, India coach Pullela Gopi Chand's plea about a 'fixed' match that denied our pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa a shot at the quarters, did not find favour with the authorities. The duo was pushed to third in their group after Japan's world No. 5 pair of Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa lost to Chinese Taipei's Wen Hsing Cheng and Yu Chin Chien in their final group contest.

But the world body rejected their protest. Interestingly enough, India had protested before the scandal came to light amidst spectator uproar and tremendous negative exposure in the media. The Japanese qualified as the second team in the group, edging out India by a solo point. India had 138 points for and 135 against - a difference of plus three. Japan had 130-126 (4).

"Just because it's subtle and the crowd did not make a noise, the TV didn't make a noise, doesn't mean it didn't happen," said Gopi. He went on to assert that it was only because the crowd created a racket and that the 'fixing' was so blatant that BWF "did anything". "The system is first at fault. The players will do whatever they can to win a medal and if losing means a better draw, they will do it."