Argue with the Badminton Blog

Victor Ching, a badminton fanatic from Malaysia, wrote in his badminton blog to call for the International Badminton Federation (hereinafter knows as the BWF) to investigate claims accusing China of foul play.

I do not agree with him at all and not mean to flame anyone.

I am a Chinese, but it is not the key factor affecting one’s attitude towards this issue. Facts speak louder than words. You could only draw your conclusion with facts and logical inference.

Let’s see the 3 so-called solid evidences he listed in the "hot news open challenge China cheater" which were repeated in his next post "response to previous post". I strongly opposed the word “cheater” for it was mere his imagination before the final judgment. Are you going to draw more eyeballs with an astonishing title? But it is not what I want to argue with you, let us analyze the 3 listed.

1. German Open: Chen Yu gave a walkover to Lin Dan, while making the finals of the All England one week later. Is this fast recovery, or an attempt to save energy? While I don’t think this is strictly prohibited, I still think such walkovers are not in the spirit of badminton.

Let me ask you a few questions. Do you think Lin Dan can beat Chen Yu each time? If All England champion is important, is German Open champion important either? Whether did Chen Yu want to be a champion once? Ok, if things all went as your imagination could Chen Yu win the All England 100 percent as long as he gave up in German Open?

2. China Masters: Almost all linesmen and umpires in several crucial matches involving Chinese players were from China. This not only raises many people’s eyebrows, but it also represents the unprofessional organization on behalf of the Chinese badminton governing body. In addition to this, there were several crucial line calls that went China’s way. In an international Super Series tournament, how can an official be from the same country as one of the participants? Wouldn’t this account for a conflict of interest?

I do not want to say more words on it. You will know the same situation if you check the tournaments taking place in any other country like Indonesian Open, Singapore Open, etc. Maybe you could advise the BWF to add a new rule that you personally wrote.

3. Macau Open: Chen Hong gave a highly controversial walkover to Chen Jin, while appearing to be fine the day of the match. Does Chen Hong really have an injury, or is he faking it for the benefit of his countryman? Another controversial act was by Chen Jin in the finals to wipe his sweat on the shuttle to make it heavier, allegedly to neutralize Taufik Hidayat’s smash and net play. While this might constitute bad sportsmanship, and being against the spirit of the sport, should this be allowed?

The upper part of 3 is the same as 1. I do not explain any more.

I could not help laughing seeing the rest part. How much I envy your powerful imagination! Use your common sense. Did Taufik Hidayat have the right to ask the umpire for a new shuttlecock? According to your imagination, each detail action could be a trick. If Taufik askes to use a new racket during the game (we can see this often), are you going to say that he intends to make it heavier?

To conclude, you did not expect China to win. Or maybe Taufik is your idol. Unfortunately, China won in the end. You could not accept the facts and turn out to look for excuses.

Yes, China is powerful in badminton field. But it is not the country’s fault. I have to say China’s dominance depends on scientific training and rich experience of years. Any other country or player could be the threat as long as he is skilled enough.

China won so many badminton world champions. If you are right, can Li Yongbo influence any other umpires and linesmen beyond China?

Each country has its own advantage in sports that other countries do not need to envy. Just like that we can not say we encounter a bad referee with our constant failure when playing basketball with NBA players. Complaint is not the solution, envy is not the solution, accepting the facts and practising hard are. What’s more, BWF proposed more and more measures including modifying the rules to restrict China. Changing from 15-point to 21-point is an example.

Despite of different opinions, I support what you did to discover the truth. The same sentence as you: Let the truth prevail!

Finally, Badminton, for an individual, is a kind of exciting sports to take part in. I think we have a lot of ideas to share with readers.