Malaysia has accused China of match-fixing after the badminton powerhouse secured a clean sweep at the All England championships, a report said on Monday.
Rashid Sidek, Malaysian singles chief coach, said the Chinese team had arranged for defending champion Chen Jin to retire from his semifinal in Birmingham on Saturday to allow compatriot and Olympic champion Lin Dan an easy path to the final.
Chen had complained of back pain while trailing Lin 21-12 11-6. Lin went on to beat Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei in the final in a repeat of the Beijing Olympics gold medal match.
The Star newspaper said that just a day before his defeat Chen “hardly showed any signs of discomfort when he fought tooth-and-nail” to win his quarterfinal.
“And that’s why many felt that Chen Jin’s decision to retire against Lin Dan was just a ploy to allow the latter to conserve energy for his final against Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei,” it added.
The Star cited an angry Rashid as saying that China had used the tactic at last year’s Beijing Olympics, where the home country won three of the five gold medals.
“They do not see that their actions are bringing a bad reputation to the sport. Yes, this (alleged match-fixing) is affecting the sport as a whole. Everyone in the world of badminton is talking about it. They (China) know our reaction but they just do not care.
We do not condone such tactics. For us, we want the best players on the day to win,” he said.
China became the first nation to win all five titles at the championships in the open era.
