Badminton: Controversial pairs to meet in S Korea

SEOUL: Controversial women’s badminton pairings from China and South Korea who were booted out of the London Games in a ‘play-to-lose’ scandal will face each other in the semi-finals of the Korea Open today.

China’s Yu Yan and Wang Xiaoli, and South Korea’s Jung Kyung-Eun and Kim Ha-Na will meet in a rematch of their bizarre Olympic encounter, which saw the players booed off court after the Chinese lost in straight sets.

After beating Bao Yixin and Tian Qing of China 21-11, 21-18 in the Korea who went through on a walkover. “At the Olympics, we didn’t play a proper match,” said Jung. “Today, we’re going to try to beat them with our skills.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2013.