LEFT with no choice but to act, the Badminton World Federation on Wednesday disqualified four women's pairs - two from South Korea and one each from China and Indonesia - for match-manipulation.
The disqualified pairs - world champions and top seeds Wang Xiaoli-Yu Yang from China, South Koreans Jung Kyung En-Kim Ha Na and Ha Jun Eun-Kim Ming Jun and Greysia Polii-Meiliana Jauhari from Indonesia - were kicked out for deliberately playing to lose in their final group matches on Tuesday.
Wang Xiaoli-Yu Yang would have played Tian Qing-Zhao Yunlei in the quarter-finals had they finished top of Group D as their compatriots finished second in Group B.
This led to farcical scenes when Wang Xiaoli-Yu Yang met Jung Kyung-Ha Na with both pairs doing their best to lose.
This resulted in tournament referee Thorsten Berg having to warn them before the Koreans eventually won 21-14, 21-11.
That then saw the second Korean pair Jun Eun-Ming Jun playing to lose against the Indonesians to avoid Wang Xiaoli-Yu Yang in the quarter-finals, and the Indonesians also got into the act to avoid a similar fate. Berg threatened to disqualify them immediately before action resumed.
In the end, the Koreans won 18-21, 21-14, 21-12 but the final result was BWF finally asserting its authority by taking action against all four.
Results' manipulation has been rife in the Super Series and had action not been taken against Tuesday's outrageous events, badminton's position in the Olympics could have come under threat.
BWF secretary general Thomas Lund, speaking from a prepared statement, said: "Four pairs were disqualified by the BWF today following a hearing this morning. They were charged under the BWF's code of conduct for players."
The Dane said Indonesia and Korea had appealed the disqualification of their players but the decision had been upheld. paving the way for pairs who finished below them to make the quarter-finals.
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