Culture

Must Try Harder!

Eight badminton players are expelled from the Olympics, they are accused of not trying hard enough and poor sportsmanship.

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LONDON—"Evening of shame."

Not words you often—if ever—associate with the sport of badminton. But those were the words being used by British TV after eight female badminton players were kicked out of Olympic Games on Wednesday afternoon over twin charges of "not using one's best efforts to win a match" and "conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport."

The Badminton World Federation held a closed-door hearing on the matter in the aftermath of events on Tuesday night at Wembley Arena. Television images showed clips of the players in question going through the motions and appearing to "tank" in order to get a more favorable draw going forward.