Chinese badminton
 

Players from the Chinese badminton team are getting booted from the Olympics for intentionally throwing preliminary matches in an effort to make their path to the championship easier.

(Yes badminton is part of the Olympics!)

:chinscratch:

Ahhh, this is definitely the right place for this topic! I thought it was great that the Olympics won't tolerate sandbagging.

:yay:

Wow Lundy, I'd almost take this as a personal slight if I cared enough about it. But I do like to make changes when peeps express displeasure at how I set up TDG. So this year we are doing away with the Prelims and just competing in 9 events, and that enables me to split the finals into 2 weekends.

But as far as the Olympic badminton controversy is concerned, I place the blame squarely on the way the badminton officials changed the rules of the competition. You do not want teams to play like crap in your competition then maybe you shouldn't adopt rules where it is a team's benefit to throw a match just so you can have more matches and sell more tickets...just sayin':nahnah:

:pirate:

I didn't see it as a slight against you, Jordan... as much as I saw it as a slight against those who would purposefully take a stroke or two to keep their rating low. That's how I saw it, anyway.

Sam,
I thought you were the one who suggested it was smart gamesmanship in TDG to keep your rating low or (In other words) sandbag?

If intentionally keeping your rating low & or throwing matches gives you the best chance at winning a championship or a medal then doing anything else would be unsportsmanlike.

Back to the TDG as Badminton analogy. Jordan I'm very excited about this season, The idea that a few sandbaggers (Not pointing at any one) will have to rethink there strategy, and maybe play to their own potential will just make it more interesting. Seems like every year it takes all the way to the last 2-3 events matches to have the handicaps be true. I think that means something was skewed in the ratings before. Downside is that new, legitimately high handicap players, will have to enter the group with a 1000 rating. I think that will be a big advantage to the teams returning with veteran players true to their handicaps.

Noooooooooo. This was not towards you. I just heard an interesting story with some some parallels to the throwing of TDG matches or strokes, not to mention one with several differing viewpoints on the subject.

I think I might refer to the throwing of matches as "Pulling a Chinese badminton" rather than sandbagging from here on out.

No worries Lundy! We are good my friend.

It still surprises me that some people do not understand how handicapped stroke play works. It is not the same competition as an MPO throwdown at your local PDGA tourney. It isn't in your (or your team's) best interest to play your personal best round in the first week of the season. But a steady improvement event to event will give you a great chance to win each and every event.

In any game it is important to understand the rules and devise a strategy under those rules to give yourself the best chance to win. It seems that DMajor and I agree on this point.

And to BStullis: the big bad "communist" athletes are no worse then our own "capitalist pig-dog" athletes. You are one of the few that still believes in the fairy tale that any of these competitors are amateurs in any meaningful way you define that term. Way to keep drinking the cool-aid!

Workers of the world, unite!
:pirate:

:wink2: wow he plays disc like a Chinese Badminton player :bowing:

Chinese Badminton bagger (Axle Rose could write the theme song!)