Indonesia lifts ban on Olympic badminton pair

JAKARTA (AFP) –

Indonesia’s Greysia Polii (left) plays a shot as Meiliana Jauhari looks on during a match at the London Olympics. The Indonesian badminton association lifted a ban Saturday on its star women’s doubles pair after three months out of competition for throwing a match at the London Olympics.

The Indonesian badminton association lifted a ban Saturday on its star women’s doubles pair after three months out of competition for throwing a match at the London Olympics.

Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari were disqualified from the Olympics in early August after they tried to lose matches in the first round group phase to manipulate the knockout draw.

Two South Korean pairs and one Chinese pair were also disqualified for the offence of “not using one’s best efforts to win a match”.

The Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) suspended them from national and international competition for four months, later revised down to three, and the incident prompted Indonesia to call for a review of the game’s Olympic format.

PBSI official Koesdarto Pramono told AFP the ban had been lifted.

“We’ll be happy to see these two players back on the court. We believe they deserve to return to the game as they’ve already been sanctioned.”

Jauhari described the incident as “embarrassing” and said she was focusing on the upcoming Yonex-Sunrise Superseries in Hong Kong from November 20 to 25.

“Of course I’m happy to be back, to play badminton again, and I’m hoping to put what happened behind me,” she told AFP.

“I’ve been training hard in my time out of competition, so I’m hoping for a good performance in Hong Kong.”

Indonesia is a former badminton powerhouse but has seen its fortunes on the international stage wane, with Chinese shuttlers dominating the sport.