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London 2012: Chinese Olympic Coach Apologises

02 Aug 2012

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China's Olympic badminton coach, Li Yongbo 


BBC

China's Olympic badminton head coach has apologised for his role after his two top players were disqualified for not playing to win.

Li Yongbo said: "It's me to blame", while disqualified player Yu Yang declared she was quitting the sport.

In London, a man was arrested after a cyclist was killed in a collision near the Olympic Park involving a media bus.

The man, held on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, was bailed pending further investigations.

In other developments:

Russian President Vladimir Putin is to make his first trip to Britain for seven years when he arrives on an unofficial visit, to attend Olympic judo bouts

GB's Michael Jamieson took the silver in the men's 200m breaststroke

Yu Yang and partner Wang Xiaoli were among eight players disqualified for trying to lose games in an attempt to secure a better draw for the knockout stage.

Li said: "As head coach, I owe the supporters of Chinese badminton and the Chinese TV audiences an apology," according to official Chinese news agency Xinhua.

After the outcome of the disciplinary hearing on Wednesday, Yu wrote on the Weibo micro-blogging site: "This is my last time competing. Goodbye Badminton World Federation; goodbye beloved badminton."

Apart from Yu and Wang, South Korean badminton pairs Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na, and Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung, along with Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari of Indonesia were disqualified from the women's doubles competition.

Meanwhile, transport in London appears to be running without major incidents, although a rehearsal early on Thursday morning for an Olympic event meant temporary road closures around Hyde Park Corner in Knightsbridge for a few hours.

Wimbledon, Horse Guards Parade and the Olympic Park area were all expected to be very busy again on Thursday, BBC London said.

After British podium successes on Wednesday, postage stamps of Team GB's first 2012 gold medallists - rowers Helen Glover and Heather Stanning - as well as cyclist Bradley Wiggins, go on sale on Thursday.

Tour de France winner Wiggins became the most decorated Olympian in British history with his gold medal, which brought his tally to seven medals overall.

Speaking at a press conference, Wiggins said that despite his success, he did not consider himself to be Britain's greatest ever Olympian.

"I am very normal in my life aside from cycling and I'm not a celebrity," he said.

He also said that he was "greedy" in wanting victory in the Tour de France as well as an Olympic gold medal.

He added that the crowd support on his Olympic time trial ride was "incredible".

Meanwhile, Team GB will be looking again to cycling and rowing to provide medals on day six of the Games.

Cyclists Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton are two of Team GB's main medal hopes on Thursday, as cycling action switches to the velodrome.

The main British medal hopes in rowing on Thursday lie with the men's lightweight four of Richard Chambers, Peter Chambers, Rob Williams and Chris Bartley.

And at Wimbledon, tennis third-seed Andy Murray will appear in the quarter-finals of the men's singles, against Spaniard Nicolas Almagro.

Murray will appear again in the evening with Laura Robson in the opening round of the mixed doubles.

Meanwhile, a BBC investigation has found illegal websites still offering tickets - which they have no right to sell - and which buyers may never receive.

Police have warned that such sites do not have access to tickets.

Det Supt Nick Downing, the head of the Olympic crime squad, said: "If they're an unauthorised site selling tickets, you've got to ask the question - where did they get their tickets from? How can they guarantee a supply? They can't."

Tags: Sports, World, Logan Campbell, London 2012, Olympic, badminton coach, Li Yongbo

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