How BADminton is that!

Nobody wants to play the Chinese. Not even the Chinese themselves. And nobody wants to win. What transpired yesterday at the Wembley arena was probably a first for the sport of shuttles and racquets and be sure it wasn't a pleasant first. Four women pairs getting disqualified because none of them wanted to win a match. I would admit that it would take some talent and skill to lose a match when the other side is going hammer and tongs into the net. While the scene should fit quite well in comic block buster, it isn't the same when played out in front of a sporting crowd at the Olympics. With round robin being the format of choice, teams or players throwing matches to get a favorable knock out draw was never a distant possibility. The spectre of this fiasco is not going away easily. What does the IOC do to avoid this friction between professional sport and the Olympic spirit? For one, avoid the round robin format as far as possible and when it is used, make sure the relevant qualifying matches are played at the same time to deter players from indulging in brinkmanship. Just hope some harsh lessons are learnt with this ignominy.

Michael Phelps kept his date with destiny climbing atop the heap of the most decorated Olympians. Whether he is the greatest Olympian ever is a question that may not have a unanimous answer but he certainly has built a strong case for himself. He still has a couple of events to go before he walks into the sunset and he wouldn't mind a little icing on the cake.

The 16 year old Chinese sensation Ye Shiwen has set the pool on fire with golds in the 400m and 200m individual medleys. She even swam the last 50m freestyle in a time faster than her male counterpart Ryan Lochte. She has been flooded with doping allegations and though she has cleared the dope test, performances like this will always be looked at with a crooked eye. The fight between the makers of performance enhancing drugs and the anti doping agencies is like the one between hackers and anti virus makers and we all know who leads the way.

A word for Saina and Kashyap who both marched into the quarters of the individual badminton events yesterday. What they showed the rest of the country (and especially the hockey team) is that its a combination of skill and perseverance that shines at the top level. Not tall words. May their tribe increase.