Mixed doubles out of Olympics
Author: Rajes Paul - Star Publications (Malaysia)
Date: 02 Sep 2002
Category: General News
The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Olympic Programme Commission made the decision to drop it at their meeting in Switzerland last Wednesday. They have sent a letter to the International Badminton Federation (IBF) informing them about the matter. With the decision to drop the mixed doubles, there will be four gold medals at stake in Olympic badminton – singles and doubles for men and women. The IOC will decide on Nov 14 in Mexico on whether to do away with the mixed doubles from the 2004 Games in Athens or the 2008 Olympiad in Beijing. The IBF’s vice-president, Datuk Punch Gunalan, said yesterday that they received the bad news from the IOC on Thursday. “The IOC are reviewing the Olympics’ programmes to make it more effective. The reason to drop the mixed doubles is in line with other racquet sport, including table tennis, in which the event is not contested,” said Gunalan. “According to them, many countries do not have women’s teams and several countries do not play the mixed doubles at all. They felt that it did not promote the game globally.” Gunalan said that the IBF would decide in their council meeting in Bangkok on Sept 7 on whether to appeal against the decision. “The important thing for badminton is to remain as an Olympic sport. They (the IOC) have recommended that we should do away with mixed doubles but did not say whether it should take place in Athens or Beijing. We will look into this matter in our meeting on the next move,” he said. For Malaysia, the news is a setback. There are already plans to strengthen the mixed doubles department following the success of Chew Choon Eng-Chin Eei Hui in the Manchester Commonwealth Games last month. They won the silver and it was the first medal won by Malaysia in the event in the Games series. Malaysia have never been represented in the mixed doubles in the Olympics. They got close once when Chan Chong Ming-Joanne Quay were named as the first reserve for the 2000 Sydney Games. When badminton was introduced in the Olympics in Barcelona 1992, mixed doubles was not contested. It was introduced at the 1996 Atlanta Games and the winners were South Korean Kim Dong-moon-Gil Young-ah. At Sydney 2000, the winners were China’s Zhang Jun-Gao Ling.
