London Olympics Match Fixing Revealed

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News has been spreading around the table tennis media, with a local television show revealing this information below. What is read below is rewritten articles from many news stations around the world. Many are saying the claim is false, this is how the media has portrayed it below.

Sina Sports:
Chinese head coach Liu Guoliang recently appeared on a local television show, he revealed to the viewer’s how he had ordered Wang Hao to lose against Zhang Jike in the Men’s singles final at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Despite the 2012 London Olympic Games being the last chance for Wang Hao to become an Olympic champion, Liu Guoliang asked him to lose the match, he explained that he felt Wang Hao is the only player who could withstand losing in the singles and still be on top form for the team event.

wanghaoliu2014.jpg


It was this victory that ensured Zhang Jike could complete his Grand Slam title, he was able to defeat Wang Hao in a five set match (18-16, 11-5, 11-6, 10-12, 13-11) becoming the fastest player to ever achieve this. During his recent television appearance Liu Guoliang commented on the order he gave to Wang Hao, he said that he told the player, “Hao you must do well, lose to Zhang Jike for pride. You must adjust this attitude as you Wang Hao have a role”.

The head coach then went on to explain his actions, “Due to the restructured format of the London Olympics, it was the singles that came first before the team event, and therefore I developed an idea. The player who was to lose in the singles event was sure to then have a difficult time during the team even due to the defeat, I doubted that either Ma Long or Zhang Jike would be able to cope with this and so I would rather have the two-time runner-up Wang Hao do it”.

Liu Guoliang concluded “Therefore in the finals Wang Hao lost to Zhang Jike, but despite this he was able to play a very solid role in the team event, he paired up with Zhang Jike and got the last point for victory. I feel that Wang Hao is very brave and his selflessness is in fact stronger than his personal motives”.

Written by: Emily Standing
Source: TableTennisTa & Sina Sports
 
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Since it's an appearance in a tv show, it should be easy for someone to find the video and our chinese-speaking members to explain exactly what LGL said. I'm positive that this comments were never made, or that LGL said something totally different. How do I know?
1. The reasons given are poor. They don't really make sense.
2. Such a statement, if proved to be true, would mean the end of LGL's, WH's and ZJK's career.
 
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Quote taken out of context and sensational reporting

In a recent appearance of the head coach Liu Guoliang in a local
television show, he revealed that he ordered Wang Hao to lose against Zhang Jike in the Men's Singles finals in the London Olympics. He explained that it was only Wang Hao who can withstand losing in the Singles and still be powerful for the Team event.

Sina Sports. The London Olympics was Wang Hao's last chance to be an Olympic champion but Liu
Guoliang asked him to lose the match against Zhang Jike. Zhang Jike completed his Grand Slam because of his victory in the London Olympics Singles. He was
the fastest player to achieve such honour. While Zhang Jike was
hailed as the champion and enjoyed the glory that came with it, Wang Hao dealt with another defeat. Just recently, the head coach of the Chinese Team, Liu Guoliang, appeared in a local television show
where he revealed some details that have happened during the 2012 London Olympics, including the final match of the Men's Singles.

"I gave Wang Hao an order. I said:'Hao, you must do good. Lose to Zhang Jike for pride. You must
adjust this attitude. You, Wang Hao, have a role.'" Liu Guoliang revealed. "Because of the restructured format
of the London Olympics, the Singles came first before the Team event.
Therefore, I made an idea. The player who will lose (in the Singles) will have a difficult job (in the Team event) because that player just lost and will play in the Team event with a collapsed condition. Who can do that? Can the young player Zhang Jike do it? Can Ma Long do it? They
may not be able to do it. I would rather have the two-time runner-up Wang Hao do it." The head coach explained. "Therefore in the finals, Wang Hao lost to Zhang Jike. But in the Team
competition, he was able to play a very solid role for the team. He paired up with Zhang Jike and go the last point for victory. I feel that Wang Hao is actually very brave. Wang Hao's selflessness is stronger
than his personal motives." Liu Guoliang concluded. In 48 minutes, Zhang Jike won over Wang Hao with 18-16, 11-5,11-6, 10-12, 13-11.

m.tabletennista.com/2014/10/liu-guoliang-ordered-wang-ho-to-lose-against-zhang-jike-in-london-video/?utm_source=facebook&utm_term=liu-guoliang-ordered-wang-ho-to-lose-against-zhang-jike-in-london-video&utm_campaign=fb-tta


I am fluent in Chinese and I read the report you are referring to a few days ago, at that time I was pretty sure the media either misunderstood or took things out of context. Indeed I have just read a further article in which LGL essentially says he did tell Wang Hao that "you must be able to face losing the Olympic final with pride" (the quote that was taken as an indirect order to lose by the mass media). However he told this to Wang Hao during the closed training leading up to the 2012 London Olympics as Wang Hao asked for advice on how he should deal with pressure for another possible Olympic final given that he lost the finals twice already in 2004 and 2008. Thus LGL said the above to lighten Wang Hao's burden, especially as was noted in the original article Wang Hao had to play the Olympic teams event directly after the singles and LGL wanted a functioning three man team (at that point he obviously trused ZJK, Ma Long and Wang Hao the most, Xu Xin was there but had not yet been elevated to the "main bench" position like today).

The original report was derived from kind of a half hour segment interview program and used several of LGL's quotes but really from different pieces, I am sure that LGL would never 1) admit this kind of thing on such an interview program (whether it's true or false, although I am sure here it's totally false), 2) It actually doesn't make sense since it's a final and a Chinese will end up winning gold and silver in either case, ZJK scored a grand slam by winning it but so would have Wang Hao if he beat ZJK in the final. In fact, if it was the other way around (i.e. ZJK had pressure to lose to Wang Hao) it would make more sense as Wang Hao is the senior figure.

I know for a near certainty China has "tampered" with the medals in several different Olympic Games in the past (not only table tennis) but I believe in this case it was simply misunderstood and quite possibly intentionally written article to win views through the sheer incredibility of the story.

The original article has been posted on lots of different Chinese media sites umpteen times, here is a link for those who can read chinese. The second link is the corrected article (only uploaded today).

http://news.xmnn.cn/a/tyxw/201410/t20141029_4172320.htm (original article)
http://sports.iqilu.com/news/2014/1030/2193854.shtml (corrected article)

Hope this helps, as I am sure this is an news item which will generate a lot of interest from the tt forums and the wider community.
 
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mahomedy dont post BS information if you dont have the exact source of the article or a TV show. This is just ridiculous and the reasons provided are far from common sense. ZJK also lost from timo boll in the semifinals but played great against joo sae hyuk in the finals so there is no actual point of "having a player who can withstands losing"

With mentalities like that Ma Long should be out of the national team long ago, cause he never managed to make a break through in world competitions
 
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mahomedy dont post BS information if you dont have the exact source of the article or a TV show. This is just ridiculous and the reasons provided are far from common sense. ZJK also lost from timo boll in the semifinals but played great against joo sae hyuk in the finals so there is no actual point of "having a player who can withstands losing"

With mentalities like that Ma Long should be out of the national team long ago, cause he never managed to make a break through in world competitions


Dont shoot the messenger.

Im sure people would want to hear about things like this and give their opinion on it.
How do you know its BS?there has been reports of match fixing before e.g 2004 Athens,so it doesnt mean its not entirely true/untrue.

Also,im not the only one to start a thread on this,there were 2 others.

The exact source was there,but the moderator changed my post.if you look at the post by Megazz,he quoted me exactly as i had posted.
 
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Must be a media misunderstanding! I have heard China have done this before but why would Liu want Zhang Jike to win it?

Because he was worried about when Zhang Jike would lose he would not perform good in the team competition. He wanted him to win because Wang Hao would cope better with his loss and still perform good in the team competition.
 
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table tennista some times writes articles like a tabloid TT magazine just to produce "news" and hits on his page (which is understandable he wants to make money through ads). He admitted himself that sometimes he doesnt translate correctly from chinese to english and this "news" and many other more like ZJK offered his prize to express his apology towards the ITTF . If that happened why didnt ITTF said congrats to ZJK who gave his prize money back instead of punishing him?

Sorry for "shooting" you mahomedy but I think you should provide your own thoughts about the matter and criticize these "news" (even if you do believe it) instead of just posting it. Some people like to believe conspiracy theories but in the end wrong information creates bad image for everyone in the sport
 
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table tennista some times writes articles like a tabloid TT magazine just to produce "news" and hits on his page (which is understandable he wants to make money through ads). He admitted himself that sometimes he doesnt translate correctly from chinese to english and this "news" and many other more like ZJK offered his prize to express his apology towards the ITTF . If that happened why didnt ITTF said congrats to ZJK who gave his prize money back instead of punishing him?

Sorry for "shooting" you mahomedy but I think you should provide your own thoughts about the matter and criticize these "news" (even if you do believe it) instead of just posting it. Some people like to believe conspiracy theories but in the end wrong information creates bad image for everyone in the sport

I did not believe it 100 percent.look at the 2nd post of this thread.
However,everyone is entitled to their own opinions and thoughts.
 
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I saw this tv show.
Its just news agency trying to make some quick bucks

I agree table tennista has become a tabloid service. Majority of the time, the subject heading is misleading and the contents are useless.
I even need to correct them a few time, but I can see, they aren't bothered
 
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anyone has a link to the television show? really want to hear it myself.

I would rather believe that everything was a misunderstanding.


EDIT:
found it.

http://sports.ifeng.com/a/20141028/42316400_0.shtml
about on the 21:00 mark.

“我跟王皓下了一个命令,我说皓,你一定要做好以决赛输给张继科为荣,你必须调整好这样的心态,你王皓才有作用。所以下来,真的决赛中,王皓输给了张继科,但在团体赛中,王皓起到了中坚的作用,跟张继科继续配双打,获得了最后的胜利。我觉得王皓其实很勇敢,公心比私心强的多。”
will try to write how I understand it:

I gave Wan Hao an order. I said: Hao, You must prepare to be honored even with a lose against ZJK. You must get your heart straight, so you "Wang Hao" can function(maybe referring to not be too affected by "I must win" thought). So after that, in the final match, Wang Hao lost to ZJK, but in team competition, Wang Hao played a great role, played double with ZJK, got the win in the end. I think Wang Hao is very brave. His heart for the public(teamplayer) is stronger than selfness.

sorry for the bad translation.
Liu Guo Lian never said that he told Wang Hao to lose to ZJK. Imo he was trying to be more neutral to Wang Hao(the ever 2nd placed). So Wang Hao wont be too devastated even if he loses to ZJK.
and the teamplayer part is referring to his play in the double games. where he was not affected by the lose in the singles finals.
 
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“你一定要做好以决赛输给张继科为荣,Hao, You must prepare to be honored even with a lose against ZJK”

@Luofu - not sure how you come up with the word "even" in your translation.

As a ping ponger living in Shanghai, there is no doubt about what Liu Guoliang said. This was no rushed interview with a lone journalist, it was a 20 minute monologue on Chinese TV! (including some interesting trivia about how he almost didn't make the national team for the Atlanta Olympics). The translation on Table Tennista is correct. In fact it is even more brutal in Chinese, as the phase
你王皓才有作用 means “it is only [in losing] that you Wang Hao have a role to play" [implicitly for the national team].

There is no way you could misunderstand what he says. He explains it very clearly, it is all about maximising medals for team China; a theme throughout his talk. Note too, how Liu didn't deny he ordered Wang to lose in the subsequent "I was misunderstood" report. He just says "Jike deserved to be grand slam champ", which is true...

A great player, but Liu in his own words is a ruthless, power crazy coach. A sad day for TT.
你王皓才有 作用
 
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I have often had my doubts about LGL. I wonder what the reaction will be in China? It seems that even native Chinese translators are not quite in agreement about what was actually said.
 
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