Change of plan
The Badminton World Federation have apologised after considerable changes to the Olympic schedule.
Last Updated: 27/07/12 2:43pm
The Badminton World Federation have apologised after announcing considerable changes to their Olympic playing schedule on the eve of competition.
The BWF have revised the programme published earlier this week after realising it did not comply with their own regulations concerning group matches.
British mixed doubles pair Chris Adcock and Imogen Bankier are amongst the most badly affected, having been told they will now be playing their opening match almost 24 hours earlier than expected.
BWF regulations stipulate that the top-ranked player or pair in each group must play the lowest-ranked in the first match of a round-robin section.
Adcock and Bankier had been preparing to play China's Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei first up at 8.30am on Sunday, but will now face Alexandr Nikolaenko and Valeria Sorokina of Russia at 9.40am on Saturday.
Regulations
Zhang and Zhao, the top seeds, must now start against Germany's Michael Fuchs and Birgit Michels on Saturday evening.
A statement read: "As the IOC [International Olympic Committee] required the application of this sequence when the group play was accepted in the Olympic Games regulations for the badminton competition, it was decided to revise the playing schedule accordingly.
"We apologise for the inconvenience caused by this change."
The BWF do not believe players will be overly concerned by the changes, as at most tournaments they only learn of the schedule the night before they play.
Rescheduling
Secretary General Thomas Lund said: "There were some matches that had to be rescheduled because the principle of number one in the group playing number four in the group first was not totally followed.
"The problem with the rescheduling was that we then had to separate the players who play in two categories to make sure they had enough rest time, so the changes became more than we would normally make.
"It is important we follow the principles of our regulations.
"The rules and integrity of the sport, in this case, are more important than upsetting some players.
"I am sure the players would all agree we need to ensure the matches are played in the right way."
