Clerical error leads to disqualification of Pan Am Games badminton duo

Woe, Canada. For two of our country’s top athletes and bona fide Pan Am gold medal threats, the opening day of the Games will be anything but celebratory, as the Vancouver badminton duo was sent to the sidelines after being disqualified due to an administrative error.

Adrian Liu and Derrick Ng had their medal dreams dashed when it was revealed Badminton Canada had entered them into a tournament that overlapped with the Pan Ams, a violation of Badminton World Federation regulations.

Badminton Canada released the following statement after the news of the disqualification emerged:

The men’s doubles pair of Adrian Liu and Derrick Ng have been forced to withdraw from the 2015 Pan Am Games due to an inadvertent violation of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) General Competition Regulation 5.5 which prohibits registration in multiple events in the same week of competition. Badminton Canada appealed the decision of the BWF on behalf of the athletes, however the appeal was unsuccessful. Badminton Canada respects the final decision of the BWF in this matter. Badminton Canada has a strong history of outstanding results at the Pan Am Games and is focusing our energy on the remaining members of our team to ensure our organization’s continued success at these Games.

The tournament in question is centred on Taipei. The pair was entered to compete in the Taipei Open, contested over July 14-18, instead of the Taipei Grand Prix, which is slated for October 13-18.

It’s a crushing blow to the athletes and to Canada’s overall medal count, considering Ng and Liu have been good as gold. Ng and Liu won the badminton event three years ago in Guadalajara.

And, it only gets worse for Ng and Liu, who were delivered the devastating news on Canada Day.

The duo’s hopes for a spot in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games could also be in peril: the Pan Ams are considered a major tournament, with valuable points on the line, leading up to Rio.

Canada will still have six badminton representatives in the Pan Ams, including Ng’s brother, Toby.

It’s another headline-grabbing (and not in a good way) scene for the sport of badminton.

Three years ago at the London Olympics, eight players representing four countries were accused of attempting to throw their matches in the women’s doubles event, in what became known as “Shuttlegate”.

The badminton gets underway Saturday with Canada’s Andrew D’Souza looking to net victory in the round of 64 men’s singles competition.