Match-Fixing Accusations In Japanese Tennis

[Mulboyne]

[floatr][/floatr]Yomiuri: Morigami 'urged to lose match'
Akiko Morigami (right) said a Japan national team coach suggested she not try to win a doubles match at the French Open in order to help partner Aiko Nakamura's chances of making the Olympics by being available for a tournament next week. According to Jiji Press, Morigami revealed the incident, without mentioning the coach's name, after she and Nakamura were routed 6-0, 6-1 to Taiwan's fourth-seeded Chan Yung-jan and Chuang Chia-jung in their first-round match Friday in Paris. "I always try my hardest, so it was a big shock," Morigami said. "That's not something you say to an athlete. It's very disappointing." Nakamura is currently ranked 71st in the world and, while it remains a long shot, can help her chances of qualifying for the Beijing Olympics by playing in a lower-level satellite tournament next week.

The International Tennis Federation has announced an investigation, saying "It is especially disappointing for the ITF because even the suggestion of impropriety regarding the Olympic tennis event is contrary to the spirit of the Olympic Games."

[dimwit]

International tennis is a mess. There are way too many events on the schedule and the burn out amongst players is all too common. The result is that more than a few players fake or exaggerate injuries and fluff matches so they can get out of the 51 1/2 week a year schedule.

[Mulboyne]

There's been a "misunderstanding":

BBC: Japan player denies 'fixing' game

Akiko Morigami says she was not given instructions from a coach to throw a doubles match at the French Open. She had been reported in Japanese media as saying a national team coach asked her to lose to help partner Aiko Nakamura's Olympic qualification hopes. By losing, Nakamura would have been free to play a tournament this week. "My comments were misunderstood," said Morigami in a statement released by the WTA. "I never claimed that the coach asked me to throw the match." Morigami added: "We tried our best to win the match but we played a tough team and weren't able to beat them."

Morigami first made her comments after a 6-0 6-1 first-round defeat by Taiwan's Chan Yung-jan and Chuang Chia-jung in Paris last Friday. "It wasn't Nakamura's coach who said it," Morigami was quoted as saying by Japanese media. "It was a different coach. I was angry because it's not something you say to a player before a match." French Open organisers said on Monday they would continue to investigate the comments while officials in Japan said they would launch a probe of their own. "At this stage, we are not really clear on who said what, but we will investigate the incident," said Japan Tennis Association managing director Koji Watanabe. "If it turns out a national coach did say that then it's a matter for the (JTA's) technical committee. It would be dangerous to make any decision before we have established the facts." Japan's number three Nakamura, ranked 71 in the world, still has an outside chance of making the Olympic squad, which will be selected via the world rankings published on 9 June.

[Greji]

There's been a "misunderstanding":

BBC: Japan player denies 'fixing' game"....."I never claimed that the coach asked me to throw the match." Morigami added: "We tried our best to win the match but we played a tough team and weren't able to beat them." ....."

Morigami made that statement immediately after her coach advised her that her next training session would include attempting to get out of the pretty blue trash compacting truck in which he was going to stuff her dumb ass.