Gail Emms slams Olympic badminton format after controversial games

Athens Olympics silver-medallist Gail Emms has slammed the group format of the badminton tournament after Chinese, South Korean and Indonesian doubles teams appeared to be trying to lose to enable easier routes to the final.

Emms tweeted about the bizarre scenes during the China vs. South Korea match, before slamming the group format when the same appeared to be happening in the South Korea vs. Indonesia match which followed.

"Simple solution - NEVER have groups for badminton again," Emms tweeted. "It's always knockout so keep it that way! Then every match demands effort.

"There could be four out of the eight women's doubles pairs disqualified after this!! Including the favourites!! Not sure how the tournament ref is going to explain this."

China lost against Korea, which has ensured they will not face the second Chinese doubles team until the final.