Badminton: Nigeria no-show hands match to Malaysia

MALAYSIA were awarded a 5-0 win against Nigeria after the African qualifiers failed to show up for their opening Group B match of the Thomas Cup in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Although suffering a plane cancellation, the Nigerian team were expected to touch down at Kuala Lumpur airport three hours before the match, but when the 6pm starting time came, only the Malaysian team were at the venue.

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) provoked unrest in the arena as they swithered about whether to give a walk-over win to Malaysia or wait for the Nigerian team to arrive. They eventually issued a statement canceling the match.

BWF official Thomas Lund said Nigeria, who are due to play Japan today, could be disqualified if they are unable to provide a valid excuse.

However, he added: "If flight problems are uncontrollable, we'll allow them to play in the second match."