Olympics 2012: BWF apologises for scheduling change

London: The playing schedule for the London Olympic Games badminton tournament, which starts Saturday at the Wembley Arena, has been dramatically revised following a meeting of participating nations` team managers.

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) apologised for the "incovenience caused" to players in a statement released late Thursday after it became clear that the original schedule published Wednesday did not follow the relevant competition regulations regarding the correct sequence of matches, reports Xinhua. It means, for example, that world champion mixed doubles duo Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei of China, who had been expecting to start their campaign against British pair Chris Adcock/Imogen Bankier, Sunday, will now not play the British pair until Tuesday. Instead they are due to start their round-robin Saturday evening against German duo Michael Fuchs/Birgit Michels. A statement signed by BWF technical delegate Pisaqn Rangsikitpho and tournament referee Torsten Berg said: "The top-ranked player in a group shall play the lowest-ranked player first and the second-ranked player last in the group matches. "As the IOC 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." IANS