A row involving air conditioning at the badminton world men's singles final has caused a headache the sport could do without.
The southern China showdown between home favourite Lin Dan, the four-time champion, and Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei, the world No.1, had the makings of a classic.
But Lin's win was overshadowed by the apparent failure of the air conditioning mid-match, fuelling conspiracy theories and possibly contributing to Lee's withdrawal on a stretcher with cramp as he faced match point.
"It was so hot inside and Chong Wei was dehydrated," Lee's coach Tey Seu Bock said. "At one point, Chong Wei was struggling to breathe."
An AFP reporter said the air-conditioning at Guangzhou's Tianhe Gymnasium, which had been plaguing players at one end, went off at the start of the second game, when Lin moved to the draft-affected side.
As temperatures rose and spectators fanned themselves furiously, Lin - trailing after the first game - pulled off a series of pinpoint shots in the airless arena.
"Changes in conditions during a match have a huge impact on the outcome," one un-named badminton expert said.
"Throughout the tournament ... the wind was blowing from behind and from the side due to the air-conditioning. It tended to make players' returns more likely to go long or wide when they played at that end."
The air conditioning stayed off for the rest of the match and came back on again after it had finished, the reporter said.
The Badminton World Federation investigated. But on Thursday, it said Chinese officials had insisted the air-conditioning was not turned off, but was simply set too low from early in the day.
"However, due to the increase in the number of spectators attending on finals day - and in particular during the men's singles match - the temperature went up and the venue became hotter."
Despite China's denial, the incident provided more ammunition for the cynics after Lin, whose ranking had dropped to 100 after an extended post-Olympic break, was handed the only wildcard.
Lin then landed in the opposite side of the draw from Lee, meaning he could not meet him before the final. He breezed into the decider without dropping a game, even against China's world No.2 Chen Long.
Badminton is still battling the fallout from the London Olympic scandal, when eight women's doubles players were disqualified for trying to lose group games for easier quarter-finals.
And two Thai players were handed long bans recently for brawling during a men's doubles final in Canada.
Badminton has a history of intrigue. A Badzine survey indicated that in 2011, 20 per cent of all-Chinese matches went uncompleted due to walkovers and retirements. The figure dropped to less than one per cent when Chinese players were facing competitors from other countries.
