A Korean coach's Chinese family

Kim: sportsmanship is everything, all of the time, no matter what

The coach of China's women's hockey team doesn't condone the decisions of China's badminton team.

Kim Sang-ryul said he would never allow his players to throw a match, even if it was beneficial in the long term.

"I have been involved in coaching hockey for 24 years, and I would never allow that to happen," the Korean said. "Sport is sport, and you must let spectators watch the best game and your fighting spirit. I do not like (what happened in badminton)."

Eight badminton competitors, including China's top pair, were thrown out of the London Games for throwing matches in round-robin play to secure matchups with more favorable opponents in the knockout stage.

Kim said he's faced similar decisions, but chose to stick to his coaching style.

"In hockey, it also happened," he said. "I never did that. There were many times I faced the same situation. But I think it's wrong."

Kim has already faced a test of his own professionalism at these Games.

China's first-round opponent was his native South Korea, a team he used to coach.

Still, he led China to a 4-0 victory, and holds it up as an example of his own professionalism and sportsmanship.

"Korean people, the hockey people, might hate me now because we beat Korea 4-0 in the opening game at the Olympics," he said.

"The Koreans said before they came to the Games that they could win the gold medal and they could beat China and Japan easily. I kept silent. I did not say anything. I just wanted to show them when the match came along. After the match, we showed them who won the game?"