WATCH: Vancouver badminton duo loses sponsorship, could see Olympic dreams dashed over clerical blunder

A Vancouver badminton duo disqualified from the Pan Am Games is hitting a financial hurdle in their plan to get to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil.

Derrick Ng and Adrian Liu were disqualified from the Pan Am Games because of an administrative error. Participation in the Toronto event would have given the pair enough points to get to the Olympics.

Now, they have to play 17 matches just to get to Rio.

Ng says the Pan Am Games was an important opportunity to earn points, boost their ranking and win some bonus money.

But now, their sponsor has pulled the plug because the duo’s ranking has dropped from not playing at the Pan Am Games and may have crashed their Olympic hopes.

Ng and Liu have started a fundraising campaign to help them keep their Olympic dream alive.

“We are trying to raise some money to continue fighting and travelling to compete in these tournaments to make up those points that we lost,” says Ng.

Ng and Liu need about $40,000 until the end of the year to cover flights, hotels and tournament entry fees. So far, they have only raised $6,580. To donate, go here.

Ng says Canada needs a better funding model to sponsor amateur athletes in low-profile sports.

“It is not all sunshine and rainbows,” says Ng. “We are not all making millions of dollars playing a sport that we love. It is a lot of hard work and sacrifice that goes along with it.”

READ MORE: Registration blunder forces Canadian badminton duo to withdraw from Pan Ams

The duo says they have no hard feelings against Badminton Canada for committing the crucial error. Ng and Liu were registered in more than one event in the same week of competition, which is against Badminton World Federation regulations. The rule states that no player or pair will enter two federation-sanctioned competitions in the same week. Badminton Canada appealed the decision, arguing it was an “inadvertent” error, but the appeal was denied.

“There is no point in being negative or blaming anybody,” says Ng. “We need to stay positive and keep fighting.”

With files from the Canadian Press