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"Chinese second seeds Zhang Jun and Gao Ling edged British number four seeds Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms in a nail-biting final to win the gold medal in the Olympic mixed doubles badminton.
Robertson and Emms saved two match points but not the third on Thursday, as Zhang and Gao won a pulsating match 15-1, 12-15, 15-12 for their second successive Olympic gold.
Unseeded Danish pair Jens Eriksen and Mette Schjoldager took bronze after beating compatriots and seventh seeds Jonas Rasmussen and Rikke Olsen."
Read more at Chinese pair Zhang and Gao edge thriller to claim gold
The winner of the Gold Medal: China
The winner of the Silver Medal: United Kingdom
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Denmark
The winner of the Gold Medal: Ning Zhang from China
The winner of the Silver Medal: Mia Audina from Netherlands
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Mi Zhou from China
"After winning the Olympic all-around title Wednesday night, gymnast Paul Hamm said he was inspired by the United States' second-place finish in the team competition. Carly Patterson wouldn't mind following his lead.
The U.S. women's team also took silver. Hamm found motivation in the fact that his team fell short of its ultimate goal, and Patterson, whose team was expected to win, understands how that feels. Tonight, she tries for the women's all-around gold against some tough European competition."
Read more at Women's gymnastics: Silver's OK, but gold is U.S. goal
"With a medal in mind, Gail Emms and Nathan Robertson today reached the semi-final of the Olympic badminton mixed doubles.
They posted a straight-games 15-8 17-15 victory over Chinese pair Chen Qiqiu and Zhao Tinting.
The British fourth seeds are now, at the very least, guaranteed a shot at the bronze medal and the chance to emulate Simon Archer and Joanne Goode’s achievment in this event at the Sydney Olympics four years ago.
They efficiently dispatched the sixth-seeded Chinese in the first set and then regained their composure to win the second after being pinned back from 13-8 up.
“I felt we controlled the match until the very end when were leading 13-8 and a bit of tension came in,” said Robertson."
Read more at Good Mixed Fortures for Badminton Duo
"Top seed Gong Ruina smashed Thailand's only hope in women's singles here Sunday by beating Salakjit Ponsana in the second round of the 28th Olympic badminton tournament.
The first set was not easy for Gong, 2001 world champion, to taste the fruit of victory. She almost exerted all her efforts to secure a 11-8 win over 36th-ranked Salakjit.
However, the resistance of the top female shuttler of Thailand declined rapidly in the second set, losing both her stamina and morale to hand over Gong the victory 3-11."
Read more at Gong upsets Thai hopeful
"Britain's Tracy Hallam caused an upset to beat 2000 silver medallist Camilla Martin in the women's badminton.
The 29-year-old, competing in her first Olympics, edged out the Dane 11-2 5-11 13-10 to reach the quarter-finals.
Another one of the favourites, South Korean sixth seed Jun Jae-Youn, also lost but Chinese top seed Gong Ruina reached the last eight.
Mixed doubles pair Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms, Britain's main medal hopes in badminton, won their opening match."
"Indonesian mixed doubles shuttlers of Anggun Nugroho and Eny Widiowati won their first match on Saturday while shooter Josephine S. Prasasti failed to enter the final stage at the women's 10m pistol event at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
First Olympics appearance jinx may have caused Anggun and Eny to lose their first game 12-15 against Russians Nikolay Zuev and Marina Yakusheva."
Read more at Indonesian shuttlres booked first win in
CJSuperfly's Badminton Blog has a good round up of the badminton schedule that will be shown on NBC at the Athens Olympics. They're using TIVO to record it all. Great idea - I suspect a lot of others will be doing likewise due to the time differences.
"The vastly experienced South Korean doubles pairs of Lee Dong-soo-Yoo Yong-sung and Ha Tae-kwon-Kim Dong-moon have kept their rivals in the dark by training for the Olympics in seclusion for the past three months.
The two formidable pairs chose to skip the Malaysian Open in June to train at home under Park Joo-bong, the two-time Olympic gold medallist and former coach of the Malaysian doubles players.
And this is a worrying factor for national doubles coach Yap Kim Hock, especially when his charges are now likely to cross swords with the Koreans in the medal playoff stages in Athens.
In the draw released on Sunday for the competitions at the Goudi Olympic Hall from Aug 15-21, the fourth seeded Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah are tipped to play against either Dong-soo-Yong-sung, the silver medallists in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, or Indonesians Luluk Hadiyanto-Alven Yulianto in the quarter-finals.
On their current form, Tan Fook-Wan Wah should be able to get past Thais Pramote Teerawiwatana-Tesana Panvisvas in their opening match in the second round. "
Read more at South Koreans in secret training.
"National number one shuttler Wong Choong Hann will face a daunting task to capture the country's first gold medal in the Olympics.
In the draw made yesterday for the badminton competitions, which will be held at the Goudi Olympic Stadium from Aug 15-21, the third seeded Choong Hann is in the same half as world number one and top seed Lin Dan of China and South Korean Lee Hyun-Il.
Choong Hann is tipped to meet one of these two players in the semi-finals. But for Choong Hann to reach the medals playoff stage, he has in his path Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat and Denmark's All-England finalist Peter-Gade Christensen, who are the players he will likely face in the second round and quarter-finals respectively.
Choong Hann will open his campaign against Poland's Wacha Przemyslaw. Although he has beaten Taufik and Christensen in past meetings, Choong Hann's poor form in the run-up to the Olympics is cause for concern.
He lost in the first round of the Malaysian Open in June but he is confident that he can deliver the goods in Athens. " Read more at Daunting draws for our shuttlers in Athens.
"Badminton is no picnic to Kevin Han and Howard Bach.
Leisure activities that might be backyard pursuits for most Americans are contested diligently, on an international scale, by athletes such as Han and Bach.
Badminton demands the same time, work and dedication, without yielding the riches and notoriety, as the Olympics' glamour sports of gymnastics, track and field, swimming and basketball
"I'm still an Olympian, just like them," said Han, who, with doubles partner Bach, will comprise the only U.S. badminton entry in Athens. "We're all on the same team, going after the same goal, a gold medal, and representing our country. That's why everyone plays."
There is nothing recreational about the way Han and Bach approach their Olympic endeavor. It has required hours of practice and trips to far-flung locations such as Peru, Brazil, Guatemala and Indonesia to compete."
Read more at U.S. badminton duo hopes to revamp image.
"Great Britain's chances of an Olympic badminton medal were boosted when the draw for the event was made on Sunday.
Mixed doubles pair Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms - GB's leading hopes - have a bye in the opening round and will be expected to win their last 16 match.
And singles entrants Richard Vaughan, Tracey Hallam and Kelly Morgan were all paired with players they have beaten.
GB team performance director Lars Sologub said he was "satisfied" with the draw for Athens.
Vaughan's first-round opponent is Portugal's Marco Vasconcelos, a player the Welshman defeated in the 2002 European Championships."
Continue reading GB get good badminton draw
"CHINA'S decision to drop world champion Xia Xuanze from the Athens Olympics is a grave mistake and national singles coach Misbun Sidek believes the move could prove costly for them.
Although China are supremely confident that one of their three players — World No 1 Lin Dan, World No 2 Chen Hong and World No 4 Bao Chunlai are capable of retaining the singles gold won by Ji Xinpeng in Sydney four years ago, none of them have the big match temperament Xuanze possesses. Misbun said, despite Xuanze's drop in form after winning the World Championships in Birmingham last year, he performs well in major events and has performed consistently over the last five years. After all, Xuanze won the bronze in Sydney beating then World No 1 Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark and his experience is something his three compatriots lack. Besides the world title, Xuanze has won the 2000 All-England, 2001 World Grand Prix Finals and more than 15 international titles over the last six years. "Lin Dan is in fiery form and is the man to beat in Athens. But favourites have never won the Olympic gold on previous occasions and this is where China are going to miss Xuanze," said Misbun. "Chen Hong and Chunlai are great shuttlers but have succumbed to pressure on many occasions. "On the other hand, Xuanze is most lethal when least expected to do well. The pressure will be on Lin Dan. "Xuanze is the most reliable player in such situations. Without him, the draw is very open and anyone is capable of running away with the gold." Previous favourites in the Olympics, Zhao Jianhua of China in 1992, Joko Suprianto of Indonesia in 1996 and Christensen in 2000 ; fell in the quarter-finals and this could well happen to Lin Dan in Athens. Lin Dan, 21, has won five grand prix titles, including the All-England title, over the last nine months but he will realise in Athens that it needs more than consistency to clinch the Olympic gold."
Read more at Dropping Xuanze a grave mistake, says Misbun .
"Chinese shuttler Lin Dan will set two records if he wins the gold medal in the Athens Olympic Games.
He will be the youngest player to be crowned as the men's singles champion and the first top seed to live up to his billing in the Games series.
National coach Rashid Sidek believes that Lin Dan, who will turn 21 on Oct 14, is mentally strong enough to pull off the feat.
“For a young player, he has showed great ability to withstand pressure,” said Rashid, a bronze medallist at the Atlanta Games in 1996.
“Nothing seems to rattle him. He is one of the players with very strong mental strength and none of his opponents can hope that he will suffer from the jitters.”
The lanky Lin Dan showed nerves of steel in the Thomas Cup Finals in Jakarta two months ago and helped China regain the title after a lapse of 14 years. "
"Lin Dan, All England champion who rocketed to the world top ranking from No. 15 in five months, has set his target on the gold medal in the Athens Olympic Games.
The 21-year-old Lin, who stands 1.76 meters, was born in southeast China's Fujian Province. Starting badminton training at the age of five, the left-hander was enlisted by the Army Club at 12, and then picked as a member of the national team at 18. Relying on his extraordinary footwork and quick mind, he mainly plays defense on the court, punctuated with sharp sudden strikes.
Since last September, Lin has swept five titles in IBF badminton open series, namely Denmark Open, Hong Kong Open, China Open, Swiss Open and All England Open. He even earned the title of"Super Dan" after Swiss Open 2004.
In 2004 Thomas Cup, playing as the first men's singles, he crushed all the opponents he met, without even losing a set. He has occupied the world No. 1 spot for about half a year, leaving his compatriot Chen Hong, No. 2 far behind.
How could the Chinese youngster emerge from nowhere into the leading role in two years?"
Read more of this article at Olympic Preview: Super Dan locks target on Olympic gold.
"China, who have their sights set on a clean sweep of the badminton titles at the Olympics Games, are so confident of victory that they can afford to leave world champion Xia Xuanze sitting at home.
The Sydney Olympic bronze medal winner and 2003 world champion has suffered such a drastic slump in form that he wasn't considered good enough for the team and has been replaced by Chen Hong.
China won four of the five golds in the 2000 Sydney Olympics with Ji Xinpeng taking the men's title, Gong Zhichao the women's, Ge Fei and Gu Jun winning the womens' doubles and Zhang Jun and Gao Ling, the mixed. " Read more at No world champion, no problem for confident China.
"China set to capture three badminton golds in Athens next month, if the Olympic seeding lists released by the International Badminton Federation on Thursday are anything to go by.
The final deadline for entries to the Athens 2004 Olympic Games passed on Wednesday, with badminton fulfilling its quota of 172 players at the Games.
A total of 89 men and 83 women will be competing in Athens, representing 32 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) -- a record number of countries and regions for badminton at an Olympic Games.
The seedings, based on the world ranking of 1 May, 2004, see world number one shuttlers Lin Dan and Gong Ruina top the list of favorites in the singles events, while the Malaysia and Korea Openchampions Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen are the top seeds in the women's doubles competition." Read more at Chinese shuttlers set to take three titles in Athens
"The national shuttlers will be carrying a heavy burden on their shoulders at the Olympic Games in Athens – they are expected to bring home at least one gold medal.
In a meeting with the NSC, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) chief coaches - Misbun Sidek and Yap Kim Hock - and the Olympic-bound players vowed to deliver at least one gold medal in Athens.
And the players Malaysia will be counting on are Wong Choong Hann and Mohd Roslin Hashim in the men's singles and Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah in the men's doubles.
The other Olympic qualifiers are debutants Lee Chong Wei (men's singles), Chan Chong Ming-Chew Choon Eng (men's doubles) and Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty (women's doubles)
The badminton competition will be held from Aug 14-21. " - Read More at Shuttlers expected to return with one gold.
'"There were no last-minute withdrawals and the seedings for the Athens Olympic Games’ badminton competitions went by the book. "'
The seedings are as follows:
Men’s singles: 1. Lin Dan (Chn), 2. Chen Hong (Chn), 3. Wong Choong Hann (Mas), 4. Bao Chunlai (Chn), 5. Lee Hyun-il (Kor), 6. Peter Gade-Christensen (Den), 7. Shon Seung-mo (Kor), 8. Sony Dwi Kuncoro (Ina).
Men’s doubles: 1. Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen (Den), 2. Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng (Chn), 3. Kim Dong-moon-Ha Tae-kwon (Kor), 4. Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah (Mas), 5. Jens Eriksen-Martin Lundgaard Hansen (Den), 6. Sang Yang-Zheng Bo (Chn), 7. Luluk Hadiyanto-Alven Yulianto (Ina), 8. Flandi Limpele-Eng Hian (Ina).
Women’s singles: 1. Gong Ruina (Chn), 2. Zhang Ning (Chn), 3. Zhou Mi (Chn), 4. Mia Audina (Ned), 5. Wang Chen (Hkg), 6. Jun Jae-youn (Kor), 7. Camilla Martin (Den), 8. Pi Hongyan (Fra).
Women’s doubles: 1. Yang Wei-Zhang Jiewen (Chn), 2. Gao Ling-Huang Sui (Chn), 3. Ra Kyung-min-Lee Kyung-won (Kor), 4. Wei Yili-Zhao Tingting (Chn), 5. Mia Audina-Lotte Bruil-Jonathans (Ned), 6. Hwang Yu-mi-Lee Hyo-jung (Kor), 7. Rikke Olsen-Ann-Lou Jorgensen (Den), 8. Chikako Nakayama-Keiko Yoshitomi (Jpn)
Mixed doubles: 1. Kim Dong-moon-Ra Kyung-min (Kor), 2. Zhang Jun-Gao Ling (Chn), 3. Kim Yong-hyun-Lee Hyo-jung (Kor), 4. Nathan Robertson-Gail Emms (Eng), 5. Sudket Prapakamol-Saralee Thungthongkam (Tha), 6. Chen Qiqiu-Zhao Tingting (Chn), 7. Jonas Rasmussen-Rikke Olsen (Den), 8. Nova Widianto-Vita Marissa (Ina).
Will the partnership between Chew Choon Eng and Chan Chong Ming end with the Athens Olympics?
'The four-year-old partnership could be broken up if they fare badly. And seasoned campaigner Choon Eng is prepared to accept any verdict.
For now though, his heart is set on achieving his best ever result with Chong Ming at Athens. The badminton competition is from Aug 14-21 at the Goudi Sports Complex.
National doubles pair -- Chew Choon Eng (left) and Chan Chong Ming.
“My coach (Yap Kim Hock) may have plans for me after the Olympic Games. Whatever the outcome, I am prepared to accept it,” said the 27-year-old Choon Eng.
“Personally, I would like to continue playing. But if my services are no longer required, I will leave. If BAM (Badminton Association of Malaysia) want me to become a coach, I will venture into it. If they do not want me to partner Chong Ming anymore and give me a new partner, I will also accept it. ' Read More at - Uncertain future for doubles pair Choon Eng-Chong Ming
'China have dropped reigning world champion Xia Xuanze from the squad to the Athens Olympic Games.
And that’s one big hurdle out of the way for Malaysia’s number one singles shuttler Wong Choong Hann.
Choong Hann has never beaten the world number five player in his career, losing miserably in eight attempts. In fact, it was Xuanze who spoiled Choong Hann’s debut in the Olympics at Sydney four years ago, beating him in the quarter-finals.
On Wednesday, the China BA named world number one Lin Dan, Bao Chunlai (world number four) and Chen Hong (world number two) for the Games.
There were five qualifiers - Lin Dan, Chunlai, Chen Hong, Xuanze and Chen Yu - in the top 16 at the end of the Olympic qualifying period in May but countries are allowed to send only a maximum of three players.
There was a tussle for the third spot between the two Chinese “veterans” Xuanze, 26 and Chen Hong, 25, who have not been producing the desired results. '
Read More at World champion dropped from team to Athens Olympics
After their win in the Malaysian Open Badminton Championships, Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah will be aiming for a Gold Medal at the Athens Olympics.
'The victory for veterans Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah over Indonesian number one Luluk Hadiyanto-Alven Yulianto in the men's doubles final of the Malaysian Open Badminton Championships here yesterday held significance for the Malaysians for two reasons.
First, it ended their five-year wait for an international Open title since winning the tournaments in Singapore, China and Germany in 1999.
Second, it abolished their chokers' tag after coming up short in three finals – in the Hong Kong and China Open last year and in the All-England this year. ' Source - Doubles pair now eye more honours at the Olympics
Candra Wijaya, the men’s doubles gold medallist at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, has been excluded from Indonesia’s line-up for the Athens Olympic Games in August.
Candra and Halim missed out on an Olympic spot by a mere two rungs as they are now ranked 12th in the world.
Source - Badminton - No place in the Olympics for Indonesian Candra
KUANTAN: National doubles players Chan Chong Ming and Chew Choon Eng are not interested in winning the men's doubles title when the Malaysian Open Badminton Championships begin with the qualifying rounds at the Sukpa Badminton Hall here today.
It's not that they are not keen on winning their first Malaysian Open title, it's just that they are more interested in regaining their rhythm in preparation for the Olympic Games in Athens in August.
Source - Badminton - Preparing for Olympics the top priority for doubles pair
Eurosport has a good introduction to Olympic Badminton .
"Badminton's roots date back to the Far East, having originated from a children's game "battledore and shuttlecock". Using a paddle - a battledore - players worked together to keep a small-feathered cork - a shuttlecock - in the air as long as possible. British Army officers stationed in India in the 1860s adapted it....
In Sydney, four years ago Indonesia held on to the men's doubles gold, denying the Chinese a clean sweep of golds."
"Olympic mixed doubles bronze medallist Simon Archer will miss the Athens Games after he and partner Donna Kellogg failed to finish in the top 16 in the May 1 world ranking list which determines qualification.
Archer, who won Britain's first Olympic badminton medal when he and Jo Goode took bronze in Sydney, underwent surgery on his back after the All England championships in March. Kellogg has also had back problems."
Source - Archer's Athens hopes end
In a sport dominated by Asian athletes, Denmark and the Netherlands also have some medal hopes. China has three of the world's top five men (as of late June), the top three women in the singles competition and the two top-ranked women's doubles pairs. Denmark has the top men's doubles team. The United States will be represented by one men's doubles pair, Howard Bach and Kevin Han.
In Athens five Gold Medals will be on offer in Badminton Competition. Results will be added to this site as they happen through links below. In the mean time read all the latest badminton news in our Badminton News Archive.
