China sets sights on badminton gold<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta<\/p>\n
After winning the prestigious men's and women's Thomas and Uber
\nCup badminton championships, China is now setting its sights on a
\ngold medal sweep at the 2004 Athens Olympics.<\/p>\n
China's team manager, Li Yongbo, said early on Monday at about
\n2 a.m. -- after China had beaten European giant Denmark 3-1 in
\nthe Thomas Cup final here -- that he was proud of his shuttlers'
\nperformance in Jakarta and had high hopes for them at the
\nOlympics from Aug. 13 to Aug. 29. China waited 14 years since its
\nlast victory in 1992 to bring home the Thomas Cup.<\/p>\n
At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, China brought home four golds --
\nJi Xinpeng in the men's singles, Gong Ruina in women's singles,
\nGao Ling and Xang Jun in mixed doubles and Ge Fei and Gu Jun in
\nwomen's doubles. Indonesia won one gold medal in the men's
\ndoubles with Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan.<\/p>\n
China's 13-member team that will be going to Athens is filled
\nwith champions, and the country is a hot favorite to come home
\nwith multiple golds. However, Li said the Olympics would be
\ndifferent than the Thomas and Uber Cups because it was an
\nindividual event.<\/p>\n
Denmark head coach Steen Pedersen said that although China was
\nstrong as a team, the Olympics would test the psychological
\ntoughness of the individual athletes.<\/p>\n
He said he was confident of his shuttlers' chances in the
\nOlympics and the 2006 Thomas and Uber Cups in Sendai and Tokyo,
\nJapan, although their current average age is 29, compared to 22
\nfor the Chinese team.<\/p>\n
Jonas Rasmussen, who partners Lars Paaske as a member of the
\nworld's top-ranked men's doubles team, is 26 years old, making
\nhim the youngest member of Denmark's squad, while the 34-year-old
\nJens Eriksen is the oldest.<\/p>\n
2000 Olympic silver medalist Camilla Martin, who is also the
\n1999 world champion, will turn 30 this year, while most of the
\ntop women's shuttlers in the world are between the ages of 19 and
\n25.<\/p>\n
\"European players hit their peak later than Asians, so some of
\nthe players may still be there,\" Pedersen said, adding that
\nDenmark would send 10 players to Athens.<\/p>\n
Pedersen said new players would eventually make their way to
\nthe national team, but it would take time to groom them into
\nworld-class players.<\/p>\n
South Korean team manager Kim Jong-soo said his women's
\nshuttlers, who lost to China in the Uber Cup final on Saturday,
\nwere targeting gold medals ion the women's doubles as well as the
\nmixed doubles at the Olympics.<\/p>\n
Lee Hyo-jung and Hwang Yu-mi defeated China's top women's
\npairing of Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen 15-7, 15-10 in the Uber Cup
\nfinal.<\/p>\n
\"Athens will be our next focus and we will work hard for the
\nOlympics by competing at the Malaysian Open and the Indonesia
\nOpen after this,\" Kim said.<\/p>\n
South Korea will send 12 players to Athens. Indonesia will
\nsend 14 players to the Olympics, consisting of two in the men's
\nsingles, six in the men's doubles, four in the mixed doubles and
\ntwo in the women's doubles.<\/p>",
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