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China assured of Three Gold Medals
September 26, 2000 - Source : IBF
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The China badminton team are assured of three gold at these Games. After the first gold medal was grabbed by Zhang Jun and Gao Ling in the mixed doubles, Gong Zhichao beat world champion Camilla Martin 13-10, 11-3.
“I had a very tough draw so I had no easy games from the beginning. And today she played very well. She’s played very well in the couple of months, so she deserved it,” Martin said. “I couldn’t do anything on her games. I know anything could have happened in the Olympics, but today is very difficult for me,” she added.
Just before Martin’s loss, the Danish team also lost the chance to retain their only gold medal in Atlanta in the men’s singles. Martin’s boyfriend, Peter Gade lost to Ji Xinpeng 15-9, 1-15, 15-9. Ji will play the Indonesian, Hendrawan who beat Xia Xuanze in a very interesting semi final 15-12, 15-4.
Gade, who also faced a similar defeat in the 1999 World Championships, looked broken. “It’s difficult to put into words how I feel in such a situation. I don’t dare to play my own game. On the court we have to believe in our game and in every stroke we make. But I couldn’t do anything when my body didn’t work and my leg didn’t work as it should. And I wasn’t capable of making it work,” Gade said.
Ji gave all credit to his coach, Tang Xien Hu, the former coach of Indonesia. “I have to credit to my coach because he prepared me really well,” Ji said. After being beaten 1-15 in the second game, Ji won the third by 15-9. For this comeback, Ji said, “I didn’t think about anything. I just started from zero, and did my best.”
In the other semi final, Hendrawan showed a superb performance, and never looked tired throughout the match, which was full of long rallies and sudden attacks. He moved around the court smoothly and gave deceptive shots that zapped Xia’s energy. In the second game, Xia just couldn’t move fast enough to take Hendrawan’s smashes. He fell over twice while Hendrawan also fell on his back. Since the beginning of the second game, Xia couldn’t catch up on his opponent, and trailed easily to 2-11, 4-12.
“I just enjoyed the match and tried my best,” Hendrawan said afterwards. He didn’t have any more comments on that match. Xia rejected to comment but then he gave a clue that he was tired in the second game. “He ruined my rhythm so I couldn’t do anything,” he said. >Hendrawan will play Ji Xinpeng in the final. They’ve only met before in two matches before the Olympics. The first match, in the Japanwas won by Ji and the second in the Thomas Cup was taken by Hendrawan. This final Olympic match will be the decider.
The Chinese are just reassured that they are the strongest for the women’s events. In the semi final, Huang Nanyan and Yang Wei beat the Koreans, Ra Kyung-min and Chung Jae-hee by 15-6, 15-11. With that, the Chinese already have the gold and silver which will be decided through the final featuring Ge Fei and Gu Jun, the defending champions and top seeds, and their compatriot, Huang Nanyan and Yang Wei, the number two seeds,The China badminton team are assured of three gold at these Games. After the first gold medal was grabbed by Zhang Jun and Gao Ling in the mixed doubles, Gong Zhichao beat world champion Camilla Martin 13-10, 11-3.
Ji gave all credit to his coach, Tang Xien Hu, the former coach of Indonesia. “I have to credit to my coach because he prepared me really well,” Ji said. After being beaten 1-15 in the second game, Ji won the third by 15-9. For this comeback, Ji said, “I didn’t think about anything. I just started from zero, and did my best. |
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