"Wimbledon of Badminton" underway
Wednesday, 9th March 2011 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Lin Dan gives his signature salute after his signature strip show after taking the Men's Singles title at the 2010 Asian Games.
China is looking to maintain its dominance in the sport, but faces strong challenges from the likes of Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea and Denmark. Hosts England, with just one entrant in each of the singles events, faces an uphill battle to assert itself more strongly as both the next Olympic host and the game's country of origin.
Play begins Wednesday March 9, and runs through Sunday March 13. I haven't checked the TV schedule, but expect plenty of CCTV-5 coverage. The tournament website is here.
Women's Singles
China's Wang Shixian is the favorite after Wang Yihan (China) and Tine Baun (nee Rasmussen, Denmark) withdrew due to injuries. Her toughest opponents will be countrywoman Wang Xin and India's Saina Nehwal, the 2010 Commonwealth Games champion.
Men's Singles
Lin Dan, aka Super Dan, one of Chinese sport's biggest stars, is going for an unprecedented fifth All England title. Other major contenders are defending All England champion, Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia); and reigning world champion Chen Jin (China).
Women's Doubles
To reach the finals, China's third-seeded Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang will likely need to get past the top-seeded Taiwanese pair of Cheng Wen-Hsing and Chien Yu-Chin.
Men's Doubles
This is probably the most wide-open event this year. China's top pair are world title holders Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng, but they are only seeded sixth behind the top-seeded Danish duo of Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen, and teams from Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Mixed Doubles
China has four teams in this event, including top seeds Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei, and the fifth-seeded Tian Qing and Tao Jiaming.
Related: Badzine's All-England Preview
Tags: badminton, Lin Dan, Wang Shixian, Wang Xin, Wang Yihan
China maintains gold lead, US takes lead in total medals
Tuesday, 12th August 2008 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
On day four of the Beijing Olympics China added more gold medals to its takings, reaching a total of eleven golds by 6:45 pm Beijing time. Team China was followed by the United States with seven and South Korea with five.In terms of overall medals, the US took the lead with a big morning – especially in swimming events - that brought its total to 21, three more than China's 18. South Korea trailed the two giants with eleven total medals.
China snatches fourth gold in weightlifting
Late Monday, China continued its winning ways in weightlifting as Zhang Xiangxiang (张湘祥) lifted a total of 319 kilograms in the men's 62 kilogram category. After failing in his attempt to lift 184 kilograms on his final attempt, Zhang fell to the floor and bowed and then kowtowed to the applause of spectators. He then hugged the barbell that was unable to stop him from winning gold. Diego Salazar Colombia took the silver after lifting a total of 305 kilograms and Indonesian Triayatno won bronze with 298 kilograms.
China savors men's team gold in gymnastics
China's gymnastics team won gold by a comfortable margin in the all-round men's event. China scored 286.125 points. Silver went to Japan (278.875) and bronze to the United States (275.850). This marks a return to form for a team that took gold in Sydney and then failed to medal at all in Athens. Yang Wei (杨威), Huang Xu (黄旭), Li Xiaopeng (李小鹏) and Xiao Qin (肖钦) were all on the team that placed 5th in Athens. Chen Yibing (陈一冰) and Zou Kai (邹凯) rounded out the team.
China picks up third diving gold
Team China achieved its third diving gold today as the teenage duo of Wang Xin (王鑫) and Chen Ruolin (陈若琳) came top in the women's synchronized 10m platform competition. Wang, who turned 16 yesterday, and Chen scored 363.54 points, to clinch first place in an event that China has won since its introduction at the 2000 games in Sydney. Australia (335.16) took silver, with Mexico close behind (330.06) for bronze.
Zheng Jie starts off on a winning note
Sichuanese tennis sensation Zheng Jie (郑洁), whose performance in Wimbledon earlier this year made her an instant star in China and around the world, has won her first two matches at the Olympic Green Tennis Center, where she is receiving a rock star welcome from the home crowd.
On Monday, Zheng defeated 11th-seeded Agnes Szavay of Hungary in three sets (4-6, 6-3, 7-5) to the audience's delight. On Tuesday she overcame Spain's Nuria Llagostera 6-7(7), 6-1, 6-4 in an error-filled three-hour epic. Despite starting both matches down one set, the 5-foot 4-inch powerhouse from Chengdu was able to use her blistering serve and powerful backhand to overcome her early deficits.
Zheng will take on Dinara Safina of Russia in the third round of the women's singles tournament.
Images: Reuters via Yahoo! News
Tags: Chen Ruolin, Chen Yibing, Huang Xu, Li Xiaopeng, Olympics, Wang Xin, Xiao Qin, Yang Wei, Zhang Xiangxiang, Zheng Jie, Zou Kai