Chinese men's doubles Fu/Cai aim at Olympic gold ( 2003-11-14 21:53) (Xinhua) Budding Chinese men's doubles
Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun said on Friday that their goal was to win the gold medal in
the Athens Olympic Games.
Fu, who turns 20 next January, said, "Our goal is not only to win at the
China Open but also to seize a gold medal in next year' s Olympics."
The Chinese duo, who became doubles partners more than a year ago,
overpowered Indonesian veterans Candra Wijaya/Halim Haryanto 15-2, 15-5 within
30 minutes in the quarter-finals of the China Open badminton championships.
After the win, the two players were extremely confident when commenting on
Saturday's match against top seeds and world champions Lars Paaske/Lonas
Rasmussen of Denmark, who overwhelmed eighth-seeded English pair Nathan
Robertson/Anthony Clark 15-8, 15- 2.
Fu said of the Danes that "they are not good at defense, and we can take
advantage of our speed." Whereas, his partner Cai emphasized that they have
beaten the Danish duo once in their two encounters.
Chinese head coach Li Yongbo was greatly encouraged by his shuttlers' superb
performance, believing that the Chinese men's doubles players have mad
remarkable progress since last year's Thomas Cup finals.
"I thought that the Olympic gold medal in the men's doubles is a wild wish
for us before, but now I think it is possible," he said.
|