The first day of Olympic badminton tournament witnessed shuttlers not known to the public being treated like super stars Saturday, when all the seeds for singles got a bye in the first round.
The opener of the Beijing Olympic badminton competition was a surprisingly tough match, in which Maria Yulianti from Indonesia defeated Juliane Schenk from Germany after a 65-minute struggle.
"Of course I'm disappointed, but that is how it goes," said the upset German girl, currently ranked No. 13 on women's singles' list.
Yulianti, who downed defending Olympic champion Zhang Ning in the semifinal of Indonesia Super Series last June, is expected to meet Tine Rasmussen from Denmark in the third round, European hopeful at the tournament.
In another marathon match, Canadian Anna Rice, who beat Eva Lee from the United States 21-15, 19-21, 21-19, won enduring applause from the audience and was vehemently hunted for signatures.
"It is really cool to be valued for what you are doing," said Rice, who had never anticipated such treatment from the audience usually tendered to popular players. "I want to win tomorrow so that I can enjoy such a feeling again."
Chinese Taipei shuttler Hsieh Yu-Hsing was apparently the most favorite player on the courts for the first day, as the passionate audience gave the player from across the Taiwan strait a home advantage he never thought of before.
"It's like playing in Taipei. I had never got so many cheers," said Hsieh, who beat Kaveh Mehrabi from Iran 21-16, 21-12 to enter the round of 32.
Similar comments also come from Bulgarian shuttler Petya Nedelcheva, who defeated Sara Persson from Sweden 21-10, 21-10 in the first round.
"They are just amazing. They are cheering for every players, no matter where they come from," said the 16th-ranked Bulgarian who reached the women's singles quarters in 2004 and locked her target at a quarterfinal berth after the first-round victory.
"If I continue to play like today, I think I can easily reach the quarterfinal," said the 25-year-old.
However, the overwhelming cheers from the crowd seemed to heap enormous pressures on the fledging Chinese Hong Kong shuttler Yip Pui Yin, who lost her first-round match to British veteran Tracy Hallam 15-21, 17-21.
"She played quite well, and I felt totally lost on the court," said Yip, silver medalist at 2006 Asian Games regarded as real contender for quarterfinals at the tournament, but disturbed by some digestive problems recently.
The 22 matches on the first day didn't produce much surprise to the spectators, who are anticipating a much exciting day tomorrow as some big names will show on the courts, including women's single top seeds Xie Xingfang and Zhang Ning.
(Xinhua News Agency August 9, 2008)
