Olympic Preview: Badminton payback on Olympic Day 7
Updated: 2012-08-03 13:40:55
By Lee Hannon ( chinadaily.com.cn)
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China's Olympic badminton team will have the chance to silence their critics and offer some thrilling action on the court as they are guaranteed gold and silver in the mixed doubles.
Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei compete against their follow teammates Xu Chen and Ma Jin on court 1 of Wembley Arena at 10 pm.
A place in the women's singles finals is also secured, as is at least two medals, when world No 1 Wang Yihan takes on India's Saina Nehwal in the first semifinal game at 4 pm. China's Li Xuerui and Wang Xin meet in the second at 4:45 pm.
China's Lin Dan celebrates after winning against Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat during their men's singles round of 16 badminton match during the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Wembley Arena, Aug 1, 2012. [Photo/Agencies] |
The same is likely to happen in the men's semifinals as Chen Long faces Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei at 8:30 pm. Olympic champion Lin Dan will play South Korea's Lee Hyun-il in a bid to defend his title as world leader at 9:15 pm.
The badminton women single's finals will be held on Saturday evening. The men will faceoff on Sunday.
Dai Xiaoxiang, who has not dropped a point, will face Australia's Taylor Worth in the men's individual archery at 5:18 pm for a place in the quarterfinals and the chance of a medal. The 21-year-old from Fujian province came 2nd in the same event at the World Cup Final in Turkey in 2011.
China will face Romania in the men's team sabre fencing quarterfinals at 6:30 pm.
The nation has two good medal hopefuls in the men's individual trampoline starting at 9 pm. Favorite Lu Chunlong will be eager to defend his Beijing gold Olympic title and Dong Dong, who won bronze at the 2008 Games will hope to improve his Olympic record. The 23-year-old from Henan province also won the top spot for this event the Asian Games and the World Cup.
Judo Olympic champion Tong Wen will also strive to defend her title in the women's +78kg when she battles Mexico's Vanessa Zambotti at 5:26 pm.
In Rowing, China have two medal chances. Zhang Liang competes in the men's single sculls at 5:40 pm and Wang Min and Zhu Weiwei in the women's double sculls at 7:10 pm.
Olympic medalist Zhu Qinan and Wang Weiyi will compete for a win in the men's 50m rifle prone shooting event. Zhang Jian and Ding Feng vie in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol.
The gold rush will once again continue into the early hours as defending Olympic weightlifting champion Lu Yong is the leading contender in the men's 85-kilogram competition at 2 am.
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Photo Gallery
Medal Count |
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1 | 46 | 29 | 29 | |
2 | 38 | 27 | 22 | |
3 | 29 | 17 | 19 | |
4 | 24 | 25 | 33 | |
5 | 13 | 8 | 7 | |
6 | 11 | 19 | 14 |