Top Flight: Badminton Serves Up Speed, Drama

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The New York Sun

Contrary to badminton’s backyard image, the only thing soft about the sport is the 16 goose feathers in the shuttlecock. Olympic badminton is as dramatic as any sport in Athens: It features smashes reaching up to 200 miles an hour, festering drug scandals, allegations of match-throwing, and champions throwing tantrums.


Badminton is wildly popular in Asia, where the paparazzi prey on the sport’s one-named superstars. China won four of the five gold medals in Sydney and should again seize the women’s singles, women’s doubles, and men’s singles crowns in Athens. South Korea will likely take the mixed doubles title; men’s doubles is a crapshoot.


The Chinese were at the center of a match-throwing scandal at the 2003 World Championships. When two Chinese pairs played each other in the quarterfinals of women’s doubles, the first game was a battle, but the losing pair seemed to tank the second game, presumably to allow their teammates to save energy for the semis and eventually win gold.


The Chinese players were found guilty of “bringing the game into disrepute by not using their best efforts.” No one was banned, however. Two other teams received reprimands at subsequent tournaments, both times after competing against their countrymen. As a result, some of the most closely watched – and scrutinized – matches in Athens will be the duels between teammates.


Badminton has also experienced doping drama. Indonesia’s Sigit Budiarto, who won the 1997 World Championship in men’s doubles, tested positive for nandrolone the following year and was slapped with a 12-month ban. Budiarto’s doubles partner, Candra Wijaya, promptly dumped him and won the gold medal in Sydney with another man.


Athens is Budiarto’s shot at redemption. If he and his new doubles partner, Tri Kusharyanto, can upset the no. 3 seeds in the round of 16, they could contend for a medal.


Budiarto’s countryman, 23-year old Taufik Hidayat, was the 2000 Olympics’ no. 1 seed in men’s singles, but was upset in the quarterfinals by the eventual gold medalist, Ji Xinpeng. Taufik is generally known by his first name only and has been dubbed by Indonesian tabloids as “the erratically brilliant wild child of Indonesian badminton.” He has had run-ins with the police and his federation, and threatened to defect to Singapore when his coach was let go.


Once, Taufik went into the stands and bashed a heckler with his racquet. He is also unafraid of the formidable Chinese team and could win a medal in Athens if he can keep his rage at bay.


Strangely enough, the only non-Asian country to have won Olympic gold is tiny Denmark, where badminton addicts maintain fantasy leagues. Camilla Martin, the 2000 Olympic silver medalist, has been a top player for the past decade. When the leggy, mysterious Dane posted seductive photos on her Web site, tongues wagged all over Europe.


Martin’s statuesque teammate, Kenneth Jonassen, was equally fetching in a Danish Royal Guard uniform when he moonlighted as a night watchman outside Queen Margrethe II’s residence. His 24-hour shift caused him to miss the 1995 World Championships, though he did reach the singles quarterfinals at the 1999, 2001, and 2003 worlds.


Two Americans will compete in Athens: Howard Bach, 26, and Kevin Han, 31, whose doubles tournament begins on Sunday.


The Shanghai-born Han lived in Brooklyn after he immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager in 1989. He took a job as a busboy at a Chinese restaurant, and recounts that his first English words were, “Do you want more water? Are you finished?” It was a jarring contrast to life in China, where he had graduated high school with high grades and was had been ranked no. 6 in Chinese badminton.


Bach and Han should win their first Olympic match (against South Africa on Sunday), but if they go any further, they will be the ones making headlines in the Far East.


The New York Sun

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