Chong Wei still scrambling to be fit for first match against Lang

Photo Credit: morethanthegames.co.uk/

MALAYSIA’S Lee Chong Wei, one of the few genuine threats to China’s ambitions in the men’s badminton, is still scrambling to be fit for his first-round match at the London Games after suffering a serious ankle injury.

‘I’m not 100% recovered. I feel I’m training better and now about 90% recovered,’ the former world No. 1 said at the Wembley Arena. ‘I know there is a lot of pressure but now I feel less pressure because of my injury.

‘But this is my third Olympics and my final Olympics so gold is very important to me and my career.’
Malaysia have won all of their Olympic medals in badminton and have pinned their hopes on the team winning the country’s first gold medal at London.

Chong Wei, top seed here, raised hopes of breaking Malaysia’s drought by reaching the final in Beijing, but was obliterated by Chinese Lin Dan and had to settle for silver.

Chong Wei remains Malaysia’s greatest hope of gold but suffered a major setback in his preparations when he was sidelined for weeks after hurting his ankle in a Thomas Cup match in May.

Lin Dan and a clutch of other dominant Chinese, including world No. 3 Chen Long and No. 4 Chen Jin, are likely to stand in the way of Chong Wei’s title hopes.

Although topping badminton’s rankings for much of his career, the 29-year-old Chong Wei has never clinched an Olympic, world or Asian Games title, a gap on his resume he has long rued.

‘I believe he can (win gold),’ his team manager Ng Chin Chai said. ‘His desire must be very strong. If he makes it to the semi-finals his chances are strong.’

Chong Wei faces Finland’s Ville Lang in his first-round match on Monday before a potential round of 16 clash with Indonesia’s world No. 6 Simon Santoso.

The Olympic badminton tournament starts on Saturday at Wembley Arena and ends on Aug 5. ‘

-Reuters

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N Koreans walk off after flag row

The North Korean women’s football team walked off the pitch at their Olympic match in Glasgow after their images were shown on a screen beside a South Korean flag.

Kick-off was scheduled for 19:45 BST but the game started over an hour late.

North Korea beat Colombia 2-0 in the second of the Olympic matches held at Hampden Park on Wednesday.

Games organisers in London have apologised to North Korean officials for the mistake.

The error occurred when a video package was being shown ahead of kick-off, with the North Koreans noticing that their faces were being pictured alongside the South Korean flag.

“Start Quote

We have made a full apology to the team and the North Korean NOC. A genuine mistake was made for which we apologise”

End Quote
Andy Mitchell
London 2012 spokesman

The squad walked off and could only be persuaded to return when the teams were announced again with each player’s face displayed next to the North Korean flag.

The BBC’s sports editor David Bond said it was an “embarrassing mistake” and not the start Games organisers would have wanted on the first day of sporting action, but “no great harm was done”.

Relations between the two Koreas are tense – they remain technically at war following the 1950-53 Korean conflict, which ended in an armistice.

Speaking after the match, North Korea’s coach Sin Ui Gun said: “Our team was not going to participate unless the problem was solved properly.

“Unfortunately it took some time later for the broadcast to be done again properly and we made the decision to go on with the match.”

He added: “Our players cannot be shown especially with other flags, especially the South Korean one.

“If this matter had not been solved, continuing would have been a nonsense.”

A statement released by London 2012 organisers said: “Today ahead of the women’s football match at Hampden Park, the South Korean flag was shown on a big screen video package instead of the North Korean flag.

“Clearly that is a mistake, we will apologise to the team and the National Olympic Committee and steps will be taken to ensure this does not happen again.”

It was not immediately clear who had produced the video which was shown in the stadium.

Olympics coverage online

London 2012 spokesman Andy Mitchell said: “The South Korean flag was shown in the video package on the screen before the kickoff and the North Koreans were naturally very upset about that.

“We have made a full apology to the team and the North Korean NOC. A genuine mistake was made for which we apologise.”

South Korea will face North Korea in the first round of the men’s Olympic table tennis team event after the pair were drawn against each other on Wednesday.

The first event of the Olympics got under way at 1600 BST at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on Wednesday and ended in a win for Team GB over New Zealand in the women’s football. Two matches also took place at the City of Coventry stadium.

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Kwak completes Ulsan comeback

Ulsan: Kwak Tae-hwi struck in the last minute of Ulsan Hyundai's K-League Round 22 clash with Gwangju to give the ACL 2012 quarter-finalists' a 2-1 come-from-behind victory.

Kim Dong-sub's 36th minute effort had given the visitors a 1-0 half-time lead before Maranhao (Luis Carlos dos Santos Martins) drew Ulsan level ten minutes after the restart.

With Ulsan looking to be heading towards the sixth draw of their 2012 K-League campaign substitute Kwak scored in the 90th minute to move Ulsan back into third place with 41 points, eight less the leaders and defending champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.

Ulsan, who are aiming to become the fourth successive ACL finalists from Korea after last year's runners-up Jeonbuk, Pohang Steelers and Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma - ACL champions in 2006, 2009 and 2010 respectively - take on Al Hilal in the last eight of this year's edition of Asia's premier club competition.

The first-leg of their AFC Champions League quarter-final will take place on September 19 with Ulsan hosting the two-time Asian Club Championship winners before the Saudis entertain the Koreans on October 3.

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Asian nations set to bat for windsurfing

Windsurfing will be backed strongly for reinstatement at the 2016 Rio Olympics at the International Sailing Federation (Isaf) annual conference in November.

The reconstituted Asian Sailing Federation (Asaf) will table a submission at the conference in Ireland in favour of the event's return at the 2016 Games. Member federations will also table individual submissions.

Windsurfing was omitted in favour of kiteboarding for the 2016 Games at an Isaf council meeting in early May, leading to many protests worldwide.

Asaf's decision to back windsurfing was made at its extraordinary general meeting (EOGM) in Singapore last Saturday.

Said Singapore Sailing Federation (SSF) president Dr Ben Tan: "Singapore tabled the windsurfing issue for the EGM and Hong Kong provided strong and objective data to support windsurfing's case at the meeting.

"All the Asian countries were unanimous in their support for windsurfing. Asaf will make a unified submission for the Isaf meeting in November, with member federations making individual submissions in support as well."

The Spanish Sailing Federation recently acknowledged that its delegate voted for kiteboarding in error at the Isaf meeting in May.

"I am optimistic that Isaf will be sensible enough to reverse the decision in favour of windsurfing, as the class meets all of the IOC's (International Olympic Commitee) requirements to be an Olympic sport," added Dr Tan.

Windsurfing has been an Olympic sport since the 1984 Los Angeles Games. This year's Games in London from July 27 to Aug 12 will feature the RS:X event.

Right now, SSF has between eight to 10 windsurfers in the national team and it hopes to send windsurfers to the 2016 Rio Games.

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India, Pakistan share honours in U-19 Asia Cup

NEW DELHI: Consistently scoring big in big matches isn't an easy habit to inculcate. But India under-19 captain Unmukt Chand is fast proving be the one the team looks up to at big moments. Soon after cracking a century in the semifinal against Sri Lanka, the Delhi boy's calculated 121 in the under-19 Asia Cup final against Pakistan almost pulled off the match. The job, though, was only half-finished as the game ended in a thrilling tie on Sunday in Kuala Lumpur.

Chasing Pakistan's 282/9, Unmukt shared a 175-run stand with Baba Aparajith (90) for the second wicket to keep India in the hunt. After Aparajith, who dominated the partnership, was dismissed, Unmukt took over and took India closer to the target before falling off the fourth ball of the final over with three wickets and five runs remaining. While it seemed the pair's hard work would be undone, left-arm medium-pacer Rush Kalaria, who had earlier claimed 5/37, slammed a boundary off the next ball to equal scores. But he could only chip the last ball to mid-off to be caught as both teams left with something to celebrate.

Unmukt, thus, maintained his record of not losing in any event he has captained the team in. India had earlier won two quadrangular events in India and Australia under his captaincy.

Unmukt had hit a 94 and a century in the semifinal and the final respectively in the last event the colts played, the quadrangular in Australia in April this year, which shows how he responds to big challenges. A regular opener for his state team Delhi, he came down at three in Australia and then curbed his natural attacking instincts in Kuala Lumpur to bat through the innings because the middle-order was looking shaky. For those who have followed him, a strike rate in the late 70s and early 80s throughout a limited-overs tournament is hard to believe.

Often critcised for his flashy play during the last first class season — in which he failed to convert any of his starts into hundreds — Unmukt has reveled as captain of the junior national team. "I need to play a different role in this team. Being the seniormost player, I had to bat responsibly and let the middle-order play around me. That's why I modified my game," Unmukt told TOI from Kuala Lumpur after the final while adding that the team had taken the tied final in its strides. "It happens. We'd have loved to win because we lost to Pakistan by just one run in the league stage. But it's okay."

With the Under-19 World Cup a little more than a month away, the preparations have lived up to the expectations. "We have matured as a team by being together. We have learnt to adapt to different conditions. All of us have contributed in the wins. All eyes are on the World Cup now. Even in this tournament, Vijay Zol scored a superb century, allrounder Baba (Aparajith) has consistently done well and the bowlers have been great. Kalaria was superb today and the left-arm spin of Vikas Mishra has been amazing," said Unmukt who is now enjoying the leadership role.

"I am loving every bit of it. The team is really supportive. They have been pretty obedient," he said tongue-in-cheek.

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