ACOG - News - IBM

(24 July 1996; Day 5)

Rare Upsets Add Excitement in Olympic Badminton

While most of the Olympic men's and women's badminton singles matches played out much as expected, with higher-ranked players winning handily, the unexpected was not unusual.

HUANG Chia-Chi of Chinese Taipei came up with one of the biggest surprises of the day in the women's singles competition, rolling to a 11-6, 11-7 defeat of Korea's RA Kyung Min, who was ranked 12th in the world by the IBF. HUANG, just 17 years old, ranked 37th heading into her first Olympic Games.

The victory surprised even HUANG. "I didn't think I could win at the start," said HUANG. "I haven't even thought about the next match."

Almost as amazing as HUANG's performance was the fact that RA faltered. RA committed 36 errors in the match, including 21 in the first game, compared to HUANG's 28. Also contributing to HUANG's victory were her 14 smash shots. RA smashed just three shots.

HUANG's win was not the only upset of the women's singles competition. India's P.V.V. LAKSHIMI, ranked 83rd, shocked Great Britain's Anne GIBSON, ranked 28th, 11-6, 11-6. Sweden's Margit BORG, No. 52 in IBF's rankings, also turned in an upset, knocking out Bulgaria's Neli NEDJALKOVA, who was ranked 39th in the world.

In a closer matchup, the Russian Federation's Elena RYBKHINA defeated Joanne MUGGERIDGE of Great Britain, 11-6, 12-11. RYBKHINA came from behind to tie the second game at 10-10 and decided to set the game, allowing the first player to score two additional points to win, rather than continuing to just 11 points. It turned out to be a wise decision, as MUGGERIDGE scored the first point after the game was set.

The only upset of the day in men's singles came when Germany's Michael HELBER defeated Mikhail KORCHUK of Belarus. HELBER and KORCHUK were evenly matched through the first game, which ended 15-12 in favor of HELBER.

Though not an upset, Kelly MORGAN's (GBR) win was also a surprise. MORGAN checked in at 50th in the IBF's latest rankings, just three slots above her opponent, Australia's Song YANG, so a closely-fought match was expected. However, MORGAN completely dominated the match, 11-1, 11-5.

In addition to the upsets, eight of the 31 matches played went to three games, including a hard-fought match which saw the United States' Kevin HAN lose to Great Britain's Peter KNOWLES.

"Regardless of rankings, I was expecting to win this match," said HAN. "I thought I had a really great chance to win, but I just didn't get the job done."

This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by Thad Dohrn.


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