Beijing Olympic Games

Updated: 2007-10-12 From: Xinhuanet

BEIJING, Oct.11 (Xinhua) — China’s top-seeded Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng began the defense of their men’s doubles crown with a comfortable first-round victory at the 2007 Beijing International Badminton Tournament here on Thursday.

The world No. 2 pair asserted its authority over compatriots Luo Mingjian and Luo Jiening with an easy victory 21-8 in the first set thanks to Cai’s drop-and-kill combination. They extended the dominance to the second set and wowed the crowd with 47-secondlong rally of jump smashes to seal the final win 21-12 in 20 minutes.

“We will adjust our tactics when the rivals are not that powerful, but for the upcoming Denmark open and 2008 Beijing Olympics, we will definitely stick to our traditional tactics,” said Cai Yun.

Along with Cai and Fu, 14 other Chinese pairs including second-seeded Xie Zhongbo/Guo Zhendong and third-seeded He Qi/Zhang Lei joined men’s doubles of the tournament, which is being held in Beijing University of Technology (BUT) Gymnasium, the badminton venue for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.