Beijing Olympic Games

Updated: 2008-07-31 11:22:02 From: Xinhuanet

Defending Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat (Photo credit: CFP)

BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) — Though Indonesia has set gold medal target in its traditionally-strong badminton at the Beijing Olympics, the defending men’s singles champion Taufik Hidayat is not expected to retain the title because of his physical condition.

“Taufik has fully recovered now, and I heard he went back to the training venue in Jakarta yesterday. However, I am not sure if he will come to Beijing with his best physical condition,” Lukman Niode, the deputy chef de mission of the Indonesian delegation, told Xinhua here on Thursday.

“We just hope he can do his best at the Olympics, but Lin Dan of China is quite strong in the men’s singles,” he added.

Hidayat got a flu one week ago, which set doubts on his future at the Olympics. Niode said that Hidayat would arrive in Beijing next Monday.

Badminton has been the shoulder to keep Indonesia’s position on the medal tally since 1992 Barcelona Olympics. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, the Indonesian team pocketed one gold from Hidayat.

“Hopefully, we can win gold medals in the men’s doubles and the mixed doubles, but China and South Korea are very competitive, so it’s really hard to predict how many gold medals we can win from the badminton events.”

The country’s female weightlifters have made their mark in recent Games, proving that badminton is not the only sport in Indonesia.

Raema Lisa Rumbewas claimed silver medals at both the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games, earning her medals in the 48kg and 53kg weight categories, respectively.

“Raema Lisa Rumbewas will compete in the women’s 53kg class thistime. We hope she and her teammate will win medals for our country,” Niode said.

Updated: 2008-07-28

(BEIJING, July 28) — With athletes worldwide looking forward to competing with the top players in their sport, and countries aiming to maximize their medal count, it seems odd that the Netherlands Olympic Committee (NOC) decided against adding World No. 18 Yao Jie to their roster to compete in the Women’s Singles event.

World No. 18 Yao, who previously played for China, recently had an incredible victory over World No. 1 Xie Xingfang a few weeks ago in Jakarta. Before a recent knee injury, Yao was ranked in the world’s top five.

Marcel Sturkenboom, director of sport for the NOC, explained that while Yao qualified for the Games according to Badminton World Federation (BWF) standards, she did not reach the qualification targets which had been set by the NOC in joint cooperation with the Dutch Badminton Association (NBB).

So, despite strong appeals from Yao and the NBB, there will be no Dutch shuttlers competing in Beijing, even though just four years ago Netherlands player Mia Audina won a silver medal in Women’s Singles.

Once confirmed by the BWF, Yao’s vacancy should be given to the player next in line, Hadia Hosny of Egypt.

Updated: 2008-07-28

(BEIJING, July 28) — This year eight badminton teams from Africa will take part in the Beijing Games, the most teams from that continent to compete in this event since it was added to the Olympics in 1992.

In total, six men and four women shuttlers from Uganda, South Africa, Nigeria, Mauritius, Egypt, Seychelles, Zambia and Algeria will participate in this year’s Games.

Athletes representing African countries have never won a Badminton medal, and South Africa was the only nation from the continent to compete in this event at Athens in 2004.

The increase in the number of African badminton teams participating this year is partly due to heightened interest in the sport, as well as qualification rule changes in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

At this year’s Games, each nation is only allowed to enter two Badminton players or pairs, with an allowance for a third only if that player/pair is ranked in the top four in the world for that event.

The sudden appearance of eight nations from a continent previously absent from this sport at the Olympics shows the success of this rule at breaking the monopoly of badminton powerhouses like China, Malaysia and Republic of Korea, and opening the field to more competitors.

This year in Beijing, 50 nations and regions will compete in Badminton, 18 more than the 32 teams that played in Athens.

In total, 173 athletes will compete in Badminton in Men’s Single, Women’s Single, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles.

Updated: 2008-05-25

BEIJING, May 25) – Zhu Hengjun wins Men’s Decathlon 110m Hurdles-Heat 2 at the Good Luck Beijing China athletics competition on May 25 with a time of 14.63 seconds. Qi Haifeng takes the second place with a time of 15.00 seconds. Wang Jianbo, the third, 15.06 seconds.

Updated: 2008-05-25

(BEIJING, May 25) – Yu Bin wins Men’s Decathlon 110m Hurdles-Heat 1 at the Good Luck Beijing China athletics competition on May 25 with a time of 15.16 seconds. He bested compatriots Lu Baoyin and Zhou Bin, who placed second and third with times of 15.17 and 15.46 seconds, respectively.

Updated: 2008-05-24

(BEIJING, May 24) — Surjan Erik of Australia took top spot in the high jump of the Men’s Decathlon at the Good Luck Beijing China Open athletics competition on May 24 with a jump of 2.01 meters. Second and third places finishers Zhou Bin and Lu Baoyin of China both finished at a height of 1.92 meters. The win in the high jump gives Surjan Erik the lead in the Decathlon with a total of 813 points.

Updated: 2008-05-24

(BEIJING, May 24) — Wu Jian from China won gold on Saturday with a throw of 60.75 meters in the Men’s Discus at the Good Luck Beijing China Athletics Open. Wu Tao from China came in second with a 60.40 meter throw, and Xu Yongyi, also from China, won bronze with a throw of 57.11 meters.

The 22-year-old champion’s first taste of international success came in 2003 when he won silver in the Men’s Discus at the IAAF Word Juvenile Championships in Athletics. Wu lead throughout this competition’s qualification rounds.

Men’s Discus Throw, final results:

1. Wu Jian, China, 60.75 meters

2. Wu Tao, China, 60.40

3. Xu Yongyi, China, 57.11

4. Sun Deyi, China, 56.06

5. Nu Ermaimaiti, China, 55.56

6. Li Shaojie, China, 53.56

7. Huang Dongyi, China, 53.09

8. Wen Shengyi, China, 52.51

9. Li Minda, China, 51.37

10. Li Bing, China, 51.17

11. Ju Yuepeng, China, 51.08

12. Wang Yao-Hui, Chinese Taipei, 50.80