Kali Spera from Athens! I went to the afternoon session today, which was the WD semi-finals and the MD Gold medal match. The hall was half-empty again today, but the people who were there all seemed to be enjoying the matches. I have noticed this week that a lot of the spectators in the hall are not there because they are badminton fans (I deduced this from the conversations that I overheard), but have obviously just turned up to see a few matches (or they turn up to support their countries) Here some impressions of this afternoon's matches: Zhang & Yang vs Ra & Lee This wasn't really much of a match, Ra and Lee were overpowered. Zhang in particular was very strong, she has quite a presence on court. Ra's class shone through occasionally but not often enough. Huang & Gao vs Zhao & Wei At the start of this match hardly anyone in the crowd was paying attention, (probably because it was an all-Chinese match and a lot of the support at the Olympics is on a country vs country basis), but as the match progressed people got drawn in by the quality of the badminton, and by the end most spectators were thoroughly enjoying it. The two sides were quite evenly matched, and this resulted in some great rallies. Gao's right leg was very heavily strapped - she had a bandage, tape, and a knee brace. I suspect she picked up an injury in the XD double final yesterday. However this didn't stop her from playing some divine stuff at the net, she is quite lethal once she gets on the attack in the front court. Huang was pretty formidable too, I wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of some of her shots. So, they took the first game with a comfortable margin. The second game continued in much the same vein, although as it progressed, Z & W started to fight harder. Zhao started to play well, she can hit some really stinging smashes, it amazes me how much power these skinny players can generate. It was very clear that H & G did not want this to go to a 3rd game, maybe they felt the game was turning against them and if it went to a 3rd they would struggle. Gao had some luck when they had Game point against them at 11(?)-14, she hit the tape but the shuttle tumbled over, and a few shots later they won the rally. I think they saved a couple of game points a 11-14, some of the best rallies of the match took place then. Ha & Kim vs Yoo & Lee This was the match I had been waiting the whole tournament to see. I hoped it was going to be one of their epic 100+ minute duels (a la All England final, 2001(?)) but unfortunately it was a bit one-sided. I imagine these guys play each other almost every day when they are training, so it comes down to who can come up with the most innovative shots on the day of the match. Unfortunately for Y & L, Kim DM has that extra bit of class over the other three, and that is the difference between the pairs. Also I noticed today that Lee's attack is quite weak, Kim & Ha seemed quite happy to just lift the shuttle to him and block his shots. At one point he hit about six smashes in a row, and they all came straight back. Why didn't he try a different shot? Kim was doing a lot of complaining today, moaning about sweat on the floor, his shoelaces, the shuttle, his grip tape, wanting a drink, the weather etc etc The umpire was getting a bit cross, at one point he reached into his jacket and I thought Kim was gonna get a yellow card, but at the last second Kim turned round and got ready to receive serve, and the umpire let him off. As usual Yoo was a delight to watch, jumping, diving, scurrying everywhere. It was such a shame the match didn't last longer. After the match Kim looked utterly drained. He sat slumped over at the side of the court with this head bowed for about a minute, you would never guess he had just won the match. The medal ceremony was very nice, Ha and Kim were really great when they collected their medals, they broke protocol and walked round the front side of the podium to hug Hian & Limpele and Yoo & Lee before they stepped up to get their own medals. It was a very nice touch. They looked very happy, Ha was blubbing like a big baby during the national anthem Last day of the badminton tomorrow, I'm going to the afternoon session for the WD and MS finals. Ya Sas!
