A senior official of the South Korean badminton team said?in Beijing?on Tuesday that they should take at least one gold medal in the upcoming Beijing Olympics.
According to Kim Jong-Soo, a long-time head coach of South Korea, the 13-member team will participate all five events and their gold mine is probably in the doubles.
"Around 2004 we were doing the transition and now it is complete. So it will not influence our performance in this Olympics," Kim said of his new team. "Since we have already solved the transition problem, I think we should get at least one gold medal."
The South Koreans have collected five gold medals in the previous Olympics, since badminton became a medal event in Barcelona in 1992. China tops the gold table with eight golds while Indonesian matches South Korea at five. The only gold slipped from Asians at the Olympics is the men's singles in 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Danish player Poul-Erik Hoyer Larsen upset Chinese favourite Dong Jiong in the final.
Kim predicted that China will be the hot favorites to take more golds than the other team. "The Chinese team has their advantage because the Olympics is held in Beijing," said Kim.
"Naturally, we will focus on the Chinese team and do more preparation," he added.
(Xinhua News Agency 6, 2008)