Heartbreak For Team Canada, Gold Medalists Through To Semis

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, July 22nd, 2011 -

It was a devastating day for the 1000+ crowd at the Richmond Olympic Oval who came to cheer their Canadian favorites against the best badminton players on earth.

First up was Michelle Li, Canadian ladies singles champion and the #39 ranked player in the world, who faced off against former world #1 Pi Hongyan of France.

Li took the first set in a thriller but was narrowly edged out in the second and third set with the final scores of 19-21, 21-15, 21-18. “I was so close to a career win and it is painful right now to take that loss,” said Li of the match.

Vancouver’s Toby Ng and partner Grace Gao then took the court again the top Chinese pair Liu Cheng and Ying Luo, who seemed virtually unstoppable. Ng and Gao easily won the first off stellar play and overwhelming speed but it was the stability of the Chinese players that carried them through a tight second and third set.

“I was sure we had the match, said Ng afterwards. “The good news is that with this result we are in a commanding position to qualify for the Olympics and that was the primary goal of the tournament. To play this well is a bonus.”

In other matches, Indonesian wizard and 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Taufik Hidayat breezed through his quarterfinal match again Japanese star Takuma Ueda 21-17, 21-18.

Lee Yong Dae, Koreas Golden Boy from Beijing destroyed his opponents from Taipei Fang Chieh Min and Ko Sung Hyun 21-10, 21-14 in a 30 minute route.

The Semi Finals will play from 4pm, July 23rd with the Finals on Sunday at noon, July 24th.

Tickets and other information is available at http://www.canadaopen.ca

Media contact:

Bobby Milroy
Tel: 778-866-6965
Email: bmilroy@canadaopen.ca
Website: www.canadaopen.ca