Road to Rio: Australian badminton team awaiting Olympic draw

The Australian badminton team are counting down the hours until the Olympic draw is announced.

Badminton doubles team Matthew Chau and Sawan Serasinghe

Source: SBS

Sawan Serasinghe and Matthew Chau describe themselves as the yin and yang of the badminton court - polar opposites in play and personality.

But Chau said it's their differences that make the Olympic doubles team a tough act to beat.

"Both personality-wise and style on court - he's got the big smash, I've got the front court control and I think we complement each other very well."
"I think we complement each other very well."
The pair head to Rio next week for their Olympic debut in the badminton doubles.

Sri Lankan-born Serasinghe is on a quest to fulfill a dream that has been 17 years and two continents in the making.

"It would be my childhood dream I think, I always wanted to be in an Olympic final", he said. "Growing up, I'd always tune in and watch with my family. It would be amazing to be there."
Australia is fielding a team of five badminton athletes, in an attempt to take a maiden Olympic medal in the sport. 

But first they'll need to upstage the Asian powerhouses of China and South Korea.

UK-born player Robin Middleton said a good draw for the competition is crucial if they want to advance to the knock-out stages.

"We need to try and get out of the box," Middleton said.

"Once you get out of the box, you're in the quarterfinals then hopefully we can really put some pressure on them, and cause an upset."

It's a nervous wait for Australian players to find out which countries they'll compete against as they attempt to advance beyond the group stages for just the second time in the nation's history in the sport.

Olympic national badminton coach Lasse Bundgaard said each group will have a seeded player or team to compete against, the rest is the luck of the draw.

"We are hoping to get a pool group where we can see that there's a chance to win one or two matches, that's what we're hoping for."

London Games quarter-finalist Leanne Choo said achieving more than that would be a dream.

The only athlete in the group with Olympic experience, her advice to her team mates is to try and not get overwhelmed by the fanfare.

"There's so many crazy athletes there, the atmosphere is totally insane. You just need to stay focused on what we want to achieve," she said.


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3 min read

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By Abby Dinham

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