Giant-killer NILUKA ready for more

Dinesh WEERAWANSA reporting from England

Giant-killer Niluka Karunaratne will make every effort to spring another surprise when he competes in the pre-quarter finals of the men's singles event of the XXXth Olympiad badminton competition to be worked off at Wembley Arena here in the British capital today.

Karunaratne, who crushed world no. 8 Kenichi Tago of Japan in straight sets 2-0 in the first round of men's singles on Monday, is roaring to dish out another superlative performance.

When questioned by Lankan media team about his progress at the Olympics, the undisputed local shuttle king said that he would take match by match. “I take match by match. Every game is important and I will try my best to win every game. I am prepared to fight it out and play my best, irrespective of the rating of the opponent,” he said.

The overall captain of the Sri Lanka contingent said he was happy to go as the underdog and win his first round match against a much fancied opponent who is ranked eighth in the world. “Winning such a crucial alone is a memorable experience and I would like to thank all those who made this dream come true, Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage, NOC President Hemasiri Fernando, Secretary Maxwell de Silva, My coaches, sponsor, officials and family members for supporting and encouraging me,” he said.

Karunaratne had a long and strenuous workout at the nearby training venue on Tuesday morning under the watchful eyes of his coach, who has been guiding him in Warsaw, Poland when he was on the last leg of his international series before arriving in London a week ago. They were accompanied by Karunaratne's sponsor Rohan de Silva, who is also functions as the badminton manager of the Sri Lanka team.

With the last 16 players in men's singles battle it out on Wednesday, the pre-quarter finals of the Olympic badminton competition is going to be even more exciting. World number one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, who survived a huge scare before booking his place in the last 16, will have to come out with a vastly improved performance if he is to keep his gold medal hopes alive.

The top seed was taken to three games by Finn Ville Lang of Finland in a late-night thriller, but produced a strong finish to prevail 21-8 14-21 21-11. Lee had been troubled in the build-up to London 2012 by an ankle injury and showed signs of rustiness as world number 45 Lang fought back in the second game.

Although the Malaysian eventually came through by winning 10 of the last 11 points, his performance will offer encouragement to his rivals, particularly reigning champion Lin Dan. Lin, the Chinese superstar and second seed, looked in superb form as he brushed aside Ireland's Scott Evans earlier in the day.

Lee, who plans to retire after the Games, said: ‘I am only mentally strong because I have had an injury and I am still not 100% fit. But I had nothing to lose and I just tried my best,” he said.

Danish veteran Peter Gade, playing his fourth and last Olympics at the age of 35, started his latest bid for gold with an easy win over Portugal's Pedro Martins. Watched by Crown Prince Frederik, the Sydney 2000 semi-finalist and fifth seed won 21-15 21-8. Indian Parupalli Kashyap, who scored a dominating straight games win over Vietnam's Tien Nguyen, too will be seen in action in the pre-quarters of men's singles. Ranked 21st in the world, Kashyap outplayed his rival, ranked 11 places above him, 21-9 21-14 in the second and final Group D match. However, all seeded players have made it to the last 16 of the women's singles badminton competition which did not have any upset wins. Chinese pair Wang Yihan and Wang Xin, seeds one and two respectively, both reached the last 16 with comfortable wins.

Meanwhile, France edged out Australia 74-70 after overtime to move a step closer to a quarter final place in the women's basketball competition. However, there was disappointment for the hosts Great Britain. France took control of the game in the third quarter, with a Celine Dumerrc three-pointer sparking a 10-0 run that put them on top 43-34.

Great Britain women's coach Tom Maher believes his team's lack of experience cost them a first-ever Olympic win as they let slip a late lead against Canada. Britain had been up 61-57 with six minutes left in the game but then seemed to fall apart, allowing Canada to romp home on a 16-4 charge to win 73-65. British women dug their own grave by turning the ball over several times with careless passes.

China continued their impressive start in Group A as they cruised to a 83-58 victory over Croatia, while Turkey beat the Czech Republic, Russia beat Brazil and the USA ran up a 90-38 victory over Angola. LONDON, Tuesday