Badminton men's doubles No. 2 seeds Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng took a sweet revenge over Danish veterans Jens Eriksen and Martin Lundgaard Hansen, winning 21-12, 21-11 on Tuesday.
The Danish pair who beat Cai and Fu in the quarter-final of the Athens Olympics apparently could not follow the speed of the Chinese pair after four-year aging, reacting too slow to Fu's powerful smashes and Cai's precise drops.
"They were very fast, and didn't make mistakes," said Eriksen, the most experienced shuttler at the Beijing Olympic tournament.
While Cai and Fu, who regarded the defeat in Athens as "the most unforgettable match in their career," expressed their satisfaction over the revenge.
"We've made full preparations for this match after the draw was done," said Fu, who boasts the fastest smash in the sport. "The victory is within our expectation."
The Beijing Olympic Games will be the last international tournament for 38-year-old Eriksen, who claimed that he will retire after the Games and only play badminton in domestic clubs.
(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2008)