JAKARTA, Aug. 17 -- The Chinese shuttlers have geared up for the 18th Asian Games as they conducted the first practice session after arriving here on Friday.
Having arrived at the Athlete Village around 3 a.m., the Chinese team, including Olympic champions Lin Dan and Chen Long, appeared in the renovated Gelora Bung Karno ISTORA to participate in their first training from 5 p.m., which lasted around one hour. In humid weather condition, strong wind by air conditioners can be felt inside the venue.
Xia Xuanze, the singles head coach of the Chinese team, said that the venue, which has hosted many badminton tournaments, becomes more fashionable following its renovation.
"Players are quite familiar with traffic, food and venue because the Indonesian Open is held annually here," Xia pointed out, adding that upgrading of the venue can impact every player.
Both the Chinese men's and women's teams enjoyed first round byes as seeded teams in the tournament. But for Xia, it can impact both ways.
As revealed by Thursday's draw, top-seeded Chinese men's team is expected to face Hong Kong, China in the second round, with Chinese Taipei in the same half as the other strong opponent to be expected.
The Chinese women's shuttlers, seeded No. 2, can expect much tougher journey in Jakarta, with Thailand looming as their semifinal opponents.
China lost to Thailand in the 2018 Uber Cup semifinals, missing the final for the first time in 34 years since its debut in the tournament.
"Enjoying first round bye can be both positive and negative. The good thing is that we have a day off, but due to the fact that we haven't played quite too many matches in this venue, it may take more time for us to get used to the condition here," he commented.
Xia added that the teams need to take advantage of the vacant day to adjust themselves to the best condition both physically and athletically.
"We will try to implement our tactics as well as we can in wet and humid condition," he said.
"The men's team could face Hong Kong, China, a strong side, in the first match here. The most important thing is to try our best and make full preparation in terms of all possible difficulties in the match.
"For women's part, we lost to Thailand in the Uber Cup, and expect bigger challenge ahead. But I'm confident that my players will spare no efforts to show their abilities on the court."
The Asian Games badminton matches will run from August 19 until 28 with seven disciplines in total. The team finals will be held on August 22.