Sweden’s Felix Burestedt took on second seed Chou Tien Chen and states that “there are a lot of lessons to be learnt” from playing one of the world’s best.
The Centre of Excellence player during his pre-Olympic training agreed that 2021 saw some of his best badminton to date, with great results against some of Europe’s elite. Today, however, was a tougher test.
- Chou showed why he is one of the highest-ranked players in the world. He made it extremely difficult for me and he was clearly the better player today.
The tall 26-year-old, who trains full-time in Holbæk, Denmark, displayed some top exchanges against a class opponent but explains what was the difference that ended the match 21-12, 21-11 in Chou's favour.
- I tried to open up both games with a lot of speed and I tried to take advantage of my attack from the back and stress him a little bit. I think I had an okay opening in both games, but I couldn't keep up that speed and he kept on being solid. He's the highest-ranked player I've ever played, so I will sit down with my coach and have a look at the match and evaluate. For sure there are a lot of lessons to be learnt.
Burestedt will now face Canada’s Brian Yang on Tuesday.
Uncomfortable
After his win, Chou Tien Chen revealed that he had to overcome an injury scare to make it onto court today.
-My right ankle was a little uncomfortable. It is something that flared up a couple of days ago. So, I could not play full court while training. But thanks to God, last minute, I could go on court and I could run around the court. I just want to show my attitude when I play, when I run and focus on every shot. This is my second Olympics and I want to do the best with my talent.