The first match of the 2008 Olympic Games badminton tournament will get underway on Aug. 9 with Germany's Juliane Schenk and Indonesia's Maria Kristin Yulianti the first to see action on Court One.
According to the schedule published on Saturday by Badminton World Federation (BWF), the other two matches on Court 2 and 3, with a 10-minute staggered start, are the women's singles match between Australia's Erin Carroll and Spain's Yoana Martinez, and the men's singles match between Ireland's Scott Evans and Germany's Marc Zwiebler.
The Beijing Olympic Games run from Aug. 8 to 24. However, the badminton tournament concludes on Aug. 17.
But some of the biggest names in the sport only swing into action on Day Two with an explosive women's doubles match between top seeds Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen from China and Indonesia's Liliyana Natsir/Vita Marissa on the cards.
Women's singles defending champion Zhang Ning of China will also start her campaign with a morning match against Thailand's Salakjit Ponsana. Zhang Ning's compatriot and top seed, Xie Xingfang, also swings into action against the dangerous Cheng Shao-Chieh from Chinese Taipei.
In the men's singles, the action starts on Day Three and the draw has thrown up several interesting match-ups.
Singapore's Ronald Susilo, who upset Chinese favorite Lin Dan four years ago at the Athen Olympics, begins his campaign against second seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia while Europe's hopes of winning the singles title will rest largely on the Denmark's Kenneth Jonassen and Peter Gade. Jonassen will take on South Korea's veteran Lee Hyun Il while Gade has an easier opener against Algeria's Nabil Lasmari.
Lin Dan, ranked first in the world and two-time world champion, is to begin his quest for an Olympic title with a match against Ng Wei from China's Hong Kong in the evening.
Badminton's first medal will be offered on Aug. 15 in the women's doubles. On the following day, the women's singles and men's doubles medals will be decided while the men's singles and mixed doubles medalists will come out on Aug. 17.
(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2008)