Chinese badminton team's head coach Li Yongbo looked delighted as he knew on Monday the competition at the Doha Asian Games had been rescheduled.

The Chinese team arrived at Doha International Airport at 7 a.m. Monday. Several hours later, Li was told by the umpire that the team semifinals and finals would not be played in the same day, but in two days.

"I'm very happy to know that. It's good news," said Li, who had blasted at the former schedule as a "big joke".

The previous schedule had put the team semifinals and finals on Dec. 5. Li had said bluntly that it was "the most unreasonable schedule" he had ever seen.

"Badminton competition demands physical strength," said the head coach. "For Chinese players, two matches a day is too hard to stand, let alone playing the singles and doubles events the next day."

To Li's delight, the team semifinals will take place on Dec. 4 and finals on Dec. 5. He believed his 16-member contingent would fine-tune in two days.

China is the biggest winner at the 2004 Athens Olympics and 2005 Madrid World Championships as the dream team collected three and four golds respectively.

The traditional powerhouse, however, took only two out of seven golds at the Busan Asian Games in 2002. Four years around, Chinese shuttlers will vie for at least three titles, said Li.

(Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2006)