Published : Aug. 18, 2016 - 09:59
The pressure to deliver a badminton medal for South Korea at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics was too much to bear for Son Wan-ho on Wednesday.
The world No. 8 was eliminated in the men's singles quarterfinals, as Chen Long of China, world No. 2, beat him 2-1 (21-11, 18-21, 21-11).
Badminton player Son Wan-ho (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)
Son was the last South Korean player alive in the singles. On Tuesday, Sung Ji-hyun was knocked out of the quarterfinals in the women's singles. These results leave South Korea with one women's doubles pair, Jung Kyung-eun and Shin Seung-chan, with a chance for a medal. They will play Tan Yuanting and Yu Yang of China in the bronze medal match Thursday.
"I tried not to think about the pressure, but it wasn't easy,"
Son said. "I should have overcome that."
Son didn't put up much of a fight in losing the opening game 21-11. It was a much different story in the next game, as he battled Chen for every point and got it to 18-18. From there, three straight points by Son tied the match.
Chen went back to work in the third game and scored the first five points. Son never led in that decisive game and lost 21-11.
"It was disappointing that I went behind by such a big margin early on," Son said. "I think Chen Long might have been nervous early, too, but I committed too many mistakes."
Son said he played with more confidence in the third game but self-assurance alone didn't carry him that far.
"When I got into a hole early, I became a bit passive," the South Korean said. "I've prepared a great deal for this Olympics, and I am disappointing I am walking away without a medal." (Yonhap)