Olympic hopes fade for youth

HOPES that teenage badminton star Tam Kai-chuen, 19, will qualify for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games are fading after first round defeats at the recent Hong Kong Open and Thailand Open tournaments.

Kai-chuen's chances of winning a ticket to Atlanta were boosted by his success at the Australian Open and New Zealand Open during the summer, which saw him jump to 36th position on the International Badminton Federation chart.

However, the Hong Kong Sports Institute scholarship shuttler was sent crashing down to earth on home soil when he bowed out to Sweden's Jens Olsson in the opening round of the Hong Kong Open.

And his worries were heightened by another first round defeat in the Thailand Open when he crashed out to lowly ranked Japanese Shinji Bito.

Hong Kong national coach Chan Chi-choi admitted he is losing hopes of Kai-chuen making it for the Olympics because his teenage charge has dropped out of the top 50 on the IBF ranking.

'Kai-chuen was in with a realistic chance, but this has been squandered with the dismal results at the Hong Kong and Thailand opens,' Said Chan. 'It was unfortunate he came up against a seeded player in Hong Kong, but it was most disappointing that he went down to a lesser known opponent in Thailand.' Chan now pins his Olympic hopes on former Chinese international Tim He Yiming in the mixed doubles and men's doubles events. He and Chan Oi-ni are hovering just inside the cut-off mark in mixed doubles, and He also has a strong chance in the men's doubles event with Chan Siu-kwong.