The Hong Kong team's road to the Athens Olympics, which had been made bumpy by the Sars outbreak, is running smoothly again after they won three medals in a three-day tournament in Australia last week.
'We were in good shape before the outbreak,' said Hong Kong coach and manager Chan Chi-choi. 'But our players had no proper matches since April. If you are a football fan you would know how important it is for teams to have matches to build up match fitness.
'All the teams did it before last year's soccer World Cup. Badminton is the same,' he said.
With one gold and two silver medals to show for their efforts in the Western Australia International in Perth, Chan is optimistic about the team's next major competition - the IBF World Championships in Birmingham, England from July 28 to August 3.
'The Australian event, and the one in New Zealand earlier, showed that our players are beginning to build up their form,' the coach said.
'Even though in the ladies singles we're not quite there yet, with three weeks to go I'm confident that we'll be in good form by the time we depart,' he said.
