EVANS THROUGH TO CZECH FINAL
(Badmintonlife)

Evans booked his place in tomorrow's singles final with a three game win over the 2nd seeded Rune Ulsing, but couldn't match his win in the doubles, losing to the top seeded Mills and Ellis in three tight games. His opponent in the singles final is India's Ajay Jayaram who defeated the top seed Przemyslaw Wacha in the quarters, before beating Mathias Wigardt of Sweden in two games to reach Sunday's final.

The women's singles final sees unseeded Sashina Vignes take on Karina Jorgensen of Denmark. Vignes defeated two seeds to reach the final, beating 6th seed Elena Prus in two games before defeating the 3rd seeded Tatjana Bibik of Russia in three games to reach tomorrow's final. Jorgensen beat English qualifier Sarah Walker in three games before disposing of the 8th seeded Patty Stolzenbach in two games.

The men's doubles sees the top two seeds take on one another. Top seeded Mills and Ellis booked their place with a three game win over Evans and Magee whilst the 2nd seeds won two tightly fought matches, winning their quarter final against Bodskov and Staael of Denmark and then their semi final against Lundqvist and Bergstrom in two tight matches.

The women's doubles final sees the 2nd seeded Heisbol and Skelbaek take on the 4th seeds Piek and Tabeling, who beat top seeded Choinet and Rasadi to make the final tomorrow. They will take on the on-form Danish pairing who have failed to drop a game on route to the final. The mixed doubles final is between two unseeded pairs, as Skelbaek and Rasmussen of Denmark take on Maas and Tabeling. Skelbaek and Tabeling's second encounter tomorrow, playing each other in the women's doubles and mixed doubles final.

FULLY FOCUSED ON LONDON GOAL
(The Irish Times)

Mary Hannigan talks to a 21-year-old professional who has always displayed a fierce determination to make the most of his sporting talent. He now has his heart set on winning a medal at the next Olympic Games.

SCOTT EVANS didn't, he admits, travel with "high hopes" to India earlier this month for the World Badminton Championships, his confidence low after a dip in form.

But a straight sets victory over a Russian opponent, followed by a heartening display in which he took a set off the the 10th seed from Hong Kong, left him feeling he was "back on the right track".

A happy journey home, then?

"Not quite," the Dubliner laughs, "it was a bit of a nightmare."

There he was, lying on the floor at the back of his Frankfurt-bound plane with an oxygen mask attached to his face, the aroma from the food area beside him not aiding his recovery.

"Then the head air hostess said if I didn't improve they'd have to make an emergency landing . . . in Iran. So I suddenly got very much better. I was like, 'no problem, I'm fine'."

Twice the 21-year-old had passed out in the early stages of the nine-hour flight, having been ill for the previous two days.

"I'd had a hot stone massage at the hotel, he told me it would get all the bad fluids out of my system, but whatever happened I felt horrendous, I spent all of the next day on the toilet. We were going home that night and I was terrified I wouldn't make the plane. So, yeah, the trip home was just not a good thing. But I made it. Without an emergency landing," he laughs.

He spent the weekend recovering in his Copenhagen home, but was back training on the Monday.

"It probably wasn't a good idea, but, apart from the illness, it was a good week, I'd got my confidence back, so I just wanted to get going again."

That level of restlessness was noted by his teachers in Wesley College. As soon as he learnt to drive he was leaving his Dundrum home at five in the morning to travel over to the badminton centre at Whitehall Road to train with his team-mate Donie O'Halloran.

"I'd get home around 7.45, have a shower, and then go in to school. And I'd be sleeping for the first three classes."

"My parents knew I never really enjoyed school, I just wanted to play sport – first it was football, then badminton. I just didn't like to sit in a room for the whole day doing things I wasn't enjoying. I wanted to be outside running around.

"I started to do quite well in some tournaments when I was 14, 15, and all the time I tried to picture what the best players in Europe were doing. I assumed they were training at least twice a day, so I wanted to do more because I wanted to be better than them."

With that level of determination he persuaded his parents that school wasn't for him – and once he left, in fifth year, he would have to move away.

"It just wasn't possible for me to do what I wanted to do in Ireland. I could do all the running, all the strength training, all the footwork I wanted, but I still needed to train and practice with better players."

His talent had earned him an invitation, when he was 14, to the International Badminton Academy in Denmark, where he spent a month with his older brother Lee, and that experience convinced him that Denmark, one of the leading badminton nations, was where he needed to be.

After leaving school in fifth year, he moved back to the Academy in Copenhagen, later teaming up with coach Jim Laugesen, the former world number one who he had met previously at the Italian Open.

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