Jamaica's Nigella Saunders returns the shuttlecock during her first-round match against Mia Audina of the Netherlands in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games at the Goudi Olympic Complex yesterday.
-ReutersATHENS, Greece:
JAMAICA'S TOP female badminton player, Nigella Saunders, may have lost in the opening round of the women's singles here but the experience has done her a world of good.
She earned the right to mix with the world's top 32 badminton players and her qualification may also have been a shot in the arm for the local game.
"It's a good loss because I have learnt from it," Saunders, Jamaica's lone badminton competitor, said after her 11-4, 11-1 defeat by fourth seeded Mia Audina of the Netherlands at the Goudi Olympic Badminton Centre in Athens.
CAN'T WIN THEM ALL
"You can't win them all. I will take this into the future and I will know what to do next time," said Saunders. The need to concentrate and not make many mistakes against the top player was one of the lessons she learnt.
"I think I lost my concentration a bit in the second set as I was blaming myself for making too many mistakes in the first set. I should have just continued to play freely."
Saunders, who will leave the Games Village at the completion of the badminton competition on August 22, truly loved the Olympic atmosphere.
"It was just so exciting being here and seeing all the countries participating at the opening ceremony and seeing all the athletes marching in. That's like the highlight of the Games for me. Seeing all the top players in the world performing that's another highlight for me."
She is unsure about her immediate future.
"There are a lot of things I need to do. I need to start my life. I have put off school for a lot of years now to play badminton so I just want to take a rest from the game for a while.
"How long, I am not sure, I can't say," Saunders said.
She urged young Jamaican badminton players to aim for the Olympic dream as the opportunity is there for those with discipline and determination.
"At first I thought it (Olympic qualification) was something impossible but now I know it can be achieved."
A many-time national and Caribbean champion, the St. Hugh's High graduate prepared for the Games with the aid of an Olympic Solidarity scholarship. She was based in Denmark for 19 months.
Saunders, who has played in the top badminton playing countries in Europe and Asia, said Jamaica needed better facilities and advanced coaching in order to lift the level of the local game.
"We need to send out coaches to academies around the world," she said.
Saunders was coached here by Kingsley Ford of the Jamaica Badminton Association. Ford was also the Jamaican badminton manager.
Elton Tucker
