US badminton duo Howard Bach and Bob Malaythong seem almost pleased by the prospect of having a partisan home crowd against them when they face the Chinese second seeds in the Olympic men's quarterfinals.
The pair beat South Africa's Chris and Roelof Dednam 2-0 on Tuesday to become the first Americans to make it to the last eight since the sport was introduced in Barcelona, and now face world nNo 3 pair Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng on Wednesday.
"My goal is, hey, feed off the energy. If they don't want me to succeed, man, I'm going to exactly do the opposite," said Bach, a 29-year-old immigrant from Vietnam who started playing at the YMCA when he was 6. Malaythong was born in Laos and emigrated to America in 1990.
Howard Bach (R) and Bob Malaythong of the US high-five each other after winning their men's doubles round of 16 badminton match against South Africa at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, August 12, 2008. [Agencies] |
"Bob plays better when people are going against him, so I'm looking forward to the match," Bach added.
In fact, Bach beat Cai and Fu when he faced them with former partner Tony Gunawan two-and-a-half years ago. Bach and Gunawan also won the World Championships in 2005 in Anaheim, California. Malaythong, though, is younger and less experienced than Gunawan.
If the duo can pull off the upset and go on to win a medal, perhaps it will help get badminton some recognition in the US, where only a small circle of clubs take it seriously and to most it is played leisurely in the back yard.
This will be Bach's second Olympics, but recognition is hard to come by. As a part-time cashier at a Home Depot store in California, customers are more likely to recognize him for a TV commercial for Vitaminwater.
In the spot, he and Malaythong impersonated Chinese players getting beaten at badminton by Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz and the Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher. In the final shot, Ortiz's smash gets lodged in Malaythong's leg.
"If we go out and happen to win tomorrow, it's going to be like USA basketball vs China, that type of deal," said Bach. "I believe our odds are a little bit higher."