Achievements
Australia is yet to be a competitive nation in the field of badminton, in the context of current Asian and European/Scandinavian dominance. Its best achievement to this date has been at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, where Anna Lao reached the quarterfinals in the ladies singles. Lao also partnered Rhonda Cator to reach the quarterfinals of the women's doubles event as well.
Another noticeable achievement is from a player call Sze Yu. He was runners-up at the 1985 World Badminton Grand Prix. Silver-medallist in men's singles at the 1986 Commonwealth Games. He was also the Winner of the 1988 U.S. Open Badminton Championships.
When commenting on Australian players at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, BA's Chief Executive Paul Brettell has stated that 'A bad draw will see out after their first game' and that 'Australia's greatest achievement is just qualifying for the event'. These statements reflect the current status of badminton within Australia.
Further, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, badminton was one of just 2 Australian sports (the other being Rugby Sevens) not to win a medal at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games
Recent performances at the 2008 Olympics have reinforced this viewpoint, with all Australians knocked out of their respective first matches.
Read more about this topic: Badminton Australia
Famous quotes containing the word achievements:
“Our achievements speak for themselves. What we have to keep track of are our failures, discouragements, and doubts. We tend to forget the past difficulties, the many false starts, and the painful groping. We see our past achievements as the end result of a clean forward thrust, and our present difficulties as signs of decline and decay.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)
“When science, art, literature, and philosophy are simply the manifestation of personality, they are on a level where glorious and dazzling achievements are possible, which can make a man’s name live for thousands of years. But above this level, far above, separated by an abyss, is the level where the highest things are achieved. These things are essentially anonymous.”
—Simone Weil (1909–1943)
“Fathers are still considered the most important “doers” in our culture, and in most families they are that. Girls see them as the family authorities on careers, and so fathers’ encouragement and counsel is important to them. When fathers don’t take their daughters’ achievements and plans seriously, girls sometimes have trouble taking themselves seriously.”
—Stella Chess (20th century)