体坛英语新闻：Chinese badminton head coach: pink court in Wembly a venue better for romance

LONDON, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The pink color of badminton court in Wembly arena gave people a sense of warmth and romance, which is better for falling in love, said Chinese badminton head coach Li Yongbo on Tuesday.

Pink is the Olympic color in London. It is also color of the periphery of three separate palegreen courts.

"It is quite special," he said. "Normally the colors of badminton court are green, gray or blue, and this time you need a couple of days to get used to the change."

He noted that pink was a color of romance, where players were likely to lose their sense of competitiveness. "But it is fair anyway as every shuttler needs to face it, just a test of your adaptability."

The 50-year-old Li, previously a veteran shuttler himself, has been coaching the Chinese badminton team for nearly two decades.

"I am personally quite familiar with this arena, where I had been playing during the All-England Open Badminton Championships when I was young," he said. "But the Olympics is a different issue. The illumination, the size and the air of the arena are more favorable."

The Chinese badminton team arrived in London Monday afternoon. They appeared in the Wembly arena Tuesday morning for a short training session, each player about 40 minutes. Defending Olympic champion Lin Dan played with his teammate Chen Long till the end.

According to the draw, Lin, now the world's No.1, might have an early encounter with Indonisian prodigy Taufik Hidayat if both fare well.

Talking about Lin, the head coach believed that he would have a hard time and need to concentrate. There had been speculation that Lin was likely to carry the Chinese national flag at the opening ceremony.

"I don't want him to do that," Li said. "He will have to play the next day and should have a good rest. By the way, nobody informed us about that (his carrying the flag)."

The Chinese badminton team are not living in the Olympic village, which, in the east part of London, is far from the Wembly arena.

"I like this arrangement, as players would feel like this is an ordinary event other than the Olympics, so as not to get nervous," Li said.

When asked about his plan before the competitions, Li replied in the simplest way. "Eat well, and sleep well, so as to achieve satisfactory result."