Smith digs deep and insists he's getting better

BADMINTON star Andrew Smith insists there's more to come after showing true grit to book his place in the last 32.

The 24-year-old, who is making his first ever appearance in the Olympics, had his back against the wall as he went one set down to the Czech Republic No.1 Petr Koukal.

But Smith bounced back and convincingly wrapped up the next two sets against his 6ft 4in opponent to win 10-21, 21-12, 21-15.

That saw him through to today's clash with Germany's Marc Zweibler who is ranked below Smith in the world rankings.

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And Smith knows he will have to up his game after making a slow start against Koukal.

He said: "I was a bit nervous to start with. It's my first Olympic Games and it was tough being the first one up.
"I felt more relaxed as I got further into the match and things came together for me.

"There are plenty of things for me to work on and my coach has

"Maybe it was the occasion but the first set I was not myself.

"In the second set I pulled myself together and I really started to find my rhythm."

If Smith progresses he is likely to face Denmark's European Champion and No.5 seed Kenneth Jonassen for a place in the quarter finals.

Smith needed some strong words of advice from coach Ian Wright when he was one set down.

But Wright believes getting his Olympic bow out of the way will help calm the butterflies down.

"Andrew was obviously very nervous at the start," he said. "It is, after all, his first Olympics.

"But I just told him in the break between the first and second games to try to get some rhythm going and to do more on the first three shots of each rally. Once he got into it, it all worked out fine.

"He can definitely get better and I think now he knows what the Olympics are all about he will be become confident."

DANIEL SCHOFIELD in Beijing