7pm, 4 June, Yiyang, Hunan Province. The 51-strong Chinese Badminton Team arrived here for their last-minute polishing for Athens 2004. This is also the first training after China’s sweeping victory in Indonesia last month. At the end of the 55-day enclosure training, the list of players for the Olympics will be finalized and announced.

　　The first-day training began at 3:30 pm on 5 June, with the whole team being split into two groups. Doubles players practiced stamina exercise on the track, while singles players practiced bodybuilding in the gym.As released by the officials, the training will be carried out in three successive stages. After an initial week of warming-up, the three-week period 7-30 June will be devoted to strength training. On 25 June, some of the Olympic players will leave for Malaysia Open. When they are back early July, the final stage of skill rehearsal will begin.

　　The head coach LI Yongbo, as usual, imposed strict discipline on his players: no media, no mobile, no contact except one or two meetings with family at the training base. Yet it is only natural for LI to be so adamant: China’s four titles in Sydney gave him considerable pressure. Fortunately, his players understood him. For most of them, Athens will be their first and last Olympic show, given China’s enviably huge pools of young promising players.