Third seed Bao Chunlai of China reached the third round of the men's singles badminton tournament in the Olympic Games by beating Kevin Cordon of Guatemala 21-17, 21-16 Monday.

It is the first head-to-head match between the two left-handed players, and Bao, who received a first-round bye, is one of his favorite shuttlers, while Gordon is an Olympic rookie.

The 21-year-old Gordon carried the national flag for Guatemala at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

Gordon, the Pan-American Games silver medalist, posed some challenges to the world No. 3 at the beginning of both games, however, he failed to charge consistently and finally lost the match.

"I know that he is a good player, and I have done some preparations before this match," said Bao, one of the most popular shuttlers among Chinese badminton fans.

"I felt a little bit stiff at first," admitted the 25-year-old. "It's quite normal since this is the Olympics Games."

(Xinhua News Agency August 11, 2008)