GB's Sean Vendy ready for redemption after defeat in opening match of Olympic campaign

By Tom Harle in Paris

GB shuttler Sean Vendy revelled in a spine-tingling Paris atmosphere despite starting his Olympic badminton campaign with a defeat.

Vendy and men's doubles partner Ben Lane made a quicker start than Tokyo Olympic bronze medallists Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in their Group A opener.

Jumping into a 5-1 lead, they won the opening game 21-19 and were on course to repeat their spine-tingling victory over the Malaysians at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

But unforced errors began to creep into their play and they lost the next two games 21-16 21-11 to suffer defeat in 77 minutes.

Lane said: “We actually performed pretty well. We played lots of good badminton over the last two months and I think we did today.

“The Malaysians also played good badminton and unfortunately in sport there is a loser and that was us today.”

Vendy, born in the Orkneys before moving to England at the age of seven, added: “It was a tough match, a good match. We played pretty well.

“We came out really strong and tried to put the pressure on them which I think we did really well. They are a top four pair, top four in the world, so they are never going to let us have it easy. They came back well and made us work for it and we just couldn’t get over the line.”

Lane and Vendy made their Olympic debuts in Tokyo, exiting in the group stage in an empty arena.

The newly-built La Chapelle Arena was sold out and rocking after a sodden Opening Ceremony set the scene for the first Games in Paris for a century.

British fans have bought more tickets than any other nation except France.

“[The atmosphere is] unreal. It’s insane,” said Vendy. “As soon as we walked out, you can feel there are so many people. It’s sold out on day one of badminton, it’s so good for our sport.

“It feels like a home Games for us because all our friends and family are there, at every point you hear them cheering for you. It gives you that couple of extra per cent. Hopefully the same again tomorrow, just hopefully we are on the winning side this time.”

Next up for Lane and Vendy is world number one Chinese pair Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang.

They need to win that game to stand a chance of progressing into the knockout stages, with the Chinese having clinically dispatched Adam Dong and Nyl Yakura of Canada in their first game.

Lane said: “We have just got to focus on recovery, that was a physical match out there and we need to be as best prepared as we can.”