In the China Masters Badminton Championships in July at Chengdu, the Chinese team pocketed four of the five titles, with only the women's doubles squad missing out on the fun. The confident and cocky badminton team had anticipated that it would take as many as five of the championships at the event.

Considering how strong they seemed coming into play, the turn for the worst for the women's doubles squad came as a bit of a shocker. It was the first time in the past 13 months that the women's doubles squad had lost a championship at an international competition. Because the China Masters was an Olympic qualification-ranking tournament, the defeat of the Chinese badminton team's strongest squad has created some worry and doubt about whether they can pull off a clean sweep next year.

"We should have grabbed all five champion titles," said Li Yongbo, head coach of Chinese national team. "We almost have a bit of shame at every China Masters. Last year we lost the men's double title."

Li pointed out that although the loss of one game shouldn't be overstressed, he would never allow his team to become overconfident about winning all the Olympic gold medals. He believes that the failure to defend the women's doubles title can serve as a good lesson to his athletes. "During the international competitions in the run-up to 2008 Olympics, we value the shortcomings exposed during the games more than the gold medals themselves."

The triumph of top-ranked men's singles player Lin Dan came as a big relief for coach Li, who has many expectations riding on this 23-year-old athlete. "He's had some tough experiences since the All England Open Badminton Championships," said Li. "The victory there proved that he's walked out of the valley."

Among all Chinese national teams preparing for the 2008 Olympic Games, the badminton team has the largest number of world championship title holders. When the Chinese team went to Scotland to defend its title at the Sudirman Cup World Mixed Badminton Championship in June, 16 out of the 17-member team had won at least one world championship title. Zhu Lin, the only one without a title, snatched a bronze medal in women's singles behind her teammates Zhang Ning and Xie Xingfang, who won gold and silver medals, respectively.

These performances have given Chinese badminton fans enough reason to attach national prestige to this "dream team" that they won't be satisfied with anything less than all five badminton gold medals at the 2008 Olympics.

A legend as a coach and athlete

Before heading China's badminton team, Li started his tenure by building a first-rate women's doubles squad. Under Li's coaching, several Chinese pairs quickly caught up with the top-ranked players in the world. In Atlanta in 1996, Ge Fei and Gu Jun snatched the gold in women's doubles competition. This was China's first gold medal in badminton since it became a Summer Olympics sport at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.

The following four years became the Ge/Gu era on the women's doubles court, during which they grabbed almost every major championship title. Between the 1996 Japan Open and the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the pair stunned the world by not losing a single game during international competition. A splendid chapter was written into China's Olympic history when three Chinese pairs of women players occupied all three positions on the award podium at the Sydney Olympics.

Along with national pride, Li definitely feels the pressure to defend the glory of this team at the 2008 Olympics. "It is my dream and the dream of my team to achieve good results at the Beijing Olympic Games," he said.

Li, 45, is a badminton legend both as an athlete and as a coach. Twenty-three years ago, this badminton whiz kid made his international debut by pairing with Tian Bingyi, now deputy head coach, to grab the runner-up position at a world badminton tournament. This pair won two world tournament championship titles in 1987 and 1989 and scored the decisive point for the Chinese men's team to win the Thomas Cup, the top honor for men's national badminton teams. After retiring from the court, Li and Tian, became coaches for the national team.

After his turf moved from the court to the sidelines, Li performed more miracles for the Chinese badminton team. One climax in his coaching career came when his squad lifted the trophy of the Sudirman Cup again after a four-year absence on May 15, 2005. This achievement made China the first country to win all three major team badminton championships: Thomas Cup, Uber Cup and Sudirman Cup.

"The most memorable moment as a coach is when the men's team won the Thomas Cup on May 17, 2004," said Li. "I had been waiting for this trophy for 11 years."

When Li retired as an athlete in 1992 and became a coach of the national team, he found himself heading a team in the midst of a generational shift. It was at its lowest point. The only regret for Li as an athlete is that he never won a championship at the Olympic Games. His only Olympic medal was a bronze medal from the Barcelona Olympics. However, he has been making up for his lack of personal gold by churning out Olympic gold medallists during his coaching tenure. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the Chinese team pocketed four of the five gold medals. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, China took three. Earlier in his coaching career, Li once said he would not retire as a coach without 100 new world championship titles under his reign. He is halfway toward this ambitious goal.

Difficult choices

Li is having a hard time selecting the most qualified from his long list of excellent athletes for 2008 Olympics.

"The Chinese national badminton team is overcrowded with top-ranked players," Li said. "In several events, I have more than one player at the same level. There will be a painful selection process for me no matter who shows up on the court of Beijing Olympics next August."

Li said one small barrier to China taking all the gold medals is the new changes in the scoring system from a 15-point to a 21-rally point system. "This is bad news for Chinese team since the 21-point system makes the games more prolonged and more likely to produce surprises," said Li. Yet this worry has not created practical threat to China's dominance. Under the new scoring system, China swept all five gold medals at the 2005 Invitational Badminton World Cup, repeating the feat of 17 years ago. In 2006, the Chinese men's team succeeded in defending its Thomas Cup while the women's team defended its Uber Cup.

Only one year away from the showdown at the Beijing Olympic Games, the atmosphere at the training courts for the national badminton teams is relaxed. Some star members have managed to fit public appearances in between training sessions.

All is fair in love and badminton

Li is known as a strict coach. But unlike his predecessors he is quite open about athletes falling in love. "I don't forbid athletes' becoming boyfriends and girlfriends, and I don't think I have right to interfere," Li said. "My general attitude is that love affairs should not occupy too much time or energy." Li said one regulation for his team states that falling in love should not stand in the way of training or competition. "Compromise must be made on every aspect that affects their sports career," Li said.

Among all coaches of national teams, Li's attitude toward athletes' falling in love is quite tolerant. Li said he has spotted a big advantage of this phenomenon. He said many couples on his team choose to spend their spare time together on the training court, mainly practicing small skills that they learn from each other. "This period of time can help them to boost their performance," said Li. Now the national badminton team has around six couples and they don't have to hide their love relationships.

Li has his own love story to tell. He met his wife Xie Ying, a rhythmic gymnast, when he was an athlete as well. At the time they trained at the same sports school. "I got the first opportunity to talk with her when the bulb of her dorm broke and her roommate asked me for help," said Li. "After repairing the bulb, I chatted with Xie and played chess with her. I told her that I had a good collection of foreign music tapes, which were the envy of many girls at that time." Xie later became his girlfriend at the sports school.

"I am not strict about love affairs between my athletes," said Li. "I personally believe that as long as you can deal with it well, the love relationship can motivate the two people to perform better. At least, this is what happened to my wife and me. My first world championship crown came after she became my girlfriend."