Ireland’s Scott Evans has admitted to struggling at times with the vitriol of a partisan crowd at the Riocentro as he saw off home hope Ygor Coelho de Oliveira in the badminton competition..
Evans outclassed De Oliveira, eventually prevailing 21-8 19-21 8-21 after a mid-match blip, but the Dubliner seemed to have greater difficulty coming to terms with the crowd than with his opponent.
“I don’t think I dealt with it that well,” the Dubliner told RTÉ Sport.
“That crowd was absolutely unbelievable.
“I’ve never, ever experienced anything like it.
“I was saying to myself during the game last night, no matter what, just try and get your game going and try and enjoy this atmosphere because it’s not every day you get to play in front of a crowd like this, even though they were booing me all the time.”
While Evans was expected to progress past the challenge of a teenager who grew up in a Rio favela, his opening win over world number 14 Marc Swiebler came as something of a surprise as he’d never previously defeated the German number one.
However a series of close encounters against Swiebler meant the 28-year-old didn’t go into the match devoid of confidence.
“I worked very hard from the beginning of May to get in shape for Rio,” he said.
“When I found out about the draw, I felt I had some good chances.
“I knew my record against Marc wasn’t that good, but we’ve had some very close games over the last couple of years.”
Scott 'Stripper' Evans' next match may require a PG 18 rating https://t.co/p8xNSM3ziB
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 14, 2016
Next up for Evans, who is based in Denmark, is a familiar foe in the last 16.
“I’m going to be playing Viktor Axelsen,” he said.
“He’s number one in Denmark and number four in the world.
“I’ve been lucky enough to train with these guys during the summer up to Rio, so we know each other quite well.
“We spent a bit of time together outside of badminton as well, good friends, but tomorrow will be all about winning the match and sticking to the plan.
“He’s a fantastic player. It’s going to be a big challenge for me but I’m just enjoying the moment.
“I feel in the best shape of my life and I hope the crowd will be a little bit nicer to me tomorrow than they were here yesterday.”
Evans’ wild celebrations after his last two win have seen him tear his T-shirt off, but things could turn decidedly X-rated if he pulls off a shock and advances to the quarter-finals.
“If I win tomorrow there might be a bit more than my T-shirt coming off,” he said.
