Badminton: Brave Butler earns chance to make point

STEVE BUTLER has a point to prove today. England's most popular player, who lost his Olympic place after some controversial jockeying in the last week before the qualifying date, plays the Olympic champion, Allan Budi Kusuma, in the fourth round of the 7-Up world championships at the National Indoor Arena here, writes James Leigh from Birmingham.

This is his reward for an 11-7, 11-4 victory over South Korea's Lee Yong-sun, an excellent effort given that Butler only played here because his home county is hosting the biggest badminton tournament ever.

The Coventry man, who overcame a back complaint and fatigue to win, said: 'I suppose I do have a point to prove. Going to the Olympics should have been the highlight of my career. Instead, I was left gutted. If I beat the Olympic champion, it would make some people sit up and take notice.'

Two seeds, Lee Kwang-jin, of South Korea, and Pernille Nedergaard, the European champion from Denmark, were beaten.

'When is the next plane home?' Nedergaard said as she left the court after an 11-6, 11-8 defeat to Malaysia's Lee Wai- Leng. 'I'm leaving now to forget this. I played bullshit.'