While the Chinese here battle among themselves in what look to be rehearsals to Olympics’ medal-rounds, others from Australia and New Zealand have taken year-long sabbaticals from their professional lives, as financial advisors and even odd-jobbers, to simply qualify and make it to the Beijing spectacle. The Indians find themselves strictly in the middle-rung, of both talent and ambition. Glenn Waffe and Ross Smith are rare Australian sportsmen who start every match as underdogs. Far from the brashness wholly consistent with Aussie sport, they are soft-spoken. Collecting crumb-points on the circuit since the last one year, in order to make the Olympics grade, this duo inhabit the strange world of shuttle, on which Australia and the US haven’t managed to get a grip.

“It’s strange to be an Aussie and not be winning at sport,” Waffe says, “but there’s no funding at all for badminton there. Since its Olympic year, we’ve been weaving our bit-jobs around training and tournament schedules all over the world.” Tennis is top-priority even among racquet sports Down Under, and squash has ensured badminton is pushed to a distant third. Well-built and with access to most sporting-advances, Australia’s top doubles pair say they still struggle to cope with the speed of the Asians, and have to scourge around for ranking points.

Also cut down to size, despite his 6’5” frame is Kiwi Craig Cooper — the tallest player on the circuit. Playing the mixed doubles here, he and his partner form the the best combination in the Oceania zone, but might still not get to Beijing.

The decibel levels at every court — taken over in slots by players from the same nation — hint at badminton’s pecking order: The Koreans are goofy and noisy, yet intense in practice. The Malaysians have a bit of banter; the English and Indians a little more. The Chinese work in absolute silence, with military-like order and don’t smile much. This world may be round, but its smiling-curves aren’t uniform.