Scott Evans may face tougher opponents, but he’s unlikely to ever play in such hostile conditions as he did on Saturday.
The Dubliner beat Ygor Coelho de Oliveira, a Brazilian badminton player, at the Rio Olympics to advance to a last-16 tie on Monday, the first time an Irish badminton has reached that stage of the Olympic competition.
Evans was relentlessly booed throughout the game, and celebrated wildly when victory was secured, taking-off his shirt Cristiano Ronaldo-style, and cheering as the boos from the bleachers rained down.
Fair play to him! https://t.co/o0ypPrnnbS
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 14, 2016
Evans was asked about the boos by Darragh Maloney on RTE on Sunday evening, and his attitude to being booed was refreshing and very positive.
“That crowd was absolutely unbelievable. I’ve never experienced anything like it,” the 28-year-old said.
“I was saying to myself during the game last night, ‘no matter what, just try and get your game going and try 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.'”
Evans also also joked that he may even go a step further if he wins on Monday.
“If I win tomorrow, there might be a bit more than my t-shirt coming off.”
Scott 'Stripper' Evans' next match may require a PG 18 rating https://t.co/p8xNSM3ziB
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 14, 2016
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