Danish badminton player Peter Gade achieved his target at the Beijing Olympic Games by advancing into the men's singles quarterfinals in Beijing on Tuesday.

He beat Sato Shoji from Japan with a No. 16 world ranking at 19-21, 22-20, 21-15.

Gade had competed in the previous two Olympic Games, but lost to eventual gold medalist Ji Xinpeng of China in semifinals in Sydney and the eventual champion Hidayat Taufik of Indonesia in Athens in quarterfinals.

He had said he aimed to be a quarterfinalist at the Beijing Olympic Games.

Achieving his goal on Tuesday, Gade said "now I can play freely in the next round and do my best."

When asked on his possible opponent world No. 1 Lin Dan in the next round, Gade said "Lin Dan has no weaknesses, but he could be nervous under the pressure of home audience and I will take the chance to challenge him."

Gade, 32, has said he would consider whether to retire after the Beijing Games and planned to coach after retirement.

(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2008)