Stunning victory puts Scott Evans one win away from last 16

Scott Evans created a slice of Irish sporting history in Rio yesterday by becoming the first Irish man to win an Olympic badminton contest.

The 28-year-old Dubliner, ranked at 72 in the world, fought back from a set down to beat Germany’s Marc Zwiebler, who is number 14 in the world.

Evans is making his third Olympic appearance, having lost to Zwiebler in Beijing in 2008, and to China’s Lin Dan who went on to become the first man to retain the Olympic title.

Zwiebler took the first set 21-9, but Evans rallied in some style, levelling the match by taking the second 21-17 before coming back from 5-1 down in the decider, taking 20 of the next 22 points to win out 21-7.

Evans’ next game is against Brazil’s Ygor Coelho de Oliveira, ranked at 64 in the world.

A victory in that match will assure him of a place in the last 16.