Team USA Badminton Preview: San Francisco Native Howard Bach Goes For Badminton Gold

Howard Bach was born in South Vietnam and immigrated to the United States at the age of two, settling with his family in San Francisco. He'll be representing the United States in the 2012 London Olympics as a part of Team USA Badminton.

33-year old Bach has been a serious competitor in Badminton since the age of 16, when he moved to Colorado Springs to train at the U.S. Olympic site. This is his third trip to the Olympics, having competed in both the 2004 Athens Games and the 2008 Beijing Games. His event is the Men's Doubles, and London will be his first Olympics with partner Tony Gunawan. He and Gunawan are a successful team, having won a world doubles title in 2005 and won the gold medal at the 2011 Pan American Games . They'll look to continue that success in London.

Standing between them and Olympic gold is the formidable pair of Chung Jae Sung and Lee Yong Dae, the No. 1 ranked doubles pair and reigning doubles world champions from South Korea. Badminton may be a relaxing summer pasttime for many Americans, but it's serious competition around the world. The action in Men's Doubles Badminton takes place Sunday, Aug. 5.

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