By Chris Ashmore

Raphoe’s Chloe Magee is already setting her sights on making a big impact at the London Olympics in 2012.

The 19-year-old was hugely impressive last weekend as she  made her debut on the Olympic stage in Beijing.

But now she wants to aim even higher – and to be really among the medal contenders in four year’s time.

And Sonia McGinn, the first Irish woman to compete in badminton at the Olympics (in Sydney in 2004), believes that Magee can go on to greater things, and should be reaching her peak in four years time.

“She is super, she is so young. She is now bound for Denmark where she will be will be training on a professional basis. She wants to do well, she has the right attitude and can go a long, long way,” she stated after watching Magee compete in China.

Having beaten Kati Tolmoff of Estonia 2-1 in her first round match, Magee then faced Jaeyoun Jun of Korea.

The Asian, who is ranked 12th in the world, proved to be too strong – but still had to work very hard to overcome Magee who is ranked 74th.

Magee, whose pre-match build-up includes listening to high-energy dance music through her earphones, said: “I have loads to improve on and I will take away a lot from this is. The fitness is the main thing. The court here was very slow, so that means you can have lots of rallies without winning points.”

She described the whole experience as being “amazing” and “absolutely fantastic.”

Back home, friends and neighbours watched and cheered her on. And already they are setting their sights on going to London next time around to cheer her on.