Offbeat: Medvedev vs. Putin... at badminton

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev may be outgunned by Vladimir Putin with his macho judo and chest-baring antics, but on Monday he was shown squaring up against his mentor – at badminton.
In his video blog, Medvedev, wearing a tight-fitting sports shirt and tracksuit bottoms, earnestly encouraged Russians to play badminton at schools, before exchanging a few shuttlecocks across the court with a celebrity partner.
Oddly enough, the famous opponent was none other than Russia’s strongman ruler for the last decade and incumbent prime minister – Putin.
Medvedev, who stood aside to allow Putin to stand as president in the forthcoming March elections, has kept his enthusiasm for the sport under wraps until now, although he has talked of enjoying yoga.
In the video, a grim-faced Putin is shown lobbing a shuttlecock at Medvedev, both of them wearing dark tracksuits bottoms, all set to a soundtrack of cheesy 1980s style electronic music.
In a phrase likely to be thrown back in his face after he apparently meekly allowed Putin to return to the top job, Medvedev claims that badminton helps with decision-making.
“In life it helps you solve different problems, because someone who plays badminton well takes decisions quickly. That means he has will power, the will power to achieve results.”
The videoblog can be viewed on: http://blog.kremlin.ru/post/191