Chen Long Wins His Group
The world’s elite has been halved from 40 participants to just 20 as the final group matches determined who progressed into Saturday’s knockout rounds. Whilst most of the favourites are into the semi finals, there has been some big name departures at the group stage.
Lee Chong Wei’s two game victory over Peter Gade confirmed his place at the top of Group A, whilst Chen Long’s win over Boonsak Ponsana ensured top spot for the Chinese player. Chen Long takes on Peter Gade in the first semi final, with the two sharing one victory apiece in their head to heads. Lee Chong Wei’s head to head over Boonsak Ponsana in the other semi final is much more one sided, with the Malaysian winning 10 of their 12 encounters.
The group winners in the women’s singles as expected, were the two Chinese seeds in Wang Yihan and Wang Shixian. Both claimed perfect records from their group matches and go into tomorrow’s semi finals as clear favourites. Wang Yihan takes on Bae Joun Yoo, with the Korean winning their only match to date. Wang Shixian takes on Yip Pui Yin in the other semi final, with the top seed from China winning all of their 3 encounters to date. Tine Baun’s sole victory in Group B was not enough to see her qualify, which is a massive blow to the Danish team that also seen Laybourn and Rytter Juhl pull out of the mixed doubles.
Every tournament almost brings up another potential Cai/Fu versus Lee/Jung matchup and this week is no different. Both partnerships impressively won their groups without losing a match and look on route to their 13th matchup in Sunday’s final, if both can win their semi final. Cai and Fu take on the top seeded Boe and Mogensen for a place in the final, whilst Lee and Jung take on the Chinese pair of Chai and Zhang. Both group winners are ahead in their head to heads with their semi final rivals.
Wang and Yu have been the story of the women’s doubles in the past 6 months since joining forces, with their impressive run of results continuing this week as they topped Group B ahead of team-mates Cheng and Zhao. The second seeded Cheng and Zhao take on the top seeded Chien and Cheng in their semi final with the lower seeded Chinese pairing winning all of the previous 3 matches. Wang and Yu take on Maeda and Suetsuna of Japan, with their only matchup being a 21-5, 21-10 win for the Chinese pair in the Japan Open last year.
The mixed doubles has thrown up the most unlikely of semi finals, with just two seeds in the semi finals and an all-Thai semi final. Anugrtiayawan and Voravichitchaikul take on Prapakamol and Thoungthongkam in the first of the semi finals, with the Group A winners Anugrtiayawan and Voravichitchaikul leading the series 2-0. The other semi final is between Zhang and Zhao of China and Group B winners, Ha and Ko of Korea. The Chinese pair lead the series 1-0 with a win in the Hong Kong Super Series just last month.
Day 3 Results:
http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/matches.aspx?id=93C5EB26-775F-4AC0-90DA-51FEF15B9818&d=20110107
Gade and Lee Through
A trio of withdrawals on the second day meant that some groups had just shrunk to just three, helping some qualify for the knockout stages whilst hindering others with only the top 2 progressing.
Group A in the Mens Singles has been settled with a round of games still to be played, with Lee Chong Wei and Peter Gade both winning in two games to set up a match on Friday to determine final group placings. Group B seen the withdrawal of Taufik Hidayat in his match with Chen Long with the Chinese player up in the second game as well as winning the opening game. Boonsak Ponsana’s win over Du Pengyu confirms his place in the last 4, with the top two also playing to determine the group winner.
The women’s singles is a similar story to the men’s singles, Wang Shixian has cruised into the last 4 with her opening two victories in her group with the loss of just 39 points, she is joined in the last 4 by Bae Youn Joo of Korea who defeated Yao Jie in two games to also progress to the semi finals. Group B still has a lot of life still in it, with Tine Baun winning her second match in the group whilst Yip Pui Yin lost out to the group winner Wang Yihan. Tine Baun has to defeat Wang Yihan to have any chance of qualifying for the last 4 whilst Yip Pui Yin needs only to beat Petya Nedelcheva to progress.
Cai and Fu top Group A in the men’s doubles after defeating top seeded Ko and Yoo in their second group and the Korean’s must bounce back tomorrow in a winner take all match against Chai and Zhang to determine who takes the second spot in Group A. Group B seen the withdrawal of Kido and Setiawan early in the first game of their match against Lee and Jung, meaning that the top two seeds from the group have safely progressed into the last 4. Boe and Mogensen take on Lee and Jung tomorrow to determine top spot in the group.
It has been a disappointing week for Petya Nedelcheva as her and partner Anastacia Russkikh are out of the women’s doubles as they bring up the rear in Group A with a second loss today. Cheng and Chien are safely into the last 4 as group winners whilst Maeda and Suetsuna take on Polii and Jauhari in a winner take all match for second place in the group. Wang and Yu have topped Group B and will be joined in the last 4 by Cheng and Zhao should they defeat Voravichitchaikul and Aroonkesorn in their final match in the group, otherwise Fujii and Kakiiwa can take second place with a win over Wang and Yu.
The mixed doubles lost it’s top seeds, Laybourn and Rytter Juhl before the start of play. Zhang and Zhao have to wait on the result of the only match tomorrow between Robertson and Wallwork against Voravichitchaikul and Anugritayawan of Thailand. A win for the Thai pair ensures their place in the last 4 however if the English pair Robertson and Wallwork win it will go to the head-to-head matches between the pairs. Group B is a similar situation, with Ko and Ha needing to beat the group winners Marissa and Gunawan to progress, whilst Mateusiak and Zieba can still progress with a win over Prapakamol and Thoungthongkam and a Ko and Ha loss, providing they are ahead in the head-to-head standing after all the matches. A win for the Thai pair almost guarantees their place in the last 4.
Taufik Struggling On Day One
The first calendar event of 2011 is underway in Chinese Taipei, the best eight players in the Super Series of 2010 are in action for a chance to be named Super Series Finals Champion. It will also provide excellent competition before the first Premier Series event in Korea in just under 3 weeks time.
Group A in the Mens Singles provided an all-Danish encounter, as Peter Gade took on Jan O Jorgensen in what promised to be a fantastic start to 2011. It didn’t fail to deliver as both players shared the opening two games before Gade came out on top in the third game to take the opening match in the group in just over an hour. The other Group A match was much more one-sided as Lee Chong Wei defeated Tien Minh Nguyen of Vietnam in two games to book his at the top of Group A after the opening matches.
Group B has a younger array of players, except for Taufik Hidayat who took one of the seeded players in his group, Boonsak Ponsana in the opening match. After splitting the opening two games, Hidayat tamely lost the deciding game to make qualification to the knockout stage increasingly difficult. The other match in the group was an all-Chinese match between Chen Long and Du Pengyu which also went to three games, with the seeded Long taking the match in the third.
In the Women’s Singles, top seeded Wang Yihan beat Petya Nedelcheva to book her place atop Group B but the other seed in the group, Tine Baun suffered a surprise defeat to Yip Pui Yin in two games to jeopardise her future in the event. Group A is topped by Wang Shixian after her two game win over Yao Jie and the other seed in the group, Bae Youn Joo defeated Salakjit Ponsana in three games to ensure her qualification to the last 4 is in her own hands.
The top seeds met in the opening match in the Mens Doubles in Group A, with Koo and Tan losing out to top seeded Ko and Yoo of Korea in two games. Cai and Fu won the other match in the group, defeating Chai and Zhang in in a tight three game match. The top two seeds in Group B both won their opening round matches, with Boe and Mogensen defeating Kido and Setiawan in two games whilst Lee and Jung defeated Lee and Fang, also in two games.
The Womens Doubles was always going to be a lottery with just four seeds and every partnership capable of being anyone on any given day, Group A seen the top seeded Cheng and Chien win in front of a home crowd against Polii and Jauhari in two games whilst the 3/4 seeded Nedelcheva and Russkikh lost to Japanese pairing of Maeda and Suetsuna in two games. Group B was a similar story, with both unseeded pairs defeating their seeded opponents to throw the group wide open. Wang and Yu defeated their Chinese team mates Cheng and Zhao in three games whilst Fujii and Kakiiwa defeated the Thai pair of Voravichitchaikul and Aroonkesorn in two games.
Voravichitchaikul bounced back from her defeat in the womens doubles to team up with Anugritayawan to defeat the 3/4 seeded Zhang and Zhao in their opening Group A match. The top seeds in the group Laybourn and Rytter Juhl came through a tight three game match against the English pairing of Wallwork and Robertson. Group B saw both seeded pair crash to defeats, with the 3/4 seeded Mateusiak and Zieba losing to Ko and Ha in two games, whilst the highest seed in the group Thoungthongkam and Prapakamol lost to the Indonesia pair of Marissa and Gunawan.
Park Sneaks Past Ponsana
Some of the top seeded players were give a real test in the early rounds, with most of the seeds defeating their opponents to bolster their credentials. Boonsak Ponsana was the biggest casualty in the men’s singles, losing to Park Sung Hwan in three games and the Korean set up a quarter final clash with Taufik Hidayat.
The 2010 Commonwealth Games champion, Lee Chong Wei takes on the 2010 world champion Chen Jin in the first of tomorrow’s quarter finals with the winner taking on the winner of the second of the quarter final. 4th seeded Lin Dan takes on the 8th seed Tien Minh Nguyen in the second quarter final. Chen Long is the only other seed in the bottom half of the draw and takes on the Korean qualifier Lee Hyun Il.
The women’s singles has 6 of it’s 8 seeds remaining in the draw, with Inthanon Ratchanok continuing her excellent run of form to reach the last 8. Yip Pui Yin is the second unseeded player in the draw, defeating the 7th seed Bae Yong Joo in two games and her reward is a quarter final matchup against the 2nd seeded Saina Nehwal. The top 3 Chinese seeds are also safely into the quarter finals, with top seeded Wang Xin, 3rd seeded Wang Shixian and 4th seeded Jiang Yanjiao all progressing from the second round with two game victories.
The top seeded Koo and Tan crashed out to Indonesians Ahsan and Septano in three games to further open up the top half of the men’s doubles draw. Bach and Gunawan continue their excellent run and will meet another unseeded pair in the last 8 in the Chinese partnership of Chai and Guo. Cai and Fu will meet Lee and Jung for the second time in two weeks in the quarter final stage and the last of the quarter finals is an all-Indonesian affair between the 2nd seeded Kido and Setiawan and the 7th seeded Chandra and Gunawan.
Wang and Yu defeated the second seeded Chinese pair of Cheng and Zhao to book their place in the last 8, whilst the Danish pair of Pedersen and Rytter Juhl further opened up the women’s doubles draw with their win over Jauhari and Polii, the 4th seeds from Indonesia. Top seeded Cheng and Chien and 3rd seeded Vislova and Sorokina put their early exits in China behind them to reach the last 8 this week.
Zieba and Mateusiak proved their credentials as top seeds with an excellent three game win over Tian and Jiaming and set up a quarter final clash against 6th seeded Fischer Nielsen and Pedersen of Denmark. Zhang and Zhao are one of only 4 seeds remaining in the draw and take on the Korean pair of Ko and Ha, who defeated another Chinese pair touted to do well this week in He and Ma.
Hong Kong Super Series 2010 Draws
Boe and Mogensen In Finals Again
As surprising as it was to see Joachim Persson through to the semi-finals with numerous victories along the way, the biggest surprise thus far came today when he defeated Peter Gade for the first time ever to book his place in the finals. Persson has struggled with injuries over the last couple years, and questions have been raised as to his ability to keep up with the best on the tour, however those questions have been put to rest with a 21-14, 16-21, 21-17 victory over the top seeded Gade. Persson now plays Taufik Hidayat who had a more straight forward victory over Boonsak Ponsana 21-13, 21-14.
The womens semi finals featured two China vs Thailand match ups, and the results were in China’s favour. Top seed Wang Yihan came through in three games over Porntip Buranaprasertsuk 21-12, 19-21, 21-10. Her compatriot Li Xuerui will be Wang’s opponent after her two game victory over Salakajit Ponsana 22-20, 21-13, ending the Ponsana family’s hopes of a title in Paris.
Germany will be happy with two pairs in the finals, one in the mens doubles, and the other in the mixed doubles. First up was the surprising upset of second seeds Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan to Ingo Kindervatter and Johannes Schöttler 13-21, 21-17, 22-20. The German pair will now play Denmark’s Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen who are appearing in their second consecutive super series final after defeating their compatriots Jonas Rasmussen and Mads Conrad-Petersen 21-23, 21-6, 21-16.
The next success for Germany came from Birgit Overzier and Michael Fuchs who won after Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl retired at 17-10 in the first game. The German pair now play Thailand’s Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam after they also benefited from a withdrawal against their compatriots Songphon Anugritayawon and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul.
Petya Nedelcheva and Anastasia Russkikh needed the longest match of the day to win their semi-final match against Denmark’s Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter-Juhl 18-21, 21-15, 21-16 in an hour and eleven minutes. They now face Thailand’s Duanganong Aroonkesorn and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul who had a fairly straight forward victory over Lena Frier Kristiansen and Maria Ropke winning 21-9, 21-15.
Full French Super Series 2010 Results
Persson Shows New Spark
Perhaps the most interesting story of this French Super Series is the performance of Denmark’s Joachim Persson.
Persson has been pushed to the shadows in the last year or so as Jan Jorgensen and Viktor Axelsen have shown some substantial potential, however this week in Paris Persson seems to be reminding us that he still has the ability to threaten at these events. The left hander defeated China’s Du Pengyu in three exquisite games 21-17, 12-21, 21-19 to book his quarter-final place against his compatriot Peter Gade who struggled more than expected against German Marc Zwiebler. Gade won in three games as well 15-21, 21-12, 21-8. On the other side of the draw neither Boonsak Ponsana or Taufik Hidayat struggled against their opponents, Ajay Jayaram or Rajiv Ouseph respectively, as both won in straight games.
The big upset on the womens singles side came at the expense of Tine Baun when the second seeded Dane fell to China’s Li Xuerui 21-16, 21-17. Li will now play Salakajit Ponsana who defeated China’s Liu Xin. England’s Elizabeth Cann failed to continue her surprising run when she lost to Thailand’s Porntip Buranaprasertsuk 21-15, 21-18 who will now play Wang Yihan. Wang crushed her Russian opponent Ella Diehl 21-8, 21-8.
The mens doubles is looking like we will see a repeat of last week’s final. Boe and Mogensen made it one step closer to the final by defeating Flandy Limpele and Simon Mollyhus 21-16, 21-18. In the semi-finals they will face another Danish pair after Jonas Rasmussen and his new partner Mads Conrad-Petersen defeated England’s Chris Adcock and Andrew Ellis 23-25, 22-20, 21-14. The most surprising semi-finalists are Germans Ingo Kindervatter and Johannes Schöttler who defeated their Malaysian opponents Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari Mohd and Ong Soon Hock in two close games 22-20, 21-18. They will face Indonesia’s Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan who narrowly defeated Malaysia’s Gan Teik Chai and Tan Bin Shen 14-21, 21-18, 21-17.
A couple of walkovers marred the womens doubles quarter-finals as Duanganong Aroonkesorn and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul from Thailand and Lena Frier Kristiansen and Maria Ropke from Denmark booked their places against one another without a shuttle being hit. On the other side of the draw we have yet another Danish pair through to the semi-finals after Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Christinna Pedersen defeated Heather Olver and Mariana Agathangelou 21-19, 21-11. The Danish pair will now play Petya Nedelcheva and Anastasia Russkikh.
Finally in the mixed doubles there were no easy matches for our semi-finalists. All the matches were closely contested, perhaps the most intense was Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl’s victory over Hendra Setiawan and Anastasia Russkikh. The Danes need three games and extra points to win 23-21, 15-21, 27-25 and next they’ll play surprise semi-finalists Michael Fuchs and Birgit Overzier who knocked out top seeds Hendra Gunawan and Vita Marissa 16-21, 21-9, 21-16. The other half of the draw features an all Thailand showdown between Voravichitchaikul and Anugritayawon and their opponents Thoungthongkam and Prapakamol.
Full French Super Series 2010 Results
Jorgensen Falls Short In Paris
Yesterday saw just one seed crash out, today was the complete opposite with seeds toppling on an hourly basis through the day. France’s interest in their home Super Series is overly before the weekend begins, whilst Peter Gade goes from strength to strength after his back injury.
Gade, the top seed in the singles has safely progressed into the quarter finals tomorrow after a two game win over Christian Lind Thomsen and will play the 6th seeded Marc Zwiebler on the TV court on Friday evening. The other Dane in the draw is Joachim Persson, the 8th seeded also came through his all-Danish encounter in a tight two game match and will play China’s Du Pengyu. The unseeded Chinese player has already beaten two Danes on route to the last 8, defeating Viktor Axelsen in Round 1 and last week’s winner Jan O Jorgensen in the second round also. Ajay Jayaram has also reached the last 8, defeating the 7th seeded Dicky Palyama in three games to book his place against Boonsak Ponsana, the 3rd seed.
The seed total in the women’s singles was halved on day 2, with Pi Hongyan crashing out to Elizabeth Cann in a tame two game defeat. Liu Xin continues her excellent run of results with another impressive victory, this time over Juliane Schenk, the 5th seed. Salakjit Ponsana is another player in a rich vein of form, defeating the 4th seeded Yao Jie in a two game victory. Tine Baun has been impressed also, with a two game victory over Jeanine Cicognini.
Four seeds remain in the men’s doubles, with the top seeds Boe and Mogensen taken to three games by Goh and Teo of Malaysia. The 5th seeds Conrad-Pedersen and Rasmussen as well as the 2nd seeded Kido and Setiawan were also taken to three games as many of the seeds still remaining in the draw have been taken the distance. Only the 6th seeded Gan and Tan of Malaysia have progressed safely, with back to back two game victories.
The women’s doubles lost 5 of it’s 8 seeds today, with only the top 3 seeds remaining in the draw. The 6th seeded French pair of Choinet and Rasadi lost out to Lee and Obanana of the USA in three games to end the local interest in the women’s doubles. The top seeds Nedelcheva and Russkikh are safely into the last 8 with a two game win over Fontaine and Palermo of France.
Only one seed crashed out of the mixed doubles, 5th seeded Fischer Nielsen and Pedersen lost out in three games to the pairing of Setiawan and Russkikh, who are both seeded in their respective level doubles events. They take on another Danish pair tomorrow as they take on last weeks winners, Laybourn and Rytter Juhl, the 3rd seeds.
Dream Final
It has been four months since Lin Dan took on Lee Chong Wei in the Thomas Cup and a year since their last Super Series meeting, but tomorrow arguably the best two players in the world go head to head in Japan.
Lee Chong Wei defeated the unseeded Boonsak Ponsana 21-13, 21-18 to book his place in tomorrow’s final, having not dropped a game in his four matches and conceding just 85 points on route to the final. Lin Dan defeated Peter Gade in two games, winning 21-11, 21-19 to book his place in tomorrow’s final having also not conceded a game on route to the final, conceding 122 points on route.
The women’s singles final unsurprisingly is an all-Chinese encounter. Jiang Yanjiao defeated the resurgent Lu Lan in the quarter finals and then defeated the 3rd seeded Wang Shixian in two tight games to book her place in tomorrow’s final. The other finalist is the second seeded Wang Xin, who defeated Tine Baun in her semi final encounter as she looks to win her second Super Series title in 2 weeks.
Tomorrow’s men’s doubles final is a rematch of the world championship final in Paris last month, as Koo and Tan take on Cai and Fu in this week’s final. Both pairs came through their semi final matches in two games and they have only conceded one game apiece in reach the finals stage, both in their quarter final matchups. This is their 10th meeting, with Cai and Fu winning the previous 4.
The women’s doubles final is another all-Chinese affair, with the 5th seeded Wang and Yu taking on the 3rd seeded Cheng and Zhao. The 5th seeds have been truly impressive this week as they have failed to drop a game and have conceded just 69 points on the way to tomorrow’s final. The 3rd seeds received a first round bye and have only conceded a single game, in their three game victory over the top seeed Cheng and Chien in today’s semi final.
The mixed doubles is the third and final all-Chinese affair, with unseeded Zhang and Zhao taking on the 8th seeded Tao and Tian. Zhang Nan will hope to put his men’s doubles defeat behind him but his partner Zhao Yunlei is also playing in the women’s doubles final also. The 8th seeded pair have focussed purely on the mixed doubles and after surviving being match point down in the opening round, have gone from strength to strength in reaching tomorrow’s final without dropping another game this week.
Lin Dan Goes For Win At Home
The opening round play in Beijing was without it’s top two seeds in the men’s singles, with Lee Chong Wei and Taufik Hidayat withdrawing pre-event. There was plenty of interest for the locals though as Lin Dan returned to the place of his 2008 Olympic triumph to attempt to win his first title of 2010.
His opening match was against the very player who defeated him in the world championship quarter finals, Park Sung Hwan. There was to be no repeat as the 4th seeded took the match in two games. World Champion Chen Jin also progressed in two games, as did Bao Chunlai, Chen Long and two Chinese qualifiers. Wen Kai defeated Dicky Palyama to make it into the second round and Qiao Bin defeated another Chinese qualifier in Lu Yi to make it into the last 16. The last non-Chinese seed in the draw is Jan O Jorgensen after defeating Wong Wing Ki in two games, the 6th seeded Boonsak Ponsana crashed out to Ju Yun of Hong Kong in a extremely tight three game encounter, with the Hong Kong player winning 27-25 in the third game.
The women’s singles has 7 of it’s 8 seeds remaining, with world champion Wang Lin having to retire from her match whilst leading 14-8 in the third game. 2009 World Champion Lu Lan proved that she still has the ability for the very top of the women’s game with a 21-8, 21-7 win over Xing Aiying. There were also wins for Tine Baun and Pi Hongyan as the final two Europeans left in the draw, a draw dominated by the Chinese as they have four seeds in the last 16, as well as Lu Lan and Li Xuerui.
All 8 seeds in the men’s doubles successfully navigated their opening round matches, with only Lee and Jung being taken to a 3rd game by Hong and Shen of China. Double world champions Cai and Fu are also into round two with a 2 game victory, with a potential all-Chinese quarter final with Guo and Xu expected.
The top seeds in last months world championships, Ma and Wang have been surprisingly split up for this weeks event, with Wang and new partner Yu Yang who defeated Ma and Wang at the World Championships being seeded 5 for the event whilst Ma plays with Zhong Qianxin and is unseeded. However, the two could play in Friday’s quarter final with another win for both pairs. There were some surprises as 3rd seeded Nedelcheva and Russkikh lost out to Bao and Lu of China in three tight games and the 4th seeded Shinta and Yao also lost out to their unseeded opponents in three games, with Hsieh and Wang progressing into the last 16.
Ma Jin also has a new partner in the mixed doubles, playing with He Hanbin who she and Bo Zheng beat in the world championship final last month. Bo Zheng is not present at this weeks tournament, but there is a massive Chinese interest in the mixed doubles with Wang Xiaoli making her first appearance in a Super Series mixed doubles with an impressive three game win over Anugritayawon and Voravichitchaikul of Thailand and could face another match against Ma Jin at the quarter final stage. The top seeded Widianto and Natsir progressed to the last 16 with a routine two game win over Chen and Xie of China.
Gade Starts Strong
The upsets failed to materialize on Day 1 but there were a few big names crashing out of the mixed doubles in on the second day of the World Championships.
The bottom half of the draw for the men’s singles got underway today, with 2nd seeded Peter Gade being the main attraction on this side of the draw. His opponent with the Brazilian Daniel Paiola wasn’t expected to trouble the Dane and that was the case as Gade stormed into Round 2 in just 23 minutes, winning 21-10, 21-7. 4th seeded Chen Jin of China is also safely into the second round, defeating Finland’s Ville Lang in his first match 21-14, 21-14.
There was some good news for Indonesia after Kuncoro’s injury, with 8th seeded Simon Santoso progressing to the second round after a two game victory over Poland’s Przemyslaw Wacha. There were also wins for Wong Choong Hann, Marc Zwiebler but a surprise loss for the 14th seeded Chetan Anand in two games, losing to Singapore’s Chen Yong Zhao Ashton. 9th seeded Boonsak Ponsana is also safety into Round 2 after an impressive 21-6, 21-6 victory over Russia’s Vladimir Malkov.
The top half of the women’s singles got underway today, with top seed Wang Yihan winning her opening match in two games. There was similar success for 7th seeded Wang Lin after Maja Tvrdy of Slovenia. Both Chinese players will play seeded opponents in their third round matches, with 10th seed Eriko Hirose taking on Wang Yihan after her second two game victory of the week. 12th seeded Yip Pui Yin takes on Wang Lin after defeating Anna Rice in two games.
There was a winning start for Tine Baun also, the 4th seed defeating Lianne Tan of Belgium to book her place in the last 16. She will play the 15th seeded Petya Nedelcheva after a two game victory over Larisa Griga of Ukraine. There was a late shock in as Cheng Shao Chieh defeated the 14th seeded Bae Sueng Hee in three games to book her place in the last 16. The 8th seeded Juliane Schenk was the last person on this side of the draw to book her place, defeating her Malaysian opponent in two games to go into Round 3.
The top half of the men’s doubles also took place today, with 7th seeded Lee and Jung progressing against the American duo of Fogarty and Neumann, winning the match 21-13, 21-4. The 4th seeded Guo and Xu are also through after an early scare in the opening game against Langridge and Middleton of England but eventually progressed 24-22, 21-15. Paaske and Rasmussen defeated their Austrian opponents in two games to also progress into the last 16.
There were also wins for the 12th seeded Chen and Lin as well as 14th seeded Chinese pair of Chai and Zhang. However the 9th seeded Chendra and Gunawan lost surprisingly to Suputra and Wijaya of Singapore in two games, another scalp taken by the Singapore squad at the championships. The 15th seeded Indian pair of Kumar and Thomas ended the African interest at the World Championships with a 21-14, 21-16 with over Viljoen and James of South Africa. The final match of the day seen the top seeds, Koo and Tan defeated the Czech duo of Kopriva and Kopriva to set up a 3rd round match against Chai and Zhang, the 14hth seeds from China.
The top seeds in the women’s doubles are safely into the last 16 as Ma and Jin comfortably beat their opponents, Wang and Wang from the USA 21-7, 21-7 to book their 3rd round match against Sari and Yao of Singapore. 5th seeded Miyuki and Suetsuna are also through to the last 16 with a two game win over Molina and Ojeda of Spain and take on the 10th seeded Nedelcheva and Russkikh.
The most convincing performance of the day came from the 6th seeded Ha and Kim of Korea who defeated Gruber and Jaquet 21-2, 21-5 in just 18 minutes to set up their 3rd round match against the 16th seeded Gutta and Ponnappa of India, who defeated Ukraine’s Ultina and Voytsekh in two games to book their place in the last 16.
In the bottom half of the draw, where no matches took place today there was still news as Lee and Lee pulled out of their second round match against Pan and TIan of Chinese tomorrow. This is likely due to an injury to Lee Kyung Won as Lee Hyo Jung is still scheduled to play with Lee Yong Dae in tomorrow’s mixed doubles match.
The biggest shock of the day came in the mixed doubles as 3rd seeded Mateusiak and Kostiuczyk were stunned by Singapore’s Triyachart and Yao to cap off a stunning day of upsets for the Singapore squad, winning the match in three games, 21-13, 16-21, 21-14. There was another seed falling in the same half of the draw as 11th seeded Chen and Chou crashed out to Yoo and Kim of Korea, who won the deciding game 24-22 to book their place in the last 16.
There were no such problems for others seeds, as the 12th seeded Ko and Ha progressed into the third round with a two game win over Hashimoto and Fujii of Japan. There was also an impressive win from the 8th seeded Zheng and Ma as they play just their 6th tournament of the year but still managed an impressive 21-7, 21-9 victory over their Ukrainian opponents. One of the final matches of the day saw the top seeded Natsir and Widianto defeat Kurniawan and Bernadet also of Indonesia in two games to progress into Round 3.
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