Lee Chong Wei Crushes Ouseph
Wang Yihan’s dream to be world champion ended today, as she became the first top seed to be toppled in this year’s championship. Other top seeds had to fight to remain their event and to reach the last 8 tomorrow.
Widianto and Natsir, the top seeds in the mixed doubles were given a real scare by unseeded Kim and Yoo of Korea as they trailed 18-15 in the final game, only to fight back brilliantly and win the deciding game 21-19 to progress into the last 8 where they will play Zheng and Ma of China. The Chinese 8th seeds have had little trouble in progressing to the last 8 with two game victories in both their matches to date, spending just 70 minutes on court to reach the quarter finals.
The current world champions and second seeds Laybourn and Rytter Juhl were also take to three games by the 15th seeded Robertson and Wallwork, with the English pair getting as close as 19-18 in the decider before the Danes took the final game 21-18. They will play the 6th seeded He and Yu have been impressive in their opening two matches, very similarly to Zheng and Ma but have spent just 51 minutes on court to reach the last 8.
Olympic champions Lee and Lee crashed out at the last 16 stage, with question marks still over their overall fitness and whether one or both were carrying an injury into the champions. They were defeated in two games by the 16th seeded Lee and Chien of Chinese Taipei, who will play Gunawan and Marissa of Indonesia OR Jiaming and Yawen of China.
Eriko Hirose stunned the draw with her three game victory over top seed Wang Yihan of China, after coming back from a game down to secure victory 20-22, 21-16, 21-18 and will play another Chinese player in the last 8, 7th seeded Wang Lin who defeated 12th seed Yip Pui Yin in two games to book her place in tomorrow’s quarter finals.
Second seed Saina Nehwal had less trouble progressing than her match yesterday, defeating Ella Diehl seeded 13 from Russia in two games to set up her quarterfinal match against 6th seeded Wang Shixian after she defeated 11th seed Yao Jie 21-13, 21-5. The French still have one player the draw, Pi Hongyan coming through in three games against Kim Moon Hi of Korea, the 16th seed.
There were also wins for the 3rd seeded Wang Xin over Ai Goto in two games as well as 4th seeded Tine Baun in two close games over Petya Nedelcheva, winning 21-19, 23-21 to become the highest seed left in the top half of the draw. She rakes on Cheng Shao Chieh of Chinese Taipei who defeated the 8th seeded Juliane Schenk in three tight games, winning 21-19 in the deciding game.
Lin Dan’s credentials were finally tested thoroughly by his teammate and 10th seed Bao Chunlai who beat him in the All Englands in March. However there was to be no repeat of that match as the 3rd seed won in comfortable style 21-16, 21-13 to book him place in the last 8. Peter Gade is also through to the last 8 after a two game victory over Germany’s Marc Zwiebler, winning 21-14, 21-15 to set up a quarter final match with Kazushi Yamada of Japan who defeated Dicky Palyama in three games to book his place in tomorrow’s quarter final.
Chen Jin is also through to the last 8, seeing off the challenge of Chen Yong Zhao Ashton of Singapore who was one of the stories of the earlier rounds but lost to the 4th seed 21-17, 21-10. The match of the day tomorrow will be against the top seeded Lee Chong Wei, who defeated Rajiv Ouseph 21-9, 21-9 to set up a quarter final clash with Taufik Hidayat. The 5th seed coming through his third round match with Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand in two games to set up tomorrow’s quarterfinal.
The men’s and women’s doubles are the only events with the top 8 seeds still in the competition, however in the women’s doubles the 8th seeded Hyun and Jung were taken all the way by 12th seeded Sorokina and Vislova, coming through 26-24 in the third game to set up their quarterfinal against Cheng and Chien, the 3rd seeds. The other 7 seeds safely progressed into the last 8 in two games.
The 4th seeds in the men’s doubles Guo and Xu were the only seed in the draw that were taken to three games. Chen and Lin taking the opening game before the Chinese pair took the next two to set up a match against the 8th seeds and All England champions, Paaske and Rasmussen. The second China – Denmark match in the men’s doubles sees Boe and Mogensen, seeded 3 take on the current world champions, Cai and Fu who put in the performance of the day in their 21-6, 21-9 victory over Robertson and Clark of England.
Hidayat Squeezes Into Last 16
Another day and another few seeds crash out early. Sony Kuncoro’s withdrawal was old news but the match that he was supposed to play was scheduled for today, meaning the definite end for the 8th seed. He wasn’t the only seed to not see the last 16 as Jan Jorgensen’s poor form in 2010 saw him crash out to Rajiv Ouspeh of England in two games.
Ouseph’s win sets up a last 16 encounter with top seed Lee Chong Wei, who came through his all-Malaysia encounter with unseeded Muhammad Hafiz Hashim, winning 21-16, 21-16. The 12th seeded Kenichi Tago was also defeated today, losing to Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand in two tight games and sets up a last 16 match with the 5th seeded Taufik Hidayat who came through his match with Hsieh Yu Hsin in three games.
Lin Dan and Bao Chunlai had little trouble in setting up one of the best matches of the third round tomorrow, both comfortably winning in two games. The last round of 16 match in the top half sees 7th seeded Tien Minh Nguyen take on the 13th seeded Park Sung Hwan of Korea after the pair also won their second round matches in two games.
Chen Yong Zhao Ashton of Singapore is the unlikely story of the event, defeating Stephan Wojcikiewicz in his second round match to set up a third round encounter with 4th seeded Chen Jin, after he defeated another European to book his place in the last 16, beating Kestutis Navickas of Lithuania 21-16, 21-16 and will play Chen in tomorrow for a place in the quarter finals.
Boonsak Ponsana, the 9th seed defeated England’s Carl Baxter and plays Hsueh Hsuan Yi who was scheduled to play the 8th seeded Simon Santoso, only for the Indonesian player to pull out; leaving Hidayat as their best chance of success. Kazuski Yamada in into tomorrow’s third round after the Japanese player defeated 16th seeded Wong Choong Hann in three games and will take on Dicky Palyama of Holland after a two game victory over Misha Zilberman.
The final match of the last 16 is a rematch of the European Championship semi final, between Marc Zwiebler seeded 15 and Peter Gade, the second seed. Gade was on court for 74 minutes to fend off Shon Wan Ho of Korea in three games whilst Zwiebler defeated his Spanish opponent Pablo Abian in two games.
The bottom half of the women’s singles played their 2nd round matches today, without the loss of a seed in the entire half of the draw except for Zhou Mi who withdrew pre-event. Only Ai Goto remains unseeded in the lower half, defeating Linda Zechiri of Bulgaria 21-8, 21-10 to book her place in the last 16 against Wang Xin of China, the 3rd seed.
Pi Hongyan is France’s best chance of a title this week and started with an impressive 21-8, 21-8 win over Elena Prus of Ukraine. She takes on the 16th seed Kim Moon Hi of Korea, who came through her match in three games. Saina Nehwal had to come from a game down to progress into the 3rd round, eventually winning 20-22, 21-15, 21-8 over Chen Hsiao Huan of Chinese Taipei. Newhal takes on Russia’s 13th seed, Ella Diehl.
The bottom half of the men’s doubles played their second round matches, with Clark and Robertson continuing their excellent from with another two game win to set up a third round match against Cai and Fu of China after their two game win also today. 3rd seeded Boe and Mogensen safely progressed into the last 16 with a two game win over fellow Danes Faust and Kristiansen to set up a match with Ko and Yoo of Korea, seeded 13.
Kido and Setiawan had to work hard against Poland’s Cwalina and Logosz to set up an all-Indonesia third round match with Dasuki and Sukmawan.The final match from the bottom half sees 6th seeded Fang and Lee of Chinese Taipei take on Hashimoto and Hirata of Japan, seeded 11. Fang and Lee winning easily in two games whilst the Japanese pair were taken to three games by Malaysia’s Gan and Tan.
Just like in the women’s singles, 7 seeds remain from the 8 that started in the bottom half of the draw. Mason and Bankier defeated the 13th seeds in their opening round but lost out to Van Dooremalen and Jonathans of Holland in their second round game in two games, who will take on the 3rd seeded Cheng and Chien of Chinese Taipei in Round 3.
Du and Yu, China’s second seeds defeated French pairing Fontaine and Luttmann in their opening match of the championships in two games to set up a match with the 15th seeded Matsuo and Naito whose 21-0, 21-8 win over Virta and Rautala was perhaps the most impressive performance of the week to date.
There were also impressive wins for Sorokina and Vislova over another French pair of Chanteur and Matias, the 12th seeds winning 21-8, 21-7 to set up a third round match with Hyun and Jung of Korea who were a game up over Gao and Ko of Canada when the pair retired.
Lee and Lee finally ended the questions over their fitness with a two game win in their opening match, they will play Lee and Chien of Chinese Taipei tomorrow in their last 16 match. There were also wins for Gunawan and Marissa who had to come back from a game down against South Africa’s James and Edwards in what would have been one of the shocks of the week.
The world championships begun their campaign with a tough two game encounter, setting Laybourn and Rytter Juhl with a third round match with Robertson and Wallwork of England, the 15th seeds. All 8 seeds on the bottom of half of the mixed doubles are still in the event.
Kuncoro Withdraws From Worlds
The day began with the news of Sony Kuncoro’s withdrawal from the men’s singles with a back injury, Misha Zilberman who was expected to play Kuncoro tomorrow has a bye into round 2. The questions going into today were of Lin Dan and if he had the hunger for a run at the title this year.
We didn’t have to wait long for an answer as the 3rd seed won his opening round match over Iran’s Ali Shahhosseini 21-4, 21-10 in 26 minutes to book his place in Wednesday’s second round where he will play Sweden’s Henri Hurskainen after a two game victory over Hungary’s Henrik Toth. Play begun at 10am with the World #1 Lee Chong Wei in his quest to all to his first All England triumph in March, he started his campaign against Kevin Cordon and promptly progressed into the second round, winning his match 21-7, 21-11.
Jan Jorgensen looks to have put his recent dip in form behind him with a two game victory over Austria’s Michael Lahensteiner to book a second round match with Rajiv Ouseph. The Englishman took on Eric Pang in one of the best matches of the opening round today, with Ouseph coming through 23-21 in the 3rd game to book his place against the 11th seeded Jorgensen. There was also a comfortable two game victory for Taufik Hidayat over Nigeria’s Ola Fagbemi and the 5th seed takes on Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Yu Hsin in Round 2 on Wednesday.
10th seeded Bao Chunlai is safely through into Round 2 after a 21-11, 21-17 win over Hong Kong’s Yan Kit Chan and will play Canada’s David Snider on Wednesday after his two game win over Scotland’s Alistair Casey. The 7th seeded Tien Minh Nguyen and 13th seeded Park Sung Hwan are also through to Wednesday’s second round after both won in two games.
In the Women’s singles, the top 8 seeds received byes so it was a day for the lower seeded players to impress. Yip Pui Yin was the first of the seeds to progress into Round 2, the 12th seed defeating France’s Perrine Lebuhanic in two games. However for the 11th seeded Yao Jie, the job was a lot harder as she was taken to a third game by Singapore’s Xing Aiying before coming through after a 50 minute encounter.
The 13th seed Ella Diehl defeated Jeanine Cicognini in two games, but the 15th seeded Petya Nedelcheva needed three games to defeat Judith Meulendijks in 55 minutes. There were also wins for the 10th seeded Eriko Hirose and for 14th seeded Bae Sueng Hee of Korea. Ai Goto is also one to watch this week, the Japanese woman is in an excellent run of form and defeated Alesia Zaitsava 21-9, 21-9 to prove her own credentials.
The biggest shock of the day came late on day 1 as Robertson and Clark took out the 10th seeded Bach and Gunawan in the men’s doubles, winning 21-9, 22-20. The 16th seeded Choong and Lee are also out, losing in three games to the German pairing of Hopp and Schottler. This means that the higher seedings in the section will not have to play a seed until the quarter final, which in these sections is Kido and Setiawan (Hopp/Schottler) and Cai/Fu (Robertson/Clark).
There were a few withdrawals in the event also, allowing the 9th seeded Chandra and Setiawan a bye into Round 2 as well as the 14th seeded Chai and Zhang. There were some seeds in action who progressed into the second round, 13th seeds Ko and Yoo are safely into the next round as well as the 11th seeded Hashimoto and Hirata of Japan.
The longest match of the day came in the women’s doubles as the unseeded Mason and Bankier of Scotland put out the 13th seeded pair Amitapai and Munkit of Thailand in three games. The 65-minute encounter was the only match to surpass the one-hour mark today. They take on the Dutch pairing of Jonathans and Van Dooremalen after they received a first round bye after Frier Kristiansen and Roepke’s withdrawal. There were impressive wins for the 12th seeded Sorokina and Vislova over Kobtseva and Prus of Ukraine, winning 21-16, 21-5.
The 4th seeded Cheng and Zhao have also received a second round bye after the withdrawal of Chang and Chou of Chinese Taipei today. The 16th seeded Gutta and Ponnappa of India received a first round bye after Barning and Muskens of Holland also pulled out today. The most impressive performance of the day came from the English pairing of White and Wallwork as they progressed into Round 2 with a stunning 21-3, 21-14 victory today.
The 11th seeded Chen and Chou ensured that Johannes Schottler would not put out a second seed on the day, defeating him and his partner Sandra Marinello 21-13, 21-14 to progress into Round 2. Gabrielle White was also looking to create more news as her and partner Chris Adcock took the 9th seeded Indian’s to a deciding game, only to lose out to V and Gutta 21-8 in the deciding game.
Day 2 will see the end of the opening round matches for the men’s singles and mixed doubles before the start of the top names in women’s singles take centre stage night 2 of the World Championships.
French Favourite Pi Hongyan
The 48 strong field in the women’s singles is missing one major name, the 2009 World Champion Lu Lan failed to reach the qualification within the Chinese rankings. With only the top four from any country eligible, Lu Lan was the 5th best ranked Chinese player, yet still the world number 9. Yanjiao Jiang is another casualty of the Chinese dominance in the event, being China’s number 6 and ranked 11 in the world.
Top seed Wang Yihan is given a bye in the first round before taking on the world #32 Porntip Buranaprasertuk of Thailand in the second round, her likely opponent is the 10th seeded Eriko Hirose. Hirose’s section starts with the 10th seed taking on Aditi Mutatkar of India, ranked 34th in the world. The winner of Hirose’s match will take on the winner of Maria Febe Kusumastuti of Indonesia, ranked 32nd in the world and Russia’s Tatjana Bibik, the world number 47.
Another Chinese player tops the seeding in the second section; Wang Lin of China is the 7th seed and receives a first round bye before taking on Slovenia’s world number 48, Maja Tvrdy. 12th seeded Yip Pui Yin is the other seed in the section and takes on local favourite and world number 106 Perrine Lebuhanic. The final match in the section and likely to play Yip Pui Yin in the second round is between Ireland’s Chloe Magee, ranked 69th in the world and Anna Rice of Canada, world number 42.
Tine Baun (formerly Rasmussen) is the 4th seed in the draw and the best chance for European success, after a first round bye she takes on Belgium’s world number, Lianne Tan who has failed to live up to her credentials as a junior to date. The second all-European match in the section is between Petya Nedelcheva, the 15th seed and Judith Meulendijks, the world number 23. This is one of the feature matches of the opening round. The winner of the previous match takes on the winner of Karen Foo Kune, the world number 102 and Larisa Griga, Ukraine’s world number 38.
Juliane Schenk offers European another possibility, the 8th seed has a first round bye before taking on Lydia Li Ya Cheah of Malaysia, the world number 78. The other seed in the section is the 14th seeded Bae Sueng Hee of Korea who plays Scotland’s world number 27 Susan Egelstaff in another extremely competitive opening round match. Last weeks winner Cheng Shao Chieh plays Any Nieminen of Finland with the winner taking on the winner of the Bae/Egelstaff match.
Hi Kim Moon is seeded 16 for the event and starts with a match against Portgual’s Telma Santos, the world number 88. The other opening round match in the section is between Michelle Chan Ky of New Zealand and Adrianti Firdasari of Indonesia, the world number 21 and the second highest ranked player not to be seeded. The highest seed in the section is France’s own Pi Hongyan who takes on Elena Prus of Ukraine, after a first round bye.
The 9th seeded Zhou Mi is the out of form seed in the competition, without a win in over a year and notorious for early upsets in the bigger events. Bulgaria’s Linda Zechiri, the world number 30 takes on Zhou Mi in round 1. Ai Goto has been in excellent form in recent months, the world number 22 takes on Alesia Zaitsava of Belarus, ranked 93rd in the world. The 3rd seeded Wang Xin is the highest seed in the section and after a opening round bye, takes on Canada’s Charmaine Reid, the world number 50.
The fourth of the Chinese seeds, Wang Shixian is the top seed from the seventh section of the draw but faces a tough opening match in the second round against world number 25, Thailand’s Salajkit Ponsana in another of the top matches in the opening round. Czech Kristina Ludikova, ranked 57th in the world takes on America’s Rena Wang, world number 80 for an opportunity to play the winner of the other match in the section, between Singapore’s Xing Aiying, world number 43 takes on the 11th seeded Yao Jie of Holland.
Similar to the men’s draw, Wong Mew Choo is ranked higher than one of the seeds in the event but the Malaysian missed out on a seeding. Hi Kim Moon is 20th in the world and the Wong is ranked 19th. Her campaign starts against the world number 51, Karin Schnaase of Germany for an opportunity to take on the seeded player in the second round. Ella Diehl is the seed from the top half of the section, with the 13th seed takes on another European tour veteran, Jeanine Cicognini, the world number 37 from Switzerland. The 2nd seeded Saina Newhal should put all the controversy over seeds to rest as she is the likely finalist from this half of the draw, she begins her week in round 2 with a match over Chen Hsiao Huan, the world number 65.
Kuncoro Moves On To Semis
Sony Kuncoro’s excellent run of form continues on as the 7th seed progressed to the last 4 with a two game victory over Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia setting up a semi final clash with top seed Lee Chong Wei. The Malaysian had to battle his way past Kenichi Tago, the 8th seed in three games to book his place in tomorrow semi final. The other semi final sees 3rd seed Tien Minh Nguyen, who defeated Sho Sasaki in the quarter finals today take on 2nd seed and local favourite Taufik Hidayat who won his all-Indonesian clash with Simon Santoso in just over an hour in three games.
Saina Nehwal is on course for her second Super Series title in two weeks after defeating 8th seeded Ella Diehl in today’s quarter final. She takes on 4th seeded Eriko Hirose in the last 4 after defeating 5th seeded Yao Jie in three tight games. The other semi final is an unseeded affair, with local qualifier Ana Rovita coming through an all-Indonesian quarter final to book her place in the semi final against Sayaka Sato, who defeated Zhou Mi in Round 1 and Yip Pui Yin in the Quarter Finals, the only two seeds on the bottom half of the draw.
Only one seed remains in the men’s doubles, with the 6th seeded Hashimoto and Hirata defeating top seeded Koo and Tan in the quarter finals. They play unseeded Koreans Cho and Kwon after they defeated the 8th seeded Kim and Shin in an all-Korean quarter final. Clark and Robertson continue their excellent vein of form as they beat Indonesian pair Ahsan and Septano in the last 8. They will play Fang and Lee in the semis after they took out the 5th seeded Bach and Gunawan of the USA.
Widianto and Natsir edge ever closer to winning their home tournament as they stormed into the semi finals, where they will play Mateusiak and Zieba of Poland who came through a three game match with unseeded Indonesian pair of Teng and Bernadet in the quarters. The unseeded Indonesian/Russian pairing of Russkikih and Setiawan are also through to the last 4, the remaining unseeded pair in the mixed doubles draw. They will play the 7th seeded Korean pair of Ko and Ha who defeated the 2nd seed and current world champions Laybourn and Rytter Juhl in their quarter final match.
Palyama Upsets Jorgensen
A rain-shortened day in Singapore has delayed some players opening round games until Thursday such as Peter Gade but even down one court for most of the day the organisers almost completed a full days play, with several seeds crashing out throughout the day.
The unknown Chinese players in Singapore are making a name for themselves as Li Xuerui defeated 8th seeded Yip Pui Yin of Hong Kong 21-4, 21-14 in just 22 minutes to explode onto the Super Series stage within the opening hour of play. 3rd seed Zhou Mi crashed out in the opening round as her terrible run of form in the 2010 Super Series continues. Saina Nehwal had no trouble in her opening round match, defeating Wong Mew Choo 21-8, 21-5 to book a 2nd round match against the European Circuit Finals champion, Ella Diehl. 4th seeded Lu Lan, who is not taking part in the World Championships in Paris after dropping out of China’s top 4 (currently China’s #6) but is still ranked inside the top 10 in the world has to wait until tomorrow to start her campaign against Ai Goto of Japan.
The biggest casualty in the men’s draw is Jan O Jorgensen, seeded 5 for the event as Dicky Palyama defeated him in three tight games. Peter Gade and Tien Minh Nguyen start their campaigns off tomorrow after the rain delay forced their matches into tomorrow’s order of play. Lee Chong Wei made hard work of his opening match against Brice Leverdez after losing the second game before recovering to take the match in three games. Joachim Persson scored an excellent victory over Marc Zwiebler of Germany in three games to set up a 2nd round match against Sony Kuncoro.
The top two seeds are into Round 2 of the Mixed Doubles, top seeded Widianto and Natsir had to come back from a game down to set up a all-Indonesian 2nd round match with Ahmad and Polii. World Champions Laybourn and Rytter Juhl had no problems in progressing to round 2, where they will face the English pair of Heather Olver and Anthony Clark. There was mixed fortunes for the English contingent in Singapore as 8th seeded Robertson and Wallwork were defeated in three games by local pair Triyachart and Yao in Round 1.
Wednesday’s Full Singapore Super Series 2010 Results
Lee Leads Malaysia Against Denmark
Europe had four opportunities to make it into the semi final stage today, but failed with every chance against a superior Asian opponent.
Thomas Cup:
China defeated Korea for the second time in two days, this time in the quarterfinals by a scoreline of 3-0. Lin Dan started with a two-game victory over Park Sung Hwan, Cai and Fu doubled the advantage before Chen Jin completed the win with a two-game defeat of Shon Wan Ho to see China progress into Friday’s semi final. Malaysia will play China in the first semi final after coming through against Denmark at the third time of asking, Lee Chong Wei defeated Peter Gade in the opening singles, then Koo and Tan defeated Mogensen and Boe to take a 2-0 lead in the rubber. Jorgensen took the second singles and Paaske and Rasmussen won the second doubles to level the rubber at 2-2 before Joachim Persson was crushed in a one-sided singles by Hashim Mohammed Hafiz 21-12, 21-10 and Malaysia took the rubber 3-2.
Germany took on Japan in the 3rd quarterfinal, with Zwiebler and Tago playing an 74-minute opening singles which Tago took after dropping the opening game, winning 15-21, 21-18, 21-18. Fuchs and Hopp then took the first of the doubles games in a similar fashion, after dropping the first game then winning the next two to take the win. Taking the 61-minute match 16-21, 21-19, 24-22 and also saving two match points in the third game. That would be the end of the German resistance, as Sho Sasaki defeated Dieter Domke in the second singles and Hayakawa and Kazuno won the second doubles, both in two games to clinch the rubber at 3-1. Japan will play Indonesia in the semi final after their 3-0 win over India in their quarterfinal. Taufik Hidayat made hard work of his singles match, being pushed into a 3-game 61 minute match by Kashyap Parupalli, Kido and Setiawan had little problem in their two-game victory to give Indonesia a 2-0 lead in the rubber and Simon Santoso completed the win with a 21-8, 21-10 victory over Arvind Bhatt.
Uber Cup:
Wang Yihan had to battle back from a game down in her match against Saina Nehwal before winning 14-21, 21-11, 21-18 to secure China’s first victory over India. Ma and Wang destroyed their Indian opponents in the doubles before Wang Xin completed the victory over India by 3 wins to 0. They will play an in-form Malaysian team who defeated the host nation Malaysia 3-0 in their quarterfinal match today. The Malaysians have only lost one game out of the 27 they have played over this week.
Japan’s women took on Denmark in the 3rd of the 4 matches today, they started well with Eriko Hirose’s win over Camilla Sorensen 21-17, 21-11 but the Danes levelled the rubber with a two game victory from Rytter Juhl and Pedersen. Ai Goto restored Japan’s lead with a two game victory over Karina Jorgensen before Fujii and Kakiiwa completed the victory over the Danes with a three-game win over Frier Kristiansen and Ropke, winning 21-13, 19-21, 21-19.
The final match was between Korea and Russia, with the Koreans taking the opening two games in three tight games, Bae Seung Hee defeated Ella Diehl in 67 minutes and Lee and Kim beat Sorokina and Vislova in 58 minutes. The Russian’s faught back with Tatjana Bibik’s three-game, 56 minute win over Sung Ji Hyun and the new partnership of Polikarpova and Russkikh fell to the 2nd Korean doubles pairing over Ha and Jung and the Korean’s progressed to the last 4 with a 3-1 victory.
Europe had four opportunities to make it into the semi final stage today, but failed with every chance against a superior Asian opponent.
Thomas Cup:
China defeated Korea for the second time in two days, this time in the quarterfinals by a scoreline of 3-0. Lin Dan started with a two-game victory over Park Sung Hwan, Cai and Fu doubled the advantage before Chen Jin completed the win with a two-game defeat of Shon Wan Ho to see China progress into Friday’s semi final. Malaysia will play China in the first semi final after coming through against Denmark at the third time of asking, Lee Chong Wei defeated Peter Gade in the opening singles, then Koo and Tan defeated Mogensen and Boe to take a 2-0 lead in the rubber. Jorgensen took the second singles and Paaske and Rasmussen won the second doubles to level the rubber at 2-2 before Joachim Persson was crushed in a one-sided singles by Hashim Mohammed Hafiz 21-12, 21-10 and Malaysia took the rubber 3-2.
Germany took on Japan in the 3rd quarterfinal, with Zwiebler and Tago playing an 74-minute opening singles which Tago took after dropping the opening game, winning 15-21, 21-18, 21-18. Fuchs and Hopp then took the first of the doubles games in a similar fashion, after dropping the first game then winning the next two to take the win. Taking the 61-minute match 16-21, 21-19, 24-22 and also saving two match points in the third game. That would be the end of the German resistance, as Sho Sasaki defeated Dieter Domke in the second singles and Hayakawa and Kazuno won the second doubles, both in two games to clinch the rubber at 3-1. Japan will play Indonesia in the semi final after their 3-0 win over India in their quarterfinal. Taufik Hidayat made hard work of his singles match, being pushed into a 3-game 61 minute match by Kashyap Parupalli, Kido and Setiawan had little problem in their two-game victory to give Indonesia a 2-0 lead in the rubber and Simon Santoso completed the win with a 21-8, 21-10 victory over Arvind Bhatt.
Uber Cup:
Wang Yihan had to battle back from a game down in her match against Saina Nehwal before winning 14-21, 21-11, 21-18 to secure China’s first victory over India. Ma and Wang destroyed their Indian opponents in the doubles before Wang Xin completed the victory over India by 3 wins to 0. They will play an in-form Malaysian team who defeated the host nation Malaysia 3-0 in their quarterfinal match today. The Malaysians have only lost one game out of the 27 they have played over this week.
Japan’s women took on Denmark in the 3rd of the 4 matches today, they started well with Eriko Hirose’s win over Camilla Sorensen 21-17, 21-11 but the Danes levelled the rubber with a two game victory from Rytter Juhl and Pedersen. Ai Goto restored Japan’s lead with a two game victory over Karina Jorgensen before Fujii and Kakiiwa completed the victory over the Danes with a three-game win over Frier Kristiansen and Ropke, winning 21-13, 19-21, 21-19.
The final match was between Korea and Russia, with the Koreans taking the opening two games in three tight games, Bae Seung Hee defeated Ella Diehl in 67 minutes and Lee and Kim beat Sorokina and Vislova in 58 minutes. The Russian’s faught back with Tatjana Bibik’s three-game, 56 minute win over Sung Ji Hyun and the new partnership of Polikarpova and Russkikh fell to the 2nd Korean doubles pairing over Ha and Jung and the Korean’s progressed to the last 4 with a 3-1 victory.
Team Peru Crushed By Korea
Day two had the remaining teams play their opening matches, as well as the arrival of Nigeria’s men’s team to the competition, albeit a day later than expected.
Thomas Cup:
Korean booked their place in the last 8 with a 5-0 win over Peru, meaning that China also qualify from Group Ar after their 5-0 win yesterday over the South Americans. Tomorrow’s match sets up to be a winner-take-all between Korea and China to see who tops the group. Japan is also through to the last 8 after defeating Nigeria 5-0, who arrived for this group match unlike yesterdays forfeit over Malaysia. The Nigerian’s failed to win a single game in any of the 5 matches against a relentless Japanese side. Hosts Malaysia will play tomorrow against the Japanese to determine the group winner, as well as the anticipated rematch between Kenichi Tago and Lee Chong Wei.
Germany defeated Poland 5-0 to dump the Poles out of the tournament, setting up a Zwiebler – Gade rematch tomorrow in the final Group C match to find out the group winner. Dieter Domke also has to continue his excellent form to stand a chance against Jan O Jorgensen in the second singles match tomorrow. Indonesia easily disposed of India in the Group D encounter, winning the match 4-1 overall but the main news from the match is Sony Dwi Kuncoro’s retirement in his singles against Arvind Bhatt, with the Indonesian player suffering a back injury in the second game of his match. India and Australia will play in the final group match tomorrow, with the winner progressing into the final 8.
Uber Cup:
Malaysia’s women started their campaign with a comfortable 5-0 win over the USA, conceding just two games in their victory. Both China and Malaysia are through from Group A, but will play tomorrow in the final league match to determine the top spot in the group,
Group B seen Denmark take on Australia, with the European powerhouses expected to coast into the last 8 with a comfortable victory. It started well for them with Camilla Sorensen’s two game victory over Erica Pong, but the next hour was a disaster for the Danes, with Karina Jorgensen losing to Renuga Veeran 20-22, 13-21 and then Mette Poulsen’s stunning collapse to Chia Chi Huang 11-21, 5-21 gave Australia an unlikely 2-1 lead. Pedersen and Rytter Juhl were needed to win just to keep Denmark in the rubber, 28 minutes later, the score was level at 2-2 with a 21-12, 21-19 victory for the Danish pair. Kristiansen and Ropke played the final match for Denmark against Tan and Huang of Australia, it resulted in the longest match of the five, but the Danes came through in two games, winning 21-13, 21-16 to book their place in the last 8, eliminating Australia but leaves a big question mark over Denmark’s credentials in the competition.
Juliane Schenk continued her run of good form to give Germany another lead today, this time against Russia as Schenk defeated Ella Diehl 21-16, 21-13 to give Germany a 1-0 lead in the rubber. It was the only lead that the Germans would have, as Bibik and Prokopenko thrust Russia into a 2-1 lead with tight victories over Schnaase and Deprez of Germany. Sorokina and Vislova made it 3-1 with a two game victory over Overzier and Schenk and the new partnership of Diehl and Russkikh completed the rout with a two game victory to book Russia’s place in the last 8.
India’s women had a better day than their male counterparts, defeating South Africa 5-0 to book their place in the last 8. Saina Newhal was on court less than 20 minutes in her victory over Kerry-Lee Harrington, with the remaining four matches taking just 79 minutes to be completed. India take on Korea tomorrow to determine top spot in the group.
Denmark Dominates European Field
The chances of a home triumph lasted until the semi final stages, but the top seeds in the competition proved too much for an unlikely English title.
Mens Singles:
Peter Gade is through to the final, after another hard fought win. This time 3rd seed Marc Zwiebler pushed him all the way in a 78-minute thriller. Gade dropped the first game but dominated play in the next two games, never giving Zwiebler an opportunity to lead and took the next two to book his place in the final, winning 18-21, 21-12, 21-17.
Jan Jorgensen survived an early scare against Petr Koukal in round, since then he has not dropped a game on route to the final. His semi final opponent was 4th seed Rajiv Ouseph, who had the local support behind him, however it wasn’t to be for the current English national champion, losing out to Jorgensen 21-14, 22-20.
Women’s Singles
Pi Hongyan is the only top seed to fall at this years Championships, losing out to 3rd seeded Juliane Schenk of Germany at the semi final stage. The top seed was never really in match that seed Schenk hit 14 smash winners over the two games, winning 21-13, 21-14 to book her place in the final.
The second semi final seen 2nd seed Tine Rasmussen play against 6th seed Ella Diehl, a tight first game ensued as the lower seed took the lead in the middle of the opening game, only to drop 8 points in a row at 13-14 to gift the opening game to Rasmussen. The second game was a much more dominating performance by Rasmussen as she pulled out an early lead and continues to stretch it out before claiming the second game 21-16 to book her place against Juliane Schenk tomorrow.
Doubles:
All three doubles will be contested by the top 2 seeds in the competition, with a second all-Danish final in the men’s doubles between Paaske and Rasmussen (seeded 2) and Boe and Mogensen (seeded 1). Their last match was in the All-England final, which Paaske and Rasmussen won in the third game 26-24.
The women’s final will have three Russians and one Bulgarian on court, as top seeded Nedelcheva and Russkikh take on the 2nd seeded Russian pair Vislova and Sorokina. The top seeds ended the English challenge of Gabby White and Mariana Agathangelou 21-18, 21-13 to book their place in Sunday’s final. The second seeded Russians have failed to drop a game on route to the final.
The mixed doubles final sees the current world champions Laybourn and Rytter Juhl go for European success against Poland’s Mateusiak and Kostiuczyk, the 2nd seeds who ended the run of Jenny Wallwork and Nathan Robertson today with a three game victory. The top seeds have failed to drop a game on their way to the final in a run that has seen them play no seeded pair to reach Sunday’s final.
Gade Moves On To Semi-Finals
The English interest in the tournament is down to just three, whilst the Danish and German teams have plenty of interest in most of the events going into the weekend.
Mens Singles:
Top seed Peter Gade was in fine form after his 3 game scare against Raul Must yesterday, his opponent was the 8th seeded Carl Baxter of England for a place in the last 4. 35 minutes is all it took for Gade to win the match by the score of 21-14, 21-11. The top seed Dane will play Marc Zweibler of Germany in the semi final after the German 3rd seed beat 5th seeded Dicky Palyama in their quarterfinal match. After dropping the opening game, Zweibler battled back to take the match 19-21, 21-10, 21-16.
The other semi final is between the 2nd seeded Jan O Jorgensen, who defeated fellow Dane Joachim Persson in his quarterfinal 21-13, 21-17 to reach the last 4. He plays the 4th seeded Englishman Rajiv Ouseph after he defeated the final unseeded player in the draw, Ireland’s Scott Evans in three games 15-21, 23-21, 21-12, with Scott Evans having a match point at 21-20 in the second game.
Women’s Singles
Pi Hongyan continues to live up to her top seed with a three game victory over the 5th seeded Petya Nedelcheva, winning 21-15, 14-21, 21-12 to book her place in the semi final against Juliane Schenk of Germany, who beat the 7th seeded Judith Meulendijks in three games also, winning 21-16, 16-21, 21-15 to set up the first semi final.
The second semi final sees the 6th seeded Ella Diehl take on the 2nd seeded Tine Rasmussen. The Russian defeated 4th seeded Jie Yao in two games, 21-18, 21-17 to set up a match against the Danish 2nd seeded. She defeated Scotland’s Susan Egelstaff in two games also, 21-8, 21-16.
Doubles:
The Danish domination in the men’s doubles continues, with all 3 seeded pairs safely progressing to the last 4 without the loss of a game at the quarterfinal stage. They are joined the semi finals by the German pair of Michael Fuchs and Ingo Kindervater, who defeated Peter Mills and Marcus Ellis of England in three games to progress to the last 4.
3 of the 4 seeds are still in the women’s doubles draw, with only the 3rd seeded French pair of Choinet and Rasadi falling to English pair Agathangelou and Olver in three games. The unseeded English ladies play top seeds Nedelcheva and Russkikh for a place in Sunday’s final. The other semi final is between Danes Damkjear Kruse and Schjott-Kristensen, seeded 4 and Vislova and Sorokina of Russia, seeded 2.
The top three seeds in the mixed doubles have been joined in the semi finals by Belgian duo Claes and Descamps, they defeated Kindervater and Overzier in three games to set up a match against top seeded Laybourn and Rytter Juhl of Denmark. The other semi final is between Poland’s Mateusiak and Kostiuczyk and England’s Robertson and Wallwork, with both pairs coming through their quarterfinal matches in two games.
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