Lu Lan Upsets Wang Yihan
Since her 2009 win in the world championships, Lu Lan has almost fallen off the Badminton world, after her absence from the world championships this year and from her non-appearance at this years world championship to defend her title she has dropped to China’s number 6 player.
That all changed today as she defeated the top seed Wang Yihan in stunning fashion with a 21-15, 21-9 victory to set up a quarter final matchup with another unseeded Chinese player, Jiang Yanjiao. In an equally impressive performance, Jiang Yanjiao took out the 6th seeded Pi Hongyan in two games, winning 21-6, 21-11 to set up the all-Chinese quarter final.
There also wins for Wang Xin, Wang Shixian and Tine Baun to progress into the last 8. There is also two Japanese players in the last 8, Eriko Hirose takes on the 2nd seeded Wang Xin whilst qualifier Shizuka Uchida takes on the 3rd seed Wang Shixian.
Anticipation was rife that Kenichi Tago could beat the top seed in Japan this week, but Lee Chong Wei took his record over the Japanese player to 6-0 with an impressive 21-10, 21-10 win to book his place in the last 8. Bao Chunlai is the top seeds next opponent after defeating Kazushi Yamada in two games. There was a two game victory for Lin Dan over Hu Yun to set up a third meeting with Park Sung Hwan in the last 4 weeks. Peter Gade is also through to the quarter finals after a three game victory over Japanese qualifier Takuma Ueda, he plays Tien Minh Nguyen who stopped an all-Danish quarter final with his two game victory over Jan O Jorgensen.
The two seeds remaining the men’s doubles progressed safely into the last 8, with Koo and Tan defeating Chen and Lin in two games and Cai and Fu disposing of Pratama and Saputro. Both seeds take on a Korean pair in the last 8, with Koo and Tan taking on Kim and Shin whilst Cai and Fu take on Cho and Kwon for a place in the last 4.
The women’s doubles lost three local pairs today, most notably the 4th seeded Fujii and Kakiiwa who were defeated in two games by Jang and Kim of Korea. The last remaining Japanese pair, Maeda and Suetsuna takes on the Macau pair of Zhang and Zhang for a place in the last 4. There were also wins for Cheng and Chien, the top seeds take on Kim and Lee of Korea in the last 4.
It has been a disappointing month for Widianto and Natsir, top seeds for the previous three events and failing to reach the final in any of them. Their most recent failure came today with a tame defeat to unseeded Chinese pair Zhang and Zhao. The new partnership of He and Ma came through a three game scare against Lee and Chien to book their place in the last 8, where they play Zhang and Zhao.
There were no shocks in the bottom half of the draw, with all four seeds progressing. Only Fischer Nielsen and Pedersen dropped a game against their Korean opponents Shin and Ha but they progressed to set up an all-Danish quarter final tomorrow.
Taufik Hidayat Upset By Sho Sasaki
Japan was well represented at their home Super Series, but only the mainstays on the tour have survived into Round 2. 7th seeded Eriko Hirose is the big hope in the women’s singles and is through to Round 2 with a two game win over Cheng Shao Chieh on the opening day.
Kenichi Tago faught back from a game down to ensure his place in the second round, his reward is a match with top seeded Lee Chong Wei who was impressive in his 21-5, 21-9 opening round victory. On the other side of this half of the draw, Lin Dan secured his place in the last 16 with a two game win and will play Hu Yun of Hong Kong is his second round match.
Sho Sasaki was the story of the day for the local crowd; defeating 4th seeded Taufik Hidayat in three tight games to secure his place in the last 16 against Park Sung Hwan. There were wins for Jan O Jorgensen and Tien Minh Nguyen also, but the unlikely story in the draw is Takuma Ueda. The Japanese qualifier defeated Eric Pang to set up a dream last 16 match up with 2nd seeded Peter Gade, who defated Wong Wing Ki in two games today.
Round 2 in the women’s draw is full of intrigue, as the draw has top seeded Wang Yihan likely to play three of her Chinese team-mates on route to the final. Tomorrow sees her play the 2009 World Champion Lu Lan, with the winner to play the winner of Pi Hongyan and Jiang Yanjiao. Wang Shixian is the likely opponent in the last 4 for any of those four ladies.
The bottom half is more simple, with Tine Baun, Wang Xin and Eriko Hirose all winning comfortably. The only casualty is 8th seeded Yao Jie who was defeated in two games by Sung Ji Hyun of Korea, who will now play Japan’s Sayaka Sato in the round of 16.
The men’s doubles has been decimated with a trio of big name upsets in the opening round. 6th seeded Fang and Lee crashed out in a three game loss to Kim and Shin of Korea before Lee and Jung, seeded 7 lost tamely into two games to their Thai opponents, Anugritayawon and Prapakamol. Then the third shock of the day came with 3rd seeded Boe and Mogensen crashing out in three games also to the unseeded Malaysian pair of Chan and Lim. The top half of the draw has just one seed remaining, the top seeded Koo and Tan who progressed safely in two games.
The 2nd seeds Kido and Setiawan pulled out pre-event, as well as 4th seeded Guo and Xu. Leaving just the 5th seeded Cai and Fu and the 8th seeded Chandra and Gunawan in the bottom half of the draw. Both pairs progressed safely to the second round with two game victories.
The expectancy of all the of the 7 seeds that started the week making the second round was not a bold expectation, only the 6th seeded Pan and Tian pulled out pre-event to stop the clean sweep of seeds into the second round. The two Japanese hopes in the draw have a potential clash in the semi final as 2nd seeded Maeda and Suetsuna and 4th seeded Fujii and Kakiiwa both progressed into round 2. 5th seeded Wang and Yu are also a pair to watch, they are into the last 16 with a 21-11, 21-7 victory in round 1.
The mixed doubles almost has a full compliment of seeds remaining, with only the 4th seeds Thai pairing of Anugritayawon and Voravichitchaikul crashed out in the two games to the unseeded Korean pair of Yoo and Kim. There was little problems for the 2nd and 3rd seeded pairs, who came through their opening round matches against their Japanese opponents. 8th seeded Tao and Tian had to save a match point in their opening round match against Susanto and Rijal, coming through 25-23 in the third game.
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.
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.
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.
Ponsana Disposes of Kuncoro
It was a bad day to be the 3rd seed in both singles events as both fell at the quarter final stage today. Eriko Hirose lost in the women’s singles to unseeded Adriyanti Firdasari of Indonesia in two games whilst Sony Kuncoro lost out to the 5th seeded Boonsak Ponsana in three tight games, losing 25-23 in the final game in 77 minutes.
Lee Chong Wei had no such problems in his two game win over Wan Ho Shon of Korea, his fourth straight victory without the loss of a game this week. In the semi final, he will play 4th seed Simon Santoso after his stunning 21-6, 21-5 victory over Wing Ki Wong of Hong Kong. The other semi final sees Boonsak Ponsana take on the Korean qualifier Lee Hyun Il who defeated the 13th seed Hsieh Yu Hsing of Chinese Taipei.
The women’s singles draw has just one seed remaining in Zhou Mi, the 4th seed defeated on-form Ai Goto in two games to book her place in the semi final against unseeded Li Xuerui of China, who defeated Macau’s Wang Rong in three games to book her place in the last 4. The other semi final sees Adriyanti Firdasari take on Chinese Taipei’s unseeded Shao Chieh Cheng, who profited in the women’s doubles from Lee Hyo Jung’s retirement in the opening round.
Shao Chieh Cheng’s run in the women’s doubles ended today with a tight two game loss to 6th seeded Zhang and Zhang of Macau. The Macau pair take on Jauhrai and Polii of Indonesia in the semi finals after the 5th seeds defeated 2nd seeed Chin and Wong of Malaysia. The two highest seeded pairs remaining in the draw play each other in the other semi final, as top seeds Maeda and Suetsuna of Japan play Cheng and Chien of Chinese Taipei, the 3rd seeds and last weeks winners in the US Open.
The top 2 seeds from the men’s doubles are still in the competition and are joined in the last 4 by two unseeded Korean pairs. 2nd seeded Kido and Setiawan, who have failed to drop a game this week take on Ko and Yoo of Korean who defeated Endo and Hayakawa 22-20 in the third of their quarter final match. The other Korean pair, Cho and Kwon take on the 3rd seed Chandra and Gunawan in the last 4 for a place in Sunday’s final.
The mixed doubles is between 3 Indonesian pairs and a Thai partnership. Top seed Gunawan and Marissa take on the 8th seeds Prapakamol and Thoungthongkam of Thailand, who have yet to drop a game on route to the last 4. The other semi final is an all-Indonesian match between 6th seeded Ahmad and Natsir against the on-form unseeded pair of Teng and Bernadet who have defeated two seeds on route to the last 4 without the loss of a game to date.
Kuncoro Set To Play Ponsana in Quarters
The last 16 was going to see some all-seeded counters, so the expectation was that some seeds would fall, but there was still some unlikely casualties on day 3.
Lee Chong Wei however was not one of them as he safely booked his place in the last 8 with a routine two game victory in 30 minutes. He plays the 15th seeded Wan Ho Shon of Korea in the last 8 after a tight three game victory over Hu Yun, the 8th seed from Hong Kong. There were victories for the 3rd seeded Sony Kuncoro and 4th seed Simon Santoso also, as well as the 5th seeded Boonsak Ponsana who sets up a quarter final match against Sony Kuncoro tomorrow. The qualifier Lee Hyun Il is also through to the last 8 after an impressive two game victory over 11th seeded Yan Kit Chan.
The highest seed in the women’s singles , Jie Yao crashed out to China’s Li Xuerui in two close games and sets up a quarter final match against Macau’s Wang Rong who defeated the talented Japanese player Sayaka Sato to book her place in the last 8. There was little problems with Eriko Hirose after surprisingly dropping the opening game against Chinese qualifer Suo Di, but fought back to take the next two games in impressive fashion. The quarter final to watch tomorrow is between Ai Goto of Japan, who fought through a tight three game encouter with Deng Xuan of China. She will play the 4th seeded Zhou Mi who is having her best run in a tournament for a number of months, she also battled through her second round match in three games.
Only two seeds remain in the men’s doubles, 3rd seeded Chandra and Gunawan defeated their Korean opponents Kim and Shin in three games to book their place in the quarter finals whilst the 2nd seeded Kido and Setiawan had little troubles in their two game victory over Chan and Lim of Malaysia. The two seeded partnerships cannot meet until the final. Whilst in the women’s doubles draw, 6 of the 8 remaining partnerships are seeded, with Ng and Ng over Malaysia defeating the 7th seeded Thai pairing of Amitrapai and Munkit in three games. Cheng and Cheng of Chinese Taipei are the other unseeded pair in the draw, defeating Chan and Chau in two games, who defeated the 4th seeds in their opening round match.
The mixed doubles is dominated by South East Asia, only two Korean partnerships break up the monopoly in the last 8. Top seeds Marissa and Gunawan faught back from a game down to progress to the last 8 and set up an all-Indonesian match against Rijal and Susanto. The first of the Korean couples through is the 4th seeded Ko and Ha who came through a tight three game match to book their place in tomorrow’s quarter final. The other Korean pair in the draw is qualifiers Kwon and Jang who have taken the place of their higher profile Korean players Lee and Lee slot in their quarter of the draw, they will take on the 6th seeded Ahmad and Natsir of Indonesia.
Lee and Taufik To Meet In Final
Sony Kuncoro’s quest for a second title in two weeks ended today at the hands of the top seed, Lee Chong Wei delivered a resounding 21-13, 21-9 victory over the 7th seeded Indonesian to rob the locals of a potential all-Indonesian final. They did get one player into the final, 2nd seeded Taufik Hidayat defeated the 3rd seeded Tien Minh Nguyen in two games to set up a final between the top two seeds in the singles draw. Saina Nehwal is into her second final in 7 days with a fabulous 21-10, 21-9 victory over Eriko Hirose of Japan to book her place in tomorrow’s final. Nehwal plays another Japanese player in the final as Sayaka Sato defeated unseeded Indonesian Ana Rovita in two games to book her place in the final.
The men’s doubles will be an unseeded affair, with Cho and Kwon taking out the 6th seeded Hashimoto and Hirata to book their place in the final. The Korean’s will take on Fang and Lee of Chinese Taipei who defeated Clark and Robertson in their semi final encounter. Both pairs came back from a game behind in their respective matches to win in three games. The mixed doubles final will be without it’s top seed and local superstars Widianto and Natsir as they suffered a three game defeat to Poland’s Zieba and Mateusiak, the 3rd seeds. There is still some local interest the final as the partnership of Anastacia Russkikh and Hendra Setiawan defeated the 7th seeded Ko and Ha of Korea to book their place in the final. For the second Super Series running, there will be a European winner in the mixed doubles.
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.
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