Germany’s hope of a title on home soil lies with Juliane Schenk, the 3rd seeded topped the world number 2 Wang Xin to reach the women’s singles final.
Chinese Presence In Singles Finals
Lin Dan progressed into tomorrow’s men’s singles final with a straight forward two game victory over Tommy Sugiarto to stop any chance of an all-Indonesian final. Simon Santoso defeated Jan O Jorgensen in two games to set up a 10th meeting with Lin Dan, with his sole victory coming by way of walkover in 2007. Li Xuerui takes on Juliane Schenk in the women’s singles final after the 2nd seed topped Gu Juan in her semi final in two games.
Lee Going For Two Titles
Lee Yong Dae has successfully reached the mixed and men’s doubles finals, losing just two games on route to both finals. Lee and Jung defeated the Japanese pairing of Endo and Hayakawa but their 2nd seeded team-mates Ko and Yoo crashed out in the second semi final to the unseeded pair of Hong and Shen. This is the 6th meeting between the pairs, with the top seeded Koreans winning the previous 5 matches.
The 7th and 8th seeds will play in the women’s doubles final, with the 7th seeded Jung and Kim defeating the 2nd seeded Fujii and Kakiiwa to reach the final. The second semi final saw the 8th seeded Huan and Tang defeating Cheng and Pan in an all-Chinese semi final. The 8th seeded Chinese pair hold a 1-0 advantage in the head to head in previous meetings.
Lee and Ha needed over an hour to defeat the unseeded Japanese pairing of Sato and Matsuo before booking their place in the mixed doubles final. Their opponent will be the 2009 world champions, Laybourn and Rytter Juhl who defeated the 2nd seeded Prapakamol and Thoungthongkam in the second semi final. This will be the first meeting between the world number 7 and 8 pairings.
The week begun with high hopes for Marc Zwiebler and Juliane Schenk, but going into the weekend there is only Juliane Schenk left in the draw from all of the German entries that started the week.
Jorgensen Keeps European Hopes Alive
Lin Dan progressed into the semi finals with a tough two game victory over Hans-Kristian Vittinghus where he will take on Tommy Sugiarto after the Indonesian defeated Ville Lang in his quarter final encounter. Simon Santoso ensured a double Indonesian threat with his victory over Shon Wan Ho but needed 79 minutes and also to save a match point to ensure his place in the last 4. Jan O Jorgensen defeated Wong Wing Ki in his quarter final in two game to ensure at least one European player still playing at the weekend.
Schenk Faces Toughest Task
Juliane Schenk claimed a three game victory over Inthanon Ratchanok in just over an hour to book her place in the semi finals. Her opponent in the last 4 is the top seeded Wang Xin, who needed three games to defeated Sung Ji Hyun which will give Schenk some hope of an upset tomorrow even though she has lost all of her three meetings with the world number 2 without taking a game in either. The other semi final sees Li Xuerui take on the unseeded Gu Juan of Singapore, with the added intrigue that Gu Juan beat the 2nd seed in their last encounter in China last September.
European Interest Down To 1
Only Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl have any hope of an Asian clean sweep in the doubles events, with the 4th seeds defeating Yoo and Jang in their quarter final and take on the 2nd seeded Thai pair of Prapakamol and Thoungthongkam in the semi final. Lee and Ha take on the unseeded Japanese pair of Sato and Matsuo in the other semi final, with Lee Yong Dae looking for two titles this week.
Lee and partner Jung Jae Sung are through to the semi finals of the women’s doubles with a walkover against Kim and Kim in their quarter final match. They take on the unseeded pair of Endo and Hayakawa in their semi final match and the chance of an all-Korean final looms large with the 2nd seeded Ko and Yoo taking on Hong and Shen of China in the second semi final.
China have ensured a place in Sunday’s women’s doubles final, with Cheng and Pan taking on the 8th seeded Huan and Tang in the semi finals, with the seeded pair defeating the 3rd seeds Maeda and Suetsuna of Japan to reach the last 4. Fujii and Kakiiwa ensure at least some Japanese involvement, as the 2nd seeds take on the Korean pair of Jung and Kim in the other semi final.
Polish International Draws
This week’s event in Poland is one of the last events before the European Championships in Manchester next month and has attracted some of the big names in European badminton to play themselves into form ahead of next month’s European Championships.
Mens Singles:
The top seed is Joachim Persson who is coming off a poor 2-week run in the Super Series, losing out to Kenichi Tago in Round 2 in the All England and another second round defeat to Chen Jin in Switzerland last week. His campaign this week begins against the Swede Magnus Sahlberg before a potential 2nd round encounter with Ville Lang of Finland.
Christian Lind Thomsen (Seeded 3) and Peter Mikkelsen (Seeded 4) lead a strong Danish squad looking for success in the men’s singles draw. Przemyslaw Wacha is the local hope in the competition, seeded 2 but there is also threats from the Ukranian Dmtyro Zavadsky, seeded 5 and Petr Koukal of the Czech Republic, seeded 7. Vladimir Malkov of Russia is another threat, seeded 8.
Women’s Singles
Singapore’s top seed Zhang Beiwen starts her campaign against rising Belgian starlet Lianne Tan, hoping to past her semi final defeat to Gu Juan in last week’s event behind her. The other potential winners of the event coming from the Netherlands and Ukraine, with Judith Meulendijks and Rachel Van Cutsen leading the Dutch charge. Larisa Griga and Elena Prus are the big Ukrainan hopes.
Mixed Doubles:
Poland’s best chance of success lie with Robert Mateusiak and Nadiezda Kostiuczyk, however with their withdrawal at the semi final stage last week in Switzerland, questions will be asked if they are 100% fit to attempt to win on their home soil. Should they fail to deliver, two other Polish pairings are seeded. 3rd seeded Cwalina and Kurdieska and 4th seeded Szkudiarczyk and Motjkowska.
Polish International 2010 Draws
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