Taufik Fails to Make Quarters
With the absence of world number one Lee Chong Wei, Taufik Hidayat was billed as the top seed. However the Indonesian player failed to make it to the quarter-finals stage as he fell to Chinese Taipei’s Hsueh Hsuan Yi in two games 22-20, 21-16. Next up for Hsueh will be All England runner up Kenichi Tago who defeated Hong Kong’s Chan Yan Kit.
An upset on paper, but hardly a huge surprise was the loss of Vietnam’s Tien Minh Nguyen to Malaysia’s Hafiz Hashim. The lanky Malaysian won in three games 21-19, 14-21, 21-15 to book his place in the quarter-finals against Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana. Number 2 seed Lin Dan has yet to be pushed thus far with a quick 21-8, 21-17 win over Chou Tien Chen from Chinese Taipei.
Saina Nehwal has managed to maintain her top billing thus far with a win over Julia Pei Xian Wong 21-14, 21-16. Saina’s next round will however be more challenging where she faces Malaysia’s top player Wong Mew Choo. Hong Kong’s Yip Pui Yin failed to live up to her number 4 seeding when she lost poorly to Chinese qualifier Li Xuerui 21-13, 21-8. Another match to watch tomorrow will be the showdown between Salakajit Ponsana and Zhou Mi, however the edge surely goes to Zhou.
Japan had a bad day today in the mens doubles losing both of the teams who were seeded 8th and 2nd. Kenichi Hayakawa and Kenta Kazuno were the first to fall when they lost to Malaysia’s Mak Hee Chun and Tan Wee Kiong 21-17, 21-19. Next it was Hirokatsu Hashimoto and Noriyasu Hirata losing to yet another Malaysian pair Hoon Thien How and Ong Soon Hock 21-17, 21-18. With the exception of these two Japanese pairs all of the other seeds successfully made their way to the quarter-finals.
Similar to the mens doubles the womens doubles lacked much of it’s usual stars with Pan Pan and Tian Qing being the only notable Chinese pair in the draw. The Chinese sixth seeds easily moved past their opponents Aparna Balan and Shruti Kurlan 21-10, 21-12. They will now face second seeds from Japan Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna.
The usually strong Chinese haven’t fared well in the mixed with only one remaining pair. Second seeds Tao Jiaming and Zhang Yawen were upset by Thailand’s Patipat Chalardchaleam and Savitree Amitapai 21-11, 12-21, 21-17. India’s top seeds did better by making their way to the quarter-finals with a solid win over Chinese Taipei’s Lee Sheng Mu and Chien Yu Chin 24-22, 21-15.
Badminton Asia Championships 2010 Draws
Wang Lin Falls to Schenk
Heading into the finals tomorrow China has secured themselves finalists in all of the finals with the exception of the mixed doubles event. Perhaps the strongest challenge to China’s dominance in the finals tomorrow is home town favourite Juliane Schenk who upset top seeded Wang Lin today in three close games 17-21, 21-15, 21-16. The German proved that she is one of the few Europeans capable of challenging the Chinese in the women’s singles event, but she will have to do it again tomorrow against second seeded Wang Xin if she wants to take home the title.
In the mixed doubles it was England’s Robert Blair and Scotland’s Imogen Bankier that prevented China from having a pair in the finals when they defeated Tao Jiaming and Zhang Yawen in two games 21-17, 21-19. While the British pair may not have been seeded, Blair has a history of winning some big matches, like appearance in the 2006 World Championships finals in the men’s doubles, so it’s best not to underestimate this pair tomorrow when they face Hong Kong’s Yohan Hadikusumo Wiramata and Tse Ying Suet.
As is so often the case, China has already secured themselves a top finish in both the women’s doubles and the men’s singles. In the women’s doubles the top two seeded pairs are facing off after Cheng Shu and Zhao Yunlei sailed passed Russia’s Valeria Sorokina and Nina Vislova, and they will play Ma Jin and Wang Xiaoli in the finals.
The men’s singles featured two Chinese players facing off against two Malaysians. First it was Chen Long up against Hafiz Hashim. Hafiz has been trying to regain his top form, and while this tournament was an improvement for the lanky Malaysian, Chen Long was the better player winning in two straight games 21-15, 21-19. Next up it was Bao Chunlai against Wong Choong Han. Similar to Hashim, Wong has had a fairly good run in Germany this week, but Bao was much stronger winning 21-18, 21-13.
Finally in the mens doubles we can look forward to up and coming Chinese pair Chai Biao and Zhang Nan taking to the courts against Chinese Taipei’s Chung Hun Lin and Lin Yu Lang.
German Open 2010 Semi-Final Results
There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the highlight of tonight’s matches was the match between Jan O Jorgensen and the top seeded Peter Gade. Gade has been the top Dane for the last decade with little challenge to that place, but tonight Jorgensen showed us that he is serious about being the replacement. The young Dane got off to a slow start losing the first game 7-21, and at that point it certainly looked like we were about to see a bloodbath. However, much like last night’s match against Eric Pang where Jorgensen lost the first game 9-21, he managed to turn things around winning the second game 21-17. Through the whole match Gade looked very calm, while Jorgensen looked much more hyped up and even nervous at times. In the end Jorgensen won the match by charging the net and finding himself with all the expectations of a nation. The final score was 7-21, 21-17, 21-16, and now Jorgensen will face Simon Santoso of Indonesia. Overall it was a good night for the home crowd as the majority of their players had success, the only exceptions being in the men’s doubles where Paaske/Rasmussen and Henriksen/Kristiansen both lost their matches. Paaske/Rasmussen lost to an inspired looking Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong fairly quickly, 21-11, 21-16.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69p4Zx0_-RU[/youtube]
While Jorgensen is grabbing all of the attention, there is another Cinderella story in the making for German player Marc Zwiebler. Zwiebler certainly has not had the benefit of an easy draw as he had to knock out both of Malaysia’s single’s players, Wong Choong Han and Hafiz Hashim, en route to his quarter-final match against Chen Long. While his previous two matches were quite close this match was much more comfortable as he won 21-16, 21-13. Next up Zwiebler has Sony Dwi Kuncoro, the tournaments second seed.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAYd_mTyce4[/youtube]
For full results and to view the draws visit the link below:
Denmark Open Super Series 2009 Draws
The day shifted back and forth between events but started with women’s singles and Japan got themselves off to a good start sending both Ai Goto and Eriko Hirose through to the quarter-finals. Goto struggled slightly with her Ukrainian opponent Larisa Griga, but pulled out the win with a scoreline of 21-17, 22-20.
A notable upset early in the day came in the mixed doubles when the Polish pair of Meteusiak/Kostiuczyk defeated Indonesia’s fifth seeded Gunawan/Marissa. The Polish pair were in control the entire match and never seemed in danger winning 21-15, 21-13. Shortly afterwards Simon Santoso made sure that another fifth seeded Indonesian wouldn’t suffer the same fate when he knocked out India’s Aravind Bhat.
Another great performance from Marc Zwiebler sent yet another Malaysian player packing. Zwiebler looked to be down and out in the third game of his match against Hafiz Hashim, trailing 14-17 he rallied back to take the third game and the match 16-21, 21-17, 21-18. Zwiebler will now face China’s Chen Long who struggled against Japan’s Kenichi Tago, but pull through in three games as well.
One of the best matches of the day had to be Koo/Tan vs Dasuki/Sukmawan. The Malaysians Koo and Tan were the favourites, but they found themselves down a game and it really came to the wire in the end. After all was said and done they won the match 16-21, 21-19, 21-19 but not without putting on a great show for the crowd first. At one point Koo was on his back returning drives to his Indonesian opponents.
India had much to be proud of today as both their top singles players advanced. Chetan Anand had a close call against Sune Gavnholt winning 21-19, 15-21, 21-9 but Saina Nehwal had a somewhat easier match against Camilla Sorensen winning in two straight 21-15, 21-14. Unfortunately for Anand Pawar he had to retire 5-2 down in the first game against Peter Gade. It isn’t clear exactly what happened, but Pawar walked off court holding his lower back. Finally RMV Gurusaidutt upset Joachim Persson in three games 17-21, 21-12, 21-19.
While Joachim Persson was off form today, the young up and comer Jan O Jorgensen had better luck in his match against Eric Pang. After a shaky start the young Dane came back to win for the third time in three weeks against Pang 9-21, 21-13, 21-11. Tomorrow we can look forward to a battle between the old guard and the new guard as Jorgensen is set to play defending champion Peter Gade.
For full results and to view the draws visit the link below:
Denmark Open Super Series 2009 Draws
The first thing that comes to mind when I’m looking at these draws is wow they have a lot of qualifying draws. However, most of them have been listed as no match, and most of the players have been promoted to the main draw, maybe a lot of people have pulled out?
There are not very many big names in this event, Bao Chunlai, Boonsak Ponsana, Hafiz Hashim, Kuan Beng Hong and Chetan Anand are the first big names that I’ve noticed so far. I don’t know who the first seed was, but it looks like they pulled out of the event. The international calendar is going to be quiet for a while now, which is a little disappointing after the excitement surrounding All Englands and Swiss Open, but when summer rolls around we’ll have a few more things to talk about.
Happy Suwon Asian Badminton Championship 2009 Draws
After a difficult past couple of weeks Lee Chong Wei was unable to keep the hopes alive for his Malaysian fans, and today it looks like his compatriot Hafiz Hashim was also unable to bring home the title as he lost to Taufik Hidayat 21-18, 21-19. In all of their 6 previous encounters Taufik was the victor.
For the time being it looks like there is a bit of a break in the international calendar. We won’t see much from the top players until April 7th when the Happy Suwon Asian Badminton Championship 2009 starts in Suwon, Korea. There doesn’t seem to be any draws posted for that event so far but we’ll be sure to post those soon.
India Open Badminton 2009 Draws
I might not have paid him much attention initially, but Chen Long is proving he is worthy of our respect. He is now into the semi-finals of the India Open. His latest victim was Lee Tsuen Seng who he defeated 21-15, 21-8, a fairly convincing victory from the looks of the score. Next he will play Hafiz Hashim who knocked out Indonesia’s Andre Tedjono in three games 21-18, 14-21, 21-16.
On the bottom half of the draw we have an all Indonesia semi-final between Taufik Hidayat and Tommy Sugiarto. Sugiarto is the son of the famous Icuk Sugiarto. It is highly unlikely that he will be able to beat Taufik, but who knows, crazier things have happened. My money is on Taufik to win the tournament, but of course Taufik can be incredibly unpredictable so who knows.
India Open Badminton 2009 Draws
It would be silly of me to predict any other result that a Lee Chong Wei vs Taufik Hidayat final. I’ll go with Lee Chong Wei for this one. What could be interesting is if Andrew Smith makes it to the semis and play Taufik. I know I talk about this kid a lot, and he hasn’t had a top 10 win yet, but it’s coming I promise. He did just beat Wong Choong Han, so he is legitimate.
I think the guy to look out for on the other side is Hafiz Hashim. He is suffering from a low ranking, but he is incredibly talented, as is his brother Roslin. This tournament is going to be a lot of Malaysians kicking butt for the most part.
India Open Badminton 2009 Draws
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