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.

Day 1 Results

Lee Hoping For Gold

The 2009 final was perhaps the greatest final in recent memory between Cai/Fu and Lee/Jung, China’s national coach Li Yongbo called the match “”a classic that will be often recalled as one of the best men’s doubles matches in the recent history of the sport”. Can the 2010 final live up to last years final? The potential rematch is on.

Koo and Tan of Malaysia are this years top seeds, and after their first round bye they take on the Kopriva brothers of the Czech Republic, ranked 65^th in the world. Chai and Zhang are the other seeds in the section, with the 14^th seeds from China taking on Issara and Jongjit of Thailand, the world number 101. The other match in the section is between Ivanov and Sozonov of Russia and Bosch and Ridder of Holland, with the winners likely to play Chai and Zhang in Round 2.

Despite a world ranking of 4, last years finalists Lee and Jung are ranked 7^th for the 2010 Championships which could be down to Lee Yong Dae’s injury over the past few months. Despite their high ranking, they still receive an opening round bye before playing Fogarty and Neumann of the USA, ranked 59 in the world. The 9^th seeded Chandra and Gunawan are the other seeds in the section and take on Welsh dup Morgan and Philips in Round 1, the world number 56. The other match is between Saputra and Wijaya of Singapore take on Fuchs and Kindervater of Germany for a place in Round 2.

Guo and Xu are the big Chinese hope for 2010, the 4^th seeds have an opening round bye before taking on the young English pairing of Langridge and Middleton of England, the world number 33. The 12^th seeded Chen and Lin of Chinese Taipei taking on Sato and Kawamae of Japan in Round 1, ranked 29^th in the world and the match that will be one of the best of the opening round. There is local interest with Constantin and Vincent of France taking on the Australian pair of Gunaratne and Whitehead for a place in Round 2.

The 2010 All England winners Paaske and Rasmussen are the 8^th seeds and after their opening round bye take on the Austria’s Grassmuck and Zimwald, the world number 68 pairing. The 15^th seeded Kumar and Thomas of India begin their campaign with a match against Africa’s #2 Fagbemi and Ifraimu of Nigeria, ranked 93^rd in the world. Africa’s #1 James and Viljoen, ranked 92 in the world take on the French pair of Corvee and Grosjean.

The 2009 winners Cai and Fu have played just 5 tournaments since their triumph last year and have slipped to 13 in the world rankings, but received the 5^th seed for this years championship and begin their campaign against Croatia’s Durkinjak and Hoelbling, ranked 60^th in the world. The match of the opening round is between 10^th seeded Bach and Gunawan of the USA and Robertson and Clark of England, ranked 20^th in the world. The English pairing pulled out of the 2009 Championships due to security concerns and will not want to be put out in the opening round in 2010. The winners of that match take on the winners of the final match in the section between Magee and Stephenson of Ireland and Konov and Zavadsky of the Ukraine.

The big European hope in 2010 is Boe and Mogensen, the world number 3 and seeded 3^rd for the championships. They start their campaign in Round 2 with an all-Danish match against Kristiansen and Henriksen. The Korean pair of Ko and Yoo are the 13^th seeds and the other seed in the section and take on Thailand’s Anugritayawon and Prapakamol, ranked 32^nd in the world. Austria takes on Guatemala in the other match, with Koch and Zauner taking on Cordon and Ramirez.

6^th seeded Fang and Lee begin their campaign against Dutch duo Khodabux and De Ruiter, ranked 48^th in the world. The Japanese 11^th seeds Hashimoto and Hirata are the other seeds in the section and take on Wiratama and Wong of Hong Kong in their opening match; the 23^rd ranked pair should be a tough start for the 11^th seeds. Gan and Tan of Malaysia take on Durkin and Nikolaenko of Russia in the final match in the section, the world number 21 duo taking on the world number 31 pair in arguably the hardest section in the draw to pick a pair to come out of with the 6^th, 11^th, 21^st, 23^rd and 31^st ranked pairings in it.

The final section sees 2^nd seeded Kido and Setiawan start after an opening round bye against Poles Cwalina and Logosz, ranked 61 in the world. Choong and Lee are the final seeds at 16 and take on German pair of Hopp and Schottler of Germany in their opening match. The final match in the section sees the world number 19 of Dasuki and Sukmawan take on French duo of Careme and Grosjean, ranked 45^th in the world.

Men’s Doubles Draw

Schenk Stands in Zhu Lin's Way

Zhu Lin is amassing another impressive list of victories in the US this week after her success in Canada just last week. Pi Hongyan is the latest player to fall to the on form Chinese player, as Zhu Lin defeated the French 2^nd seed in two games to book her place in the semi finals. The semi final is a rematch of the Canadian Open final against Juliane Schenk of Germany. The 3^rd seed has failed to drop a game on route to the semi finals and will want to avenge her defeat last week.

Rajiv Ouseph is through to the semi final of the men’s singles with two game victory over Shon Wan Ho of Korea, he sets up a match against Derek Wong Zillang of Singapore in the last 4. The other semi final sees the 9^th seed Brice Leverdez, who defeated the 4^th seeded Hsieh Yu Hsing in the quarter final play unseeded Japanese player Yuichi Ikeda for a place in Saturday’s final.

The American interest is down to just one, with Chew and Ho losing out at the quarter final stages of the men’s doubles to Kim and Shin of Korea, whose reward for defeating the American pair is a semi final match against the top seeded Fang and Lee of Chinese Taipei. Bach and Gunawan are safety into the final four with a routine victory but have their toughest test to date in the semi final against the 3^rd seded Chen and Lin of Chinese Taipei.

Top seeds in the mixed doubles Mateusiak and Zieba are safely into the last 4 with their 3^rd two game victory of the week. They will play their first seed of the week in the semi finals, 3^rd seeded Lee and Chien of Chinese Taipei. The 2^nd seeded pair of Wallwork and Robertson were defeated in the quarter finals, beaten by the 6^th seeds Chen and Cheng. They will play the German pair of Fuchs and Overzier in the last 4.

Thursday’s Results

Bach and Gunawan Into Quarters

Day 2 provided yet more surprises as more seeds toppled at the last 16 stage. Carl Baxter, Petr Koukal and Scott Evans came through the opening day without losing a game between them but all fell on Day 2. Scott Evans took the opening game against the 4^th seeded Hsing Hsieh Tzu 21-6, only to lose the next two matches 21-9, 21-9.  3^rd seed Rajiv Ouseph is safely through to the quarter finals and will play Shon Wan Ho of Korea, the 7^th seed.

The top three seeds in the women’s draw have all progressed into the last 8, 2^nd seeded Pi Hongyan plays last weeks winner in Canada, Zhu Lin of China in the quarter finals. Juliane Schenk lost out to Zhu Lin in last weeks final and will want revenge this week. Her quarter final opponent is Singapore’s Fu Mingtian who defeated 8^th Anu Nieminen in the opening round. Judith Meulendijks is also safely through, the 4^th seed will play Ma Pai Hsiao of Chinese Taipei in the last 8.

There has been double success in the men’s doubles for the US, with two partnerships making it to the last 8. Chew and Ho are the lesser known of the duo but will get the chance to make a name for themselves as they are last on the main court on Thursday’s order of play against unseeded pair Kim and Shin of Korea. Bach and Gunawan have been in fine form as they have reached the last 8 without the loss of a game. They will play Chou and Lin of Chinese Taipei in the quarter final stage.

The top two seeds in the mixed doubles are safely into the last 8 also, with top seeds Mateusiak and Zieba in impressive form with two dominating wins to reach the quarter final stage. They will take on Ng and Jiang of Canada in their last 8 match. 2^nd seeded Wallwork and Robertson have been equally impressive, with the loss of just 30 points in their two matches to date. Their quarter final test will be the biggest one to date, as they play the 6^th seeded pair from Chinese Taipei, Chen and Cheng.

Wednesday’s Results

Yonex Canada Open Begins

For the first time in over a decade Canada is hosting a grand prix event worthy of the world’s top players.  Today we arrived in Richmond, Canada (a suburb of Vancouver) to begin coverage of this groundbreaking event.  Bobby Milroy, president of ClearOne Sports was on hand to tell us a little bit about the event.

With several World and Olympic Champions on deck the event promises to be a fantastic one.  The qualifying rounds begin Tuesday July 13, and main round matches begin on Wednesday.  The draws are available online now at the link below:

Yonex Canada Open 2010 Full Draws

Taufik Hopes To Take Home Glory

This week’s Super Series gives some of the top seeds from last week a chance to redeem themselves but also allows some unlikely winners an opportunity to continue their excellent vein of form. Peter Gade has returned to Denmark to prepare for the World Championships but there is still an excellent turnout of the world’s top players. Lee Chong Wei will hope for a better week than in Singapore as the top seed looks to regain the form that took him to All-England success in March. Peter Gade may not be in the draw, but Taufik Hidayat is a more than acceptable replacement for the Dane as the 2nd seed this week. Last weeks beaten finalist Boonsak Ponsana is also in the draw, seeded 4th and last weeks winner Sony Kuncoro is the 7th seed this week. There is also some young hopefuls in the draw, such as 5th seeded Jan O Jorgensen and 8th seeded Kenichi Tago.

Saina Nehwal has a fantastic chance to repeat the success from last week as she is the top seed and Pi Hongyan, seeded 2 has withdrawn pre-tournament. Zhou Mi has been unable to consistently win at the Super Series level but the 3rd seed is a handful for any player on her day. Eriko Hirose will want to put her first round defeat last week behind her, the Japanese #1 is seeded 4 for the event.

Koo and Tan are the top seeds in the men’s doubles and hope to go a lot further than their second round defeat last week. 2nd seeded Kido and Setiawan will want to go one better than their loss in the final on Sunday in Singapore. Bach and Gunawan of the USA are the 5th seeds this week and will look to build on a solid performance last week in Singapore.

The top two seeds in the mixed doubles are set for a rematch this week as Widianto and Natsir are seeded 1 and Laybourn and Rytter Juhl are the 2nd seeds this week. Lee Hyo Jung continues with her new partner Kim Min Jung and they are seeded 5 for the event. The 6th seeded Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork will want to put their shock first round defeat from last week behind them with a solid performance this week.

Wednesday’s Order Of Play

Boonsak Ends Gades Hopes

Semi Final day in Singapore had local players Sari and Yao in the last 4 of the Women’s Doubles, where they were the underdogs to beat 4^th seed Cheng and Chien of Chinese Taipei. After losing the opening game, the unseeded pair took the next two games to book their place in tomorrow’s final. The will play the 5^th seeded Korean pair of Lee and Kim who defeated the other unseeded pair in the draw still, Jauhari and Polii of Indonesia.

The mixed doubles had the top three seeds in the last 4, with the top two making in through to tomorrow’s final. Laybourn and Rytter Juhl, the second seeds defeated the 3^rd seeded Gunawan and Marissa in two games. Top seeded Widianto and Natsir are also through after defeating the Chinese Taipei pairing of Chen and Cheng. Cheng Wen Hsing’s excellent week in the women’s doubles and mixed doubles both end at the semi final stage.

Howard Bach and Tony Gunawan rolled back the years again to make the final at the expense of Ko and Yoo of Korea. The 8^th seeded pair will take on the unseeded pair of Fang and Lee from Chinese Taipei after they defeated the second seeds, Kido and Setiawan. The 2^nd seeds lost tamely in the semi final to continue their poor run of form since their win in France last year.

Top seed Saina Nehwal lived up to her seeding with a three game victory over current world champion Lu Lan, after dropping the opening game 8-21. The other semi final was an all unseeded affair between Korea’s Bae Youn Joo and Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying. It was the player from Chinese Taipei who will meet Nehwal in tomorrow’s final after a close two game encounter.

Sony Kuncoro’s excellent week continues as he beat India’s Kashrup Parupalli in two games to book his place in his first final of 2010. Peter Gade, seeded 2 took on the 4^th seeded Boonsak Ponsana in the second semi final. Gade took a close opening game before the 4^th seed battled back to take the next two tight games to book his place in tomorrows final whilst Gade misses out on his best chance to win a Super Series this year.

Saturday’s Full Singapore Super Series Results

Gade vs Lee Rematch?

Men’s Singles

Lee Chong Wei played Chen Jin in a 70-minute classic; the pair shared the opening two games before the top seed delighted the local crowd winning the final game 21-15 to book his place in the semi finals. The winner of Tien Minh Nguyen and Jan O Jorgensen would play the top seed Lee Chong Wei, the on-form Dane was having an excellent competition to date but the Vietnamese player was too strong on the day, winning the match 21-17, 22-20.

The bottom half of the draw started with Peter Gade on court against Tanonsak Saensomboonsuk, the 4^th seeded Dane was the last seed left on his side of the draw and safely progressed through to the semi finals with a 21-15, 21-13 win. He will play Boonsak Ponsana in the last 4 after his win over Chong Wei Feng of Malaysia, 21-14, 21-9.

Women’s Singles

Wang Yihan was in excellent form once again, this time defeating 5^th seeded Jiang Yanjiao 21-13, 21-17 in an all-Chinese affair to book her place in the semi final.  Bae Youn Joo won the all-Korean clash in the other quarter final in the top half of the draw, defeating last weeks runner-up Sung Ji Hyun 21-13, 21-19 to set up a match against Wang Yihan.

7^th seed Saina Nehwal looked to be coasting into the semi finals against Wang Xin of China, before the unseeded Chinese woman fought back to win the next two games and defeat her seeded opponent 14-21, 21-8, 21-11 to continue her fantastic run in the event. She will play Eriko Hirose of Japan who shocked the 2^nd seeded Wang Lin of China to win 21-19, 15-21, 21-19 to set up her encounter with Wang Xin.

Other Matches

Koo and Tan defeated 7^th seeded Clark and Robertson to book their place in the last 4, beating the English pair 21-12, 23-25, 21-11.  Unseeded Chinese partnership Chai and Zhang defeated Sato and Kawamae of Japan to set up a match with the top seeds Koo and Tan with an impressive 21-11, 21-16 win.  The other semi final sees the 4^th seeded Chandra and Gunawan, who defeated Bach and Gunawan play Guo and Xu of China.

All four partnerships in the women’s doubles have failed to drop a game to date. Ma and Jin, the top seeds from China set to play the 3^rd seeds, Chin and Wong of Malaysia for a place in Sunday’s final. The other semi final sees Du and Yu, seeded 2 from China playing unseeded Korean couple Jung and Yoo of Korea.

The impressive Tao and Zhang have been the story of the mixed doubles this year, they defeated the 5^th seeded Gunawan and Marissa to book a place in the semi finals, where they will play the unseeded Chinese Taipei pair Chen and Chou. World champions Laybourn and Rytter Juhl are also through to the last 4, defeating Wallwork and Robertson of England to set up a match against the 8^th seeded Prapakamol and Thoungthongkam of Thailand.

Join the Malaysia Super Series 2010 Discussion Forum

Malaysia Super Series 2010 Draws

The Semi Finals storylines were of two unseeded Chinese players, Bao Chunlai and Wang Xin and their impressive runs to the last four stage of the competition. Bao Chunlai was against 8th seeded Tien Minh Nguyen in the first of today’s semi finals.

The Vietnamese player had breezed into the Semi Final stage without the loss of a game en route and had been on court well under two hours to reach this stage. Bao Chunlai had defeated Peter Gade in the previous round to set up this encounter, spending over 2 and half hours on court to reach the semi final stage.

The first game did little to convince anyone that Bao Chunlai was feeling tired, never letting Nguyen take a led in the opening game that was won 21-15 by the unseeded Chinese player. The second game was a much tighter affair, the pair swapping the lead on various occasions. With the game poised at 12-12, Bao Chunlai 3 points and then four points without reply to take a 20-15 lead. With the second time of asking, Bao Chunlai took the game 21-16 and booked his place in the final.

Wang Xin was next on court, playing Wang Lin seeded 2. The pair had played just last week in China with Wang Lin winning in three games. This was Wang Xin’s 6th match of the week, having come through two rounds of qualifying to just make the main draw. Wang Xin stormed to a 4-0 led in the first game before Wang Lin rallied over the coming points to make the score 13-13.

Wang Xin then won the next six points, taking the first game at the second time of asking 21-15. Both players knew they needed a good start in the second game, Wang Xin stormed to a 5-1 lead, only for the second seed to reel off five points in a row to make it 7-7. However, Wang Xin never led her opponent into the lead in the second game, winning two points as soon as Wang Lin drew level once more. At 18-17, Wang Xin finished her opponent off with three points in a row to take the second game 21-17.

Both the other semi finals in the singles went to three sets. With Taufik Hidiyat beating fellow Indonesian Simon Santoso 13-21, 21-12, 21-18 in 62 minutes. Wang Yihan beat Japan’s Eriko Hirose 18-21, 21-12, 21-9 in 64 minutes.

Finals day with have some local interest, with Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna beating second seeded Ma and Kim over Korea to reach the ladies doubles final in the longest match of the day at 75 minutes.

Howard Bach and Tony Gunawan’s run ended today, beaten in three games by Dasuki and Sukmawan of Indonesia. They set up an all-Indonesian final with Kido and Setiawan in the men’s doubles. There is also some European interest in tomorrow’s finals. Fischer Nielsen and Pedersen are through to the final against unseeded Thai pairing Anugritaywon and Voravichitchaikul in tomorrow’s mixed doubles final.

Play resumes tomorrow at 12 noon.

Yonex Japan Open Super Series Draws

The highest seed remaining in the Mens draw at the quarter final stage was Peter Gade, looking for his first Super Series title since Korea earlier this year. The draw had opened up for him, Lee Chong Wei, out. Chen Jin, withdrawn. Lin Dan, not playing. He had sailed through to the quarterfinals in just over an hour.

Bao Chunlai waited in the Quarter Finals, an ex-World #2 and former Asian Champion, and still only 26. The first set of their encounter was all Bao Chunlai, the Chinese left-hander only surrendered the lead briefly in the middle of the first game before winning six points in a row to set him up for the first game.

The second set had a similar feeling, although Gade was taking the lead in the early part of the set, the Dane led at the mid-game interval 11-10. The pair exchanged points until Bao Chunlai took a 15-14 led, and then came the enslaught, Bao Chunlai reeled over another six points without reply and secured the second game 21-14. It was all over in less than 45 minutes.

The Mens draw has just two seeds remaining, Taufik Hidiyat in the top half of the draw, Tien Minh Nguyen in the bottom half. Hidiyat against Santoro is the first semi final, with a guaranteed Indonesian in the final. Nguyen plays Bao Chunlai in the other semi final.

The Women’s draw has also been littered with Chinese withdrawals, however they could still three players in the last 8. Qualifier Wang Xin is the least known of the three Chinese players left in the draw but her three set winner over Japan’s Mayu Sekiya. Wang Xin burst onto the scene in June, reaching the Malaysian Open Final.

She then took the Phillpine Grand Gold title, beating top seed and world #1 Zhou Mi in the final, she reached the Semi Finals of the China Masters Super Series event just last week, losing out to Wang Lin in three sets.

Tomorrow, she has a chance for revenge against Wang Lin as they play again in the semi finals. The other semi finals has some local interest, with Eriko Hirose playing 4th seeded Wang Yihan for a place in Sunday’s final.

The sub story of the championships has been Howard Bach and Tony Gunawan, since being forced to qualify in Indonesia in June, they rolled back the years at the World Championships. They have reached their first Super Series semi final after defeating Hashimoto and Hirata today in three games.

The draw is dominated by Indonesia at the Semi Final stage, of the 20 pairings/players remaining in the draw, 8 are from Indonesia, 5 from China, 2 from Japan and one from Korea, Thailland, Vietnam, Denmark and the USA.

Play resumes tomorrow at 12 noon on both courts.

Yonex Japan Open Super Series Draws