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.

Day 2 Results

BWF World Championships 2010

The draws for the 2010 World Championships were made in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, there were little doubts about the top seed in the men’s singles draw with Lee Chong Wei taking the #1 seed but there will be no rematch of the 2009 final in Paris on August 29.

Lee Chong Wei begins his campaign against Kevin Cordon, the world number 46 from Guatemala and could face a tricky second round match against world #22 Muhammad Hafiz Hashim in an all-Malaysian second round encounter. The other seed in Lee Chong Wei’s section is Jan O Jorgensen, seeded 11. The Dane has had a disappointing 2010 after bursting onto the world scene with victory over Peter Gade in Denmark and reaching the Chinese Super Series final in 2009. He begins his campaign against the Austrian Michael Lahnsteiner, ranked 86 in the world. His second round encounter will be a much tougher match with one of the best matches of the opening round with Eric Pang taking on Rajiv Ouseph for the chance to play Jorgensen or Lahnsteiner in Round 2.

Taufik Hidiyat received the 5^th seed and with that, he plays Ola Fagbemi of Nigeria who is the lowest ranked player in the draw, ranked #122 in the world. His likely second round opponent is ranked almost 100 places higher in the world rankings, world #23 Yu Shin Hsieh of Chinese Taipei who takes on Portugal’s Pedro Martins in Round 1. The other seed is Kenichi Tago, one of the breakout stories of 2010 who is the #12 seed and faces the Czech national champion Petr Koukal, the world #48 in the opening round.

Lin Dan has barely played in 2010, but is still the Chinese #1 and seeded 3 for the Worlds and begins his campaign against Ali Shahhossieni of Iran, ranked 110 in the world before potentially playing the winner of the all-European match between Henrik Toth and Henri Hurskainen in the second round. The conspiracy theorists will claim that Lin Dan’s opening two matches could be the easiest run to the last 16 of any of the seeds, with only Hurskainen inside the top 50 in the world (ranked 50^th). His first big test will be against Bao Chunlai, seeded 10 and the player who defeated him in the 2010 All England. The 10^th seed begins against Yan Kit Chan who is current ranked 20^th in the world in one of the hardest opening round match for any seed. If anything, the winner of this match will have an easier second round match, playing the winner of David Snider of Canada (ranked 89) and Scotland’s Alistair Casey (ranked 78).

Tien Minh Nguyen may not have won in Chinese Taipei to gain him more ranking points but is still seeded 7 and plays the world number 62 Ukrainian Valeriy Atrashchenkov in his opening round match. The winner of Raul Must and Dieter Domke is likely to play the Vietnamese player in round 2. Park Sung Hwan is the other seed in this section, the 13^th seeded Korean takes on Derek Wong Zi Liang of Singapore, ranked 79 in the world with Park likely to play the winner of another all-European clash between Matthieu Lo Ying Ping and Vladimir Ivanov in the opening round.

The opening section from the bottom half of the draw is arguably the hardest one to come out of, with England’s Carl Baxter, ranked 27 in the world taking on Slovakia’s Michal Matejka for the chance to play the 9^th seeded Boonsak Ponsana, should he defeat world number 52 Vladimir Malkov of Russia. The other seed is Simon Santoso, winner in Chinese Taipei and seeded 8. He takes on Poland’s Przemyslaw Wacha, ranked 37 in the world with the winner of that match taking on the winner of Scott Evans, ranked 45 in the world and Hsuan Yi Hsueh of Chinese Taipei, ranked 41 in the world.

The 14^th seed Chetan Anand begins his campaign against Ashton Chen Ong Zhao, ranked 112^th in the world in one of the bigger mismatches of the opening round and likely to play the winner of Dmytro Zavadsky and Stephan Wojcikiewicz, ranked 47 and 56 respectively. The other seed in the section is the 4^th seeded Chen Jin who begins his campaign against Finland’s #1 and world #53 Ville Lang in his opening round. The other match and potentially Chen Jin’s second round opponent is between Kestutis Navickas of Lithuania, the world number 59 and Scotland’s #1 Kieran Merrilees, ranked 72 in the world.

Wong Choong Hann received the 16^th seed and will take on France’s own Simon Maunoury in his opening round match in the French capital, but the world number 81 will need to play the match of his life to reach round 2. The other match to determine the winner of the Wong/Maunoury match is between Iran’s Kaveh Mehrabi, ranked 92^nd in the world and Kazushi Yamada of Japan, ranked 30 in the world. Sony Kuncoro won in Macau two weeks ago and the 6^th seed comes into the championships in excellent form and begins his campaign against Misha Zilberman of Israel, ranked 84^th in the world in round 1. Another all-European clash is the last match in the section with world #25 Dicky Palyama of Holland taking on the 3^rd Frenchman in the draw, US Open runner-up Brice Leverdez for a place in round 2.

The final section is the only one with two European seeds, with 15^th seed Marc Zwiebler taking on the Czech Jan Vondra in his opening round match and a second all-European match guarantees at least one European in the last 16, with Sweden’s Magnus Sahlberg taking on Pablo Abian of Spain. Peter Gade comes into the competition as the number 2 seed and starts his campaign against Brazilian Daniel Paiola, ranked 74 in the world. The big news from this section of the draw is world number 15 Yun Hu not receiving a seeding for the event despite Chen Long not being able to play as China’s #4 and world #10 and plays Shon Wan Ho of Korea, the world number 35 in his opening match and a likely second round match against Peter Gade, which would likely be the match of the second round.

Last weeks’ runner up Boonsak Ponsana found out the hard way that past success is no guarantee of victory today as he lost out to Korea’s Shon Wan Ho in three games. The 4^th seeded from Thailand was not the only seeded player to crash out in round 1 as 5^th seeded Jan O Jorgensen retired from his match against Sho Sasaki in the second game after losing the tight first game.

Lee Chong Wei had a routine two game victory in his opening round game and will play Marc Zwiebler of Germany in the second round. Kenichi Tago is also through to the last 32 in the top half of the draw. Last weeks winner and 7^th seeded this week Sony Kuncoro progressed in two games over Brice Leverdez, who took Lee Chong Wei to three games last week in Singapore.

Another week and another shock loss for Zhou Mi in a year to forget for the 3^rd seed. Sayaka Sato of Japan defeated the 3^rd seed in two games to set up a second round match against Kim Hi Moon of Korea. Saina Nehwal came through a tight three game match against another Korean player, Sung Ji Hyun to set up a second round match with Petya Nedelcheva of Bulgaria. With the elimination of Zhou Mi, only Yip Pui Yin of Hong Kong remains from the seeded players in the bottom half of the draw.

It was a great day for Koo and Tan of Malaysia as they progressed to the quarter finals thanks to a two game victory in the opening round and their second round opponents pulling out of the match scheduled for tomorrow. Only one seed fell at the opening stage in the men’s doubles, with Clark and Robertson defeating the 3^rd seeded Chen and Lin from Chinese Taipei in two games to set up a second round match with Kawamae and Sato of Japan.

The mixed doubles draw is as planned, with all 8 seeds safely through with only the 6^th seeded Wallwork and Robertson being taken to a 3^rd game today. The unseeded partnership of Setiwan and Russkikh are also through to round 2 and will be a pair to watch throughout this week.

Wednesday’s Complete Indonesia Super Series Results

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 8^th 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. 3^rd 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 2^nd round match against the European Circuit Finals champion, Ella Diehl. 4^th 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 2^nd 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 2^nd 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 8^th 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 3^rd 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 3^rd 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 2^nd 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 3^rd 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 3^rd 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 2^nd Korean doubles pairing over Ha and Jung and the Korean’s progressed to the last 4 with a 3-1 victory.

Day 4 Results

Jorgensen's Confidence in Question

China topped Group A after a 4-1 win over Korea, Lin Dan started the rout with a two game victory over Park Sung Hwan and Cai and Fu doubled the lead with a win over Jung and Shin in the opening doubles encounter. The injury to Lee Yong Dae has been a massive blow to the Korean squad, but they had reason to celebrate as Yoo and Ko won the second doubles to ensure they did not suffer a 5-0 defeat.

Malaysia took to the court two days later than expected and looked to be in fine form with Lee Chong Wei’s 21-12, 21-13 win over Kenichi Tago and a win from Koo and Tan in the doubles giving them an early 2-0 lead. The Japanese however, won the second singles to pull the rubber back to 2-1 and then tied it up at 2-2 with Hayakawa and Kazuno’s two game victory. The final match was a winner-take-all for the top spot in Group B and it was Shoji Sato of Japan who defeated Hashim Mohammed Hafiz in a 62 minute encounter to seal a stunning come from behind 3-2 victory for the Japanese and top spot in Group B.

Denmark took top spot in Group C with a 4-1 victory over Germany, with Peter Gade defeating Marc Zwiebler in impressive fashion 21-12, 21-7 to start off the Danish rout. Jan O Jorgensen’s surprise defeat to Dieter Domke has left question marks over Denmark’s credentials to win the Thomas Cup, however the two game defeat has been the only losses in the game stage. India took on Australia for a place in the last 8 and the match was settled in just three matches as India swept the singles to book their place in the knockout stages, Glenn Warfe and Ross Smith took one match for the Australians as they fell 4-1 to India.

The random draw for the last 8 was made after the end of play, with China taking on Korea for the second time in two days. Malaysia’s defeat to Japan means they will play Denmark in the quarter finals, whilst Group B winners Japan take on Germany for a place in the last 4 and India take on Indonesia again in a Group D rematch.

Uber Cup:

China booked their place at the top of Group A with another 5-0 win, this time over hosts Malaysia without the loss of a game. Malaysia takes second place in the group after their 5-0 win over the USA. Indonesia defeated the European champions Denmark with an impressive 5-0 win with the loss of just one game. Pedersen and Rytter Juhl took their doubles to a third game against Polii and Mahweswari.

Japan’s women continued the excellent day for the nation with a 5-0 victory over Russia as the gulf between the Asian and European nations in the women’s game has been on show throughout the group stages. Japan top Group C, only losing one match in the two rubbers. Korea top Group D after losing the opening singles against India, but bounced back to win the next 4 matches to take the rubber 4-1.

India takes on China in the first of the quarter finals tomorrow, with a South East Asian clash in the 2^nd quarter final as Indonesia takes on Malaysia. Group D winners Korea take on Russia and Group C winners Japan take on Denmark in the last of tomorrows knockout round.

Day 3 Results

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.

Day 2 Results

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 3^rd 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 4^th 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 3^rd 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 2^nd seed Tine Rasmussen play against 6^th 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 2^nd 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 2^nd 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.

Friday’s Results

Zwiebler Leads Germany to Semi-Finals

Men’s Event

With Denmark and Poland enjoying byes to the semi-finals, Germany, Russia, Ukraine and the Netherlands fought to become their opponents.

In the team tie between Germany and Russia the Germans drew first blood, and appeared to be positioned to run away with the tie, but things would not be that easy.  Denmark Super Series finalist Marc Zwiebler quickly disposed of his opponent Vladimir Malkov 21-9, 21-9, which was then followed by Marcel Reuter winning a squeaker over Vladimir Ivanov 22-20, 25-23.  Fabian Hammes was however unable to close out the tie losing badly to Stanislav Pukhov 21-14, 21-7.  The Russian’s first men’s doubles Durkin and Nikolaenko also did their jobs defeating Fuchs and Kindervarter 21-17, 21-15 to set up a fifth and final match.  Unfortunately for the Russians their comeback was for nothing as the German pair of Hopp and Schoettler pulled off the win over Dremin and Pukhov in three close games 16-21, 21-19, 21-15.  Germany will now face Denmark in the semi-finals.

The other quarter-final tie was not nearly as close however, with Ukraine defeating their Dutch opponents with relative comfort.  Dmytro Zavadsky defeated Rune Massing 21-12, 21-13, Valeriy Atrashchenkov defeated Lester Oey 21-12, 21-12, and the only close match was between Vladislav Druzchenko and Saber Afif with Druzchenko winning in three games 21-13, 19-21, 21-13 to seal the win 3-0.  Ukraine will now face Poland in their semi-finals.

Women’s Events

Once again the Danish team had an opportunity for rest as the were through with a bye to the semis alongside the Netherlands.  The Danes would face the winners of Germany and Bulgaria.  The Germans proved too strong for the Bulgarians winning in three straight matches.  Juliane Schenk led the way with her win over Petya Nedelcheva, followed by Karin Schnasse beating Linda Zetchiri, and finally Fabienne Deprez defeating Dimitria Popstoykova. The Germans will now face Denmark.

The next tie was between Russia and Scotland. The first women’s singles was between Ella Diehl and Susan Egelstaff who faced off against each other in the Scottish International in late 2009. In that meeting Egelstaff was the victor, but Diehl had her revenge winning easily 21-12, 21-12. Tatjana Bibik took the next point for Russia beating Linda Sloan 21-14, 21-9. Finally it was the Russian pairing of Vislova and Sorokina who would seal their team’s place in the semi-finals with a win over Bankier and Mason 21-11, 21-15. The Russians will now play the Netherlands.

Click here for full results from the European Team Championships 2010

Marc Zwiebler

The day started with two Scottish hopefuls in the final, unseeded Emma Mason and Mariana Agathangelou took on the top seeded Russian duo of Nina Vislova and Valeria Sorokina in the first final of the day. The local support rallied behind the British couple when they took a 12-11 lead early in the first set, only for the Russian pair to storm to the opening set 21-16.

The second set went much the same way as the first, with the Russian top seeds leading and refusing to let go of their lead, taking the second game 21-16 to claim the title. Marc Zweibler played Peter Mikkelsen in the Men’s Singles final, with both looking impressive on their way to the final.

Zweibler took a closely fought out first game 21-15, only for Mikkelsen to respond to take the second game by the same score but Zweibler dominated the final game and took it 21-16 to claim the Men’s Singles title.

The Men’s Doubles match turned into a fabulous encounter between the 3rd and 4th seeds, with the English 4th seeds of Middleton and Langridge taking a tight first game 21-19 and then saved 5 game points in the second but couldn’t get their own chance and lost the second game 26-24. The Danish 3rd seeds of Conrad-Petersen and Pieler Kolding dominated the third game and at 8-8 won 13 of the next 16 points to win the third game 21-11.

The mixed doubles was the most one-sided of the finals, with Valeria Sorokina and Alexander Nikolaenko defeating Raj and Renuga Veeran 21-11, 21-16 in just 23 minutes.  The last match of the day pitted the top two seeds in the women’s singles against each other, with Susan Egelstaff in her first Scottish International final.

Ella Diehl dominated the opening part of the first game, only for Egelstaff to respond and from 18-17 down took the next four points to take the first game 21-18. If the first game was a nervy encounter, the second game was a precession from the 2nd seed Scot. Ella Diehl’s level dropped dramatically and Egelstaff was in commanding form as she took the second game 21-10 to win her first Scottish International title.

Sunday’s Results