Lin Dan Isn't Smiling Now
Another two top seeds crashed out on a day of shocks in Paris as several big names crashed out on quarterfinals day.
The men’s singles suffered two major casualties, both on the top half of the draw as World #1 and top seed Lee Chong Wei was defeated by a re-energised Taufik Hidayat who continues his excellent run at this years event with a three-game, 61 minute victory over the Malaysian. Many expected a classic match against Lin Dan in the semi finals, only for Park Sung Hwan of Korea to end the Chinese 3rd seed run at the last 8. His 21-13, 21-13 win over Lin Dan sent shockwaves in the draw, piling pressure on Gade to seize the opportunity that the days play had offered him, a chance at the world championship.
Chen Jin awaited the winner of Gade’s match, securing his place in the last 4 with a three-game win over Hsueh Hsuan Yi of Chinese Taipei in 64 minutes. Peter Gade entered the arena as the clear fans favourite and delivered a masterful performance over Kazushi Yamada, winning in two games 21-19, 21-12 to set up a semi final clash with Chen Jin.
The second seed in the women’s draw crashed out as Saina Nehwal was comfortably beaten by the 6th seeded Wang Shixian of China, the two game 35 minute encounter was completely dominated by the Chinese player who rightfully deserved her place in the semi final in her first world championships. Her opponent in the semi finals is the 3rd seeded Wang Xin of China, who ended the hopes of a French world champion with her 21-13, 21-15 win over Pi Hongyan in 34 minutes.
The other semi final features Wang Lin of China, the 7th seed avenged the defeat of Wang Yihan today with a two game win over Eriko Hirose, winning 21-16, 21-17 to take on the last European in the draw, Tine Baun of Denmark. The 4th seed defeated the unseeded Cheng Shao Chieh in two games to set up her last 4 encounter with Wang Lin.
The top seeds in the men’s doubles are still in the competition, as Koo and Tan defeated last years finalists Lee and Jung in three games in a 72-minute encounter to set up a semi final against Guo and Xu who defeated Paaske and Rasmussen in two games to reach the last 4. The other semi final sees the second seeded Kido and Setiawan, who defeated the 6th seeded Fang and Lee take on the form duo of the competition and reigning champions, Cai and Fu of China. The 5th seeds defeated Mogensen and Boe in a clinical 41-minute, two game victory to set up a semi final against the 2nd seeds.
The top four seeds in the women’s doubles remain intact at the semi final stage, with top seeds Ma and Wang coming through their quarter final in three games over Ha and Kim of Korea to set up an all-Chinese semi final against 4th seeded Cheng and Zhao. The other semi final sees the 2nd seeded Du and Yu take on the 3rd seeded Cheng and Chien who have both reached the last 4 without the loss of a game this week.
The top seeds in the mixed doubles also fell today, with Widianto and Natsir losing to Zheng and Ma of China, the 8th seeds in two games. The 12th seeded Ko and Ha are also an unexpected pair to be still in the draw at this late stage, they defeated the 9th seeded India pairing of Diju and Gutta in two games in the first match on Court 2 today.
The other semi final is features another unlikely duo, the 16th seeded Lee and Chien of Chinese Taipei who defeated the 10th seeded Jiaming and Yawen in three games in just under a hour to book their place in the last 4. They will play He and Yu of China after their two game victory over the current world champions Laybourn and Rytter Juhl in 43 minutes.
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.
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.
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