Badminton: Boonsak and Li into Li-Ning Singapore Open semis, but Nehwal crashes The Straits Times Published on Jun 21, 2013 5:50 PM Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana in action at the Li-Ning Singapore Open on Wednesday, June 19, 2013. The 31-year-old stayed on course to retain his men's singles title at the Li-Ning Singapore Open when he defeated Malaysia's Chong Wei Feng 21-10, 21-19 in the quarter-finals on Friday. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM By May Chen Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana stayed on course to retain his men's singles title at the Li-Ning Singapore Open when he defeated Malaysia's Chong Wei Feng 21-10, 21-19 in the quarter-finals on Friday. The 31-year-old, back to a career-best world ranking of No. 4, will play either Takuma Ueda or Kento Momota of Japan in the semi-finals on Saturday. In the women's singles, world No. 1 Li Xuerui also booked a berth in the last four when she dispatched Thailand's Sapsiree Taerattanachai 21-11, 21-19. She will play team-mate Sun Yu, who upset Tai Tzu-ying of Chinese Taipei 21-19, 21-18.
Tommy Sugiarto wins the Li-Ning Singapore Open men’s singles crown TODAY 14 hours 14 min ago SINGAPORE -- Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto has won the US$200,000 Li-Ning Singapore Open badminton championship. At the Singapore Indoor Stadium earlier today (June 23), the 25-year-old beat defending champion Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand 2-1 to take the US$15,000 men’s singles winner’s cheque. The result also ended Boonsak’s hopes of becoming the first shuttler to win the tournament three times. In Sunday’s other finals, China’s Wang Yihan beat compatriot Li Xuerui 21-18, 21-12 to take the women’s singles title. In the women’s doubles final, China’s Qing Tian and Zhao Yunlei overcame Japan’s Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takashi 21-19, 21-16, while the men’s crown when to Indonesia’s Mohd Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan after a 21-15, 21-18 win over South Korea’s Ko Sung Hyun and Lee Yong Dae. And the mixed doubles final was won by Ahmad Tontowi and Natsir Liliyana of Indonesia, after they edged the South Korean duo of Yoo Yeon Seong and Eom Hye Won 21-12, 21-12.
Fatigue claims Nehwal TODAY ByFelicia Quick 22 June SINGAPORE — She arrived in Singapore knowing she was not in the best of form but wanting to give it her all. Yesterday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, second-seed Saina Nehwal’s quest for the women’s singles title at the US$200,000 (S$255,000) Li-Ning Singapore Open came to a shuddering halt. The 23-year-old from India surrendered to fatigue, losing her quarter-final match to Indonesia’s Lindaweni Fanetri 21-17, 13-21, 13-21 in a 58-minute encounter. Said Nehwal: “I was tired during the game, playing continuously took a toll on my body and my movements were not fast. I didn’t have the stamina, my legs were too heavy and I didn’t move well on court.” For Fanetri, victory was sweet and almost instantaneous revenge over her world No 4 opponent, whom she had lost to in a three-game tussle the opening round of the Indonesian Open earlier this month. The 24-year-old from Jakarta was prepared to go the distance if it meant getting through to challenge for the title. “I lost to Saina in the Indonesian Open because it was a long play. I made more unforced errors than her,” said Fanetri, recalling the match, which included a long second game won by Nehwal 29-27. “This time, I was prepared to be tired and make sure I wouldn’t make as many errors.” Fanetri will next meet fourth seed Wang Yihan of China, who brushed aside compatriot and 2011 All-England champion Wang Shixian 21-18, 21-15. Today’s other semi-final will see top seed Li Xuerui taking on fellow Chinese Sun Yu, who came through the qualifiers. Selected quarter-final results: Men’s singles Nguyen Tien Minh (VIE) bt Marc Zwiebler (GER) 23-21, 11-8 rtd, Tommy Sugiarto (INA) bt Rajiv Ouseph (ENG) 21-19, 21-18, Takuma Ueda (JPN) bt Kento Momota (JPN) 12-14, 21-19, Boonsak Ponsana (THA) bt Chong Wei Feng (MAS) 21-10, 21-19 Men’s doubles Ko Sung Hyun/Lee Yong Dae (KOR) bt Maneepong Jongjit/Nipitphon Puangpuapech (THA) 21-9, 21-16, Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng (CHN) bt Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda (JPN) 24-22, 21-14, Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan (INA) bt Hiroyuki Endo/Kenichi Hayakawa (JPN) 21-15, 23-21, Shin Baek Choel/Yoo Yeon Seong (KOR) bt Hiroyuki Saeki/Ryota Taohata (JPN) 21-14, 21-12
Sun Yu ousts defending champion Schenk World No 1 Li Xuerui was nearly outdone yesterday but eventually made it through to the quarter-finals of the Li-Ning Singapore Open yesterday. Photo: Wee Teck Hian TODAY By Felicia Quick 21 June SINGAPORE — China again proved hard to beat as all four of their women’s singles players are through to the quarter-finals of the US$200,000 (S$254,700) Li-Ning Singapore Open. While Wang Shixian, Wang Yihan and Li Xuerui are names fans at the Singapore Indoor Stadium will be familiar with, it was qualifier Sun Yu who caused the shock of Round 2 by ousting defending champion Juliane Schenk in straight games. Sun, a 19-year-old from Dalian, mowed down her German opponent 21-19, 21-15 to join her compatriots in the final eight. Victory for the Wangs came in contrasting fashion, with Shixian needing just 39 minutes to despatch Bulgarian Petya Nedelcheva 21-18, 21-15 while Yihan was taken to three games by Spain’s Carolina Marin before prevailing 21-18, 11-21, 21-17. Topseed and world number one Li was nearly outdone by Indonesia’s Belaetrix Manuputi, with the duo splitting the first two games 21-19, 18-21 before Li took the decider 21-14. India’s Saina Nehwal made hard work of her second round opponent, Japan’s Eriko Hirose, before finding her rhythm to win the match in three games (21-16, 16-21, 9-21). Nehwal, who in 2009 became the first women’s player from India to win a Super Series event when she won the Indonesian Open, said: “I am not playing at my best yet, but I am giving my best. It was a tough game and I will continue to do better.” Yesterday also saw the last of the Singaporean players exiting the tournament when mixed doubles pair Terry Yeo and Yao Lei lost 21-15, 21-10 to Hong Kong’s Lee Chun Hei and Chau Hoi Wah. Singapore Badminton Association Chief Executive Officer Bobby Lee admitted it is a worry that local players continue to achieve little in international tournaments. “They haven’t been performing well since the London Olympics, and I’m hoping for the youth players to come up and challenge the seniors,” said Lee. Selected results Men’s singles Boonsak Ponsana (Tha) bt Wong Wing Ki (Hkg) 21-15, 21-13 Tommy Sugiarto (Ina) bt Wang Zhengming (Chn) 21-16, 22-20 Men’s doubles Ko Sung Hyun/Lee Yong Dae bt Ong Jian Guo/Teo Kok Siang 21-11, 21-12 Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng (Chn) bt Kang Ji Wook/Lee Sang Joon 21-14, 21-19
Yao and Yeo last S’poreans standing Vanessa Neo and Danny Bawa Chrisnanta rued a missed chance to beat their Korean opponents. Photo: Wee Teck Hian By Felicia Quick 20 June SINGAPORE — Elimination was the order of the day for local shuttlers as the main draw of the 2013 Li-Ning Singapore Open got underway yesterday. Apart from the mixed doubles pairing of Yao Lei and Terry Yeo who defeated higher-ranked Japanese duo Miyuki Maeda and Hirokatsu Hashimoto in straight games, there was little to cheer for fans of local shuttlers. The Republic’s two representatives in the women’s singles were both ousted. Xing Aiying, who would have hoped to repeat last year’s run to the semi-finals, was undone by Japan’s Saori Imabeppu 21-19, 21-16. Gu Juan’s task was always going to be hard, going up against second seed Saina Nehwal of India who has genuine claims on the title this Sunday. Gu duly lost 21-14, 23-21 to Nehwal in a 40-minute encounter. It was not a happy birthday for Vanessa Neo as the 26-year-old crashed out of both the women’s and mixed doubles competition. Partnering Yao Lei, Neo lost her women’s doubles first-round match in the morning to Japan’s Naoko Fukuman and Kurumi Yonao 23-21, 21-15. In the afternoon, Neo and her mixed doubles partner Danny Bawa Chrisnanta were defeated 21-16, 21-18 by South Korea’s Ko Sung Hyun and Kim Ha Na. Neo was left rueing a missed opportunity to beat the Koreans, saying: “We led 14-10 in the second set because we created chances to win those points. But they caught up because we started to play defensively. “Our opponents have really strong smashes and, because we changed our play, it gave them a chance to catch up.” Other Singaporeans to be shown the exit door were Tan Zi Jian and Yuliana Dellis, who lost to Japanese Ryota Taohata and Naoko Fukuman (21-7, 21-6), and Terry Hee and Fu Mingtian, who lost to Indonesia’s Praveen Jordan and Vita Marissa (21-16, 22-20), both in mixed doubles. In the women’s doubles, Elaine Chua and Yeo Jia Min found their Korean opponents Jang Ye Na and Kim So Young too strong, losing 22-20, 21-11. That left Yao and Yeo to carry Singapore’s flag for the rest of the US$200,000 (S$251,060) Super Series tournament, with Yeo lauding the achievement with his new mixed doubles partner. “I’m very happy as it is the second tournament that we’ve played in as a doubles pairing and our first time getting through to the second round of the main draw,” he said. “I think communication was the key to winning this game. We encouraged each other even through the bad shots and lost points, we told each other to go in for the next rally and get the points.” The duo will face Hong Kong’s Lee Chun Hei and Chau Hoi Wah in the second round of the main draw today at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Selected results: Men’s Singles: Boonsak Ponsana (Tha) bt Zulfadli Zulkiffli (Mas) 21-12, 21-12 Du Peng Yu (Chn) bt Anand Pawar (Ind) 21-16, 21-13 Sai Preneeth (Ind) bt Hu Yun (Hkg) 21-9, 21-10 Women’s Singles: Li Xuerui (Chn) bt Sashina Vignes Waran (Fra) 21-10, 21-14 Wang Yihan (Chn) bt Busanan Ongbumrungpan (Tha) 16-21, 21-12, 21-19 Wang Shixian (Chn) bt Yeon Ju Bae (Skr) 21-19, 21-19
Top S’pore shuttler Wong out It was heartache yet again for Derek Wong as he suffered another early exit at the Li-Ning Singapore Open badminton championship. Photo: Wee Teck Hian ByFelicia Quick 19 June SINGAPORE — There will be no Singaporean representation in the main draw of the men’s singles competition at this year’s Li-Ning Singapore Open badminton championship. Yesterday, the trio of Derek Wong, Ashton Chen and Robin Gonansa were eliminated in the qualifying rounds at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Perhaps the biggest shock was the exit of Wong, the Republic’s top-ranked male shuttler, who lost 2-1 (21-18, 15-21, 15-21) to Malaysia’s Zulfadli Zulkiffli. The latter now plays defending champion Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand in the last 32 today. Despite making changes to his training regimen to give him a greater arsenal, it was yet another disappointing day for Wong in his 12th outing at the tournament. “I won the first set but in the second set, my opponent changed his game play and I was caught off-guard,” said Wong, 24. “I couldn’t control my speed, which messed up my play. I don’t think I played to my full potential today.” Also following Wong out of the US$200,000 (S$252,406) tournament were Chen and Gonansa in the second round of the qualifiers. Gonansa lost 19-21, 15-21 to Hong Kong’s Ng Ka Long, while Chen exited at the hands of South Korea’s Lee Dong Keun 2-1 (20-22, 21-17, 17-21). Chen and Gonansa had beaten India’s H S Prannoy 2-1 (19-21, 21-19, 21-12) and Sweden’s Henri Hurskainen 2-0 (23-21, 21-11) respectively in the first qualifying round earlier yesterday. “I didn’t know I was the last hope for getting into the main draw. I just wanted to focus, because at some point I lost my focus and even though I was leading, I was giving away points instead of winning them. I blew it. I’m really disappointed,” said Chen. But Singapore’s hopes are still alive in the men’s, women’s and mixed doubles, as well as the women’s singles where Xing Aiying faces Japan’s Kaori Imabeppu, while Gu Juan is up against India’s world No 2 Saina Nehwal in the last 32 today.
Saina Nehwal crashes out of Singapore Open, slides to number 4 in rankings India's top shuttler Saina Nehwal crashed out of the women's singles quarterfinals at the Singapore Open Super Series on Friday, and in the process dropped two places to fourth in the latest women's singles chart. Mid Day 2013-06-21 20:09:50 June 21, 2013 http://www.mid-day.com/sports/2013/...-out-of-singapore-open-slides-to-number-4.htm http://images.mid-day.com/2013/jun/saina-nehwal21.jpg Saina Nehwal crashes out of Singapore Open, slides to number 4 in rankings India's top shuttler Saina Nehwal crashed out of the women's singles quarterfinals at the Singapore Open Super Series on Friday, and in the process dropped two places to fourth in the latest women's singles chart. Indian badminton star Saina Nehwal made a shock exit from the Singapore Super Series after losing her women's singles quarter-final to Indonesia's Lindaweni Fanetri, here today. The quarterfinal defeat and her recent inability to defend her title in Indonesia saw the world number two slide two places to fourth in the latest rankings. The Indian squandered a one-game lead to go down 21-17 13-21 13-21 in little less than hour against unseeded Fanetri at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The World No.13 avenged her first round loss last week at the Indonesia Open by beating the Hyderabadi in their second career meeting. A prolonged lean patch has taken a toll on Saina Nehwal and seen her slide to number 4 in badminton rankings. Pic/AFP It was a neck-and-neck battle till the first 10 points of the opening game before Saina took a three-point lead at 14-11. The Indian increased her lead to 17-13 before Fanetri clawed her way back to reduce the margin to just one point at 18-17. But Saina regained her composure and pocketed three straight points to close the game in her favour. The Indonesian, however, started the second game on a bright note and opened up a 7-4 lead over Saina. Riding on her smashes and delicate net play, Fanetri increased her lead to 19-10 before sealing the game in her favour to level the scores. The win in the second game gave immense confidence to Fanetri of registering an upset victory over her higher-ranked opponent as she carried on her good form to open up a 12-3 lead over Saina with clear winners. The Indonesian did not give any chance to Saina to make a comeback as she increased her lead to 19-9 before giving the knockout punch to the second seeded Indian. The Indonesian is now the only non-Chinese in the last four of the Super Series tournament and will face the winner of the match between seventh seed Shixian Wang and fourth seed Yihan Wang Saturday. All other Indians in the fray have already bowed out of the competition after losing their respective second round matches. While Saina’s prolonged lean patch has taken a toll on her ranking, rising star P.V. Sindhu, who pulled out of the Singapore Open due to an injury, also dropped a place to 12th. In the men's singles, Parupalli Kashyap also lost a spot to be 11th while R.M.V. Gurusaidutt and Ajay Jayaram maintained their 23rd and 25th places respectively. Sourabh Verma gained five places to 37 while Mumbai boy Anand Pawar retained 38th. Thailand Open winner K Srikkanth improved his ranking by two places as he is 42 now. B Sai Praneeth, who beat legendary Indonesian Taufik Hidayat in his swansong tournament was closely chasing Srikkanth as he is just three placed behind his compatriot after zooming up 16 places.
Zwiebler shocks top seed Du By Lim Say Heng The New Paper Sunday, Jun 23, 2013 SINGAPORE - He aggravated a thigh muscle pull during his match against the competition's top seed, and was even advised by the tournament referee to retire. But Marc Zwiebler decided to give himself a shot against Chinese world No. 3 Du Pengyu in the Li-Ning Singapore Open men's singles Round of 16 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Thursday night - and was duly rewarded. The German world No. 14 edged out Du 21-18, 12-21, 21-19 in 71 minutes, despite conceding the second set to conserve energy for the rubber. The 29-year-old Bonn native said: "I pulled my muscle yesterday and it got worse today. I was a little handicapped in the second set because I wanted to conserve my energy to give my all in the third. It was a risky move and there were some points that I won in the third set which were lucky, but I am glad it paid off." Zwiebler also beat another Chinese shuttler, Chen Yuekun, on Wednesday and will meet Vietnam's Nguyen Tien Minh in today's quarter-finals. The result added to the Chinese team's bad outing on Thursday at the US$200,000 ($250,000) SuperSeries tournament. Olympic mixed doubles champion Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei were bundled out after a 21-15, 23-21 loss to South Korea's Ko Sung Hyun and Kim Ha Na. Both Chinese players walked past the mixed zone after their defeat in a huff without stopping to talk with the media. Also, Chinese world No. 9 and men's singles eighth seed Wang Zhengming - a finalist last year - lost 21-16, 22-20 to Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto. While Olympic champions Zhao and Tian Qing (women's doubles), and Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng (men's doubles) won their matches at a canter, London 2012 women's singles champion Li Xuerui struggled to beat Indonesia's Belaetrix Manuputi 21-19, 18-21, 21-14. Germany's Marc Zwiebler reacts after beating China's Chen Yuekun in the first round men's singles match of the Li-Ning Singapore Open 2013.
Haa .... the slow train got a lot faster on the way back, I reached KL around 6 am. Unfortunately, as you said, the haze has shifted nortwards and North Klang Valley schoolkids are happy with unexpected holidays ..... in fact our haze levels more than surpass Singapore's 400-odd API reading. Anyway, here are the pics of the BC get-together session ..... with food emptied and bellies full .... Back Row (active BC players) : spchu, jimbo Front Row (retired BC players) : hcyong (professional ACL knee injury), Loh (approached "maturity"), abe deng (above the weight ceiling to move on court) It was a great two hours, guys, hope to see you again in future tournaments.
Worldchampion Wang avenges her Olympic loss to Li Pakistan Daily Times 24 June 2013 SINGAPORE: World champion Wang Yihan exacted revenge for her heart-breaking Olympic final loss to Li Xuerui Sunday when she thumped her Chinese teammate in the Singapore Open final to topple her from the top of the rankings. The fourth-seeded Wang took just 39 minutes to overpower Li 21-18, 21-12, hitting 17 smash winners as she claimed her first Singapore Open title and returned to world number one. Wang, who also beat Li in straight sets at the Badminton Asia Championships final in April, now appears to have reasserted her dominance just in time to defend her world title in Guangzhou in early August. There was also drama in the men’s competition when unseeded Indonesian Tommy Sugiarto fought back from a set down to stun defending champion Boonsak Ponsana and claim his first ever Super Series title. The 25-year-old dropped the opening set 20-22 but he overpowered the Thai veteran 21-5 in the second set before breaking open a tightly-fought deciding set by taking seven of a possible nine points to put himself on the brink at 20-14. Sugiarto blew three match points as nerves set in but he finally claimed the set and match 21-17 when Boonsak, a two-time winner of the Singapore event, went long with his return on the fourth match point. Sugiarto upset three seeds to claim the victory, one of three by Indonesian players just a week after former Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat’s emotional retirement in Jakarta. Olympic women’s doubles champions Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei claimed their second Singapore Open title in three years as the fifth-seeded Chinese pair beat Japanese second seeds Misaki Matsumoto and Ayaka Takahashi 21-19, 21-16. It was a similar story in the mixed doubles as third seeds Tontowi Ahmad and Lilyana Natsir of Indonesia also won at the Singapore Open for the second time since 2011 with a 21-12, 21-12 victory over Korea’s Yoo Yeong-Seong and Eom Hye-Won. Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan completed a good outing for Indonesia as the unseeded pair beat Korean top seeds Ko Sung-Hyun and Lee Yong-Dae 21-15, 21-18 in the men’s doubles final. The 2014 Singapore Open will be held earlier in the year in a bid to attract a stronger field, after a swathe of big names opted out to save themselves for the upcoming world championships. The event had a similar problem last year when it was held in the run-up to the Olympics. The current edition also coincided with choking haze from forest fires in neighbouring Indonesia, which caused record pollution this week. afp
Fanetri on fire By Lim Say Heng The New Paper Monday, Jun 24, 2013 SINGAPORE - She lost to her more illustrious opponent the last time they met, just a week ago at the Indonesia Open. But on Friday, Indonesian shuttler Lindaweni Fanetri avenged her 21-17, 27-29, 21-13 first-round loss last week by beating India's world No. 4, Saina Nehwal, 17-21, 21-13, 21-13 in the women's singles quarter-finals at the Li-Ning Singapore Open. The 24-year-old Jakarta native headlined a good day for the sport's former powerhouses, with Indonesian shuttlers also dumping seeded pairs in the men's and women's doubles at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Speaking after her upset win, Fanetri said: "After last week's match, we knew more about each other's playing styles and I had discussed with my coach on how to play against her. Mentally prepared "Before the game, I was mentally prepared for a long game against (Saina)... I made quite a number of unforced errors in the first set, but pushed my shots behind her in the second because the wind was against me," added the Indonesian, who exited the competition in the first round last year. A tired-looking Saina attributed her defeat to fatigue. She said: "I was very tired as I also had a tough match on Friday and a tough tournament last week. My legs felt heavy." Indonesia's unseeded pair of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, who won the Indonesia Open men's doubles title last week, beat second seeds Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa 21-15, 23-21.
Mixed Doubles Final Pictures .... The most lopsided contest in the whole final ..... Yoo Yeon Seong and Eom Hye Won were just out of their depth against repeat winners Tontowi Ahmad and Lilyana Natsir .... It was a mercy that the match ended so quick ..... Action pictures down here ..... Petite Miss Eom at the ready ...... ... but soon she and her partner were forced back by Indonesian artillery barrage .... Occasionally, Miss Eom got to whack a kill at the net ..... ..... but for the most part, she lost her way yonder at the backcourt ..... ..... and this is Miss Eom again, about to drive the shuttle into the net ..... Towi : This is gonna be a piece of cake ....... Lily : Woit!! Concentrate!!! I heard the Korean guy just completed commando training .... Lily : Whoa!!! Where's the shuttle? Towi : I'm lookin!! I'm lookin!! Towi firing on Korean broadside .... The smooth defence of a double World Champion ..... Lilyana Natsir .... before showing off her not inconsiderable power. Podium Pics here ... EOM : Gosh, I feel so small and short, at 2nd place ..... Players displaying their silverware ..... EOM : They are laughing at us, aren't they? YOO : Yeah. Then again, we played like monkeys out there. Players displaying the most important thing, the winners' cheques .....
The Women's Singles Final ..... ..... came next. It was a battle between the reigning Olympic Champion, the brilliant Li Xuerui, up against the reigning World Champion, the beautiful Wang Yihan. It was one of the few matches in the rallypoint system era whereby the player that had to do most of the defending was the one who had the last laugh ..... and so Miss Yihan took it home in 2 straight games. Pictures here .... This beauty started off on the wrong foot .... .... getting herself twisted and turned at every opportunity .... .... and she almost fell embarrassingly to the floor .... But, like all World Champion beauties, she fought back .... WYH : Erk!! Is it that time of the month again? I hope it doesn't stain and show .....just my luck to be wearing white shorts. The Olympic Champion made her move ..... ..... with near flawless net control .... .... and powerful baseline attacking clears .... ..... but this time, the World dominates. Podium Pictures: WYH : Yayy!!! I won!!!! WYH : See, I told you the World Championship title is the bigger prize...... LXR : Yea, right! You don't fool me ..... WYH : See, even my paycheque is double yours ... LXR : You will need it. To give the national coaches, provincial coaches, district coaches, even your kindergarten coaches their share ..... I'm ok, I still have my USD 52K paycheque from last week. Taking pics with the dignitiaries ..... WYH : About paying off the coaches thing, do you mind giving a friend and senior teammate, a soft loan? I kinda forgot to budget for that ..... LXR : It would cost you bigtime ....big sista.
abedeng, you really are such a nice storyteller, cant stop laughing after reading the caption on wyh n lxr
That WS commentary was just brilliant!!! I'm still laughing! Thank you, [MENTION=4302]abedeng[/MENTION] !
The one on pic# 5 with WYH's exclamation is perhaps the funniest! I just wonder what went through her legs. Good that Bro Deng is rounding up his leave and looking for a temporary reprieve from his official duties.
Men's Singles Final The retirement of the legendary Taufik Hidayat must have sounded some alarm bells for the Indonesian Men's Singles squad. With their only two other Super Series tournament winners in indifferent form, it was pretty much a tough ask for Tommy Sugiarto to turn the tables against the legally adept Boonsak Ponsana, having fallen flat in his home ground against similarly styled Marc Zwiebler. Boonsak, as it were, was confidently looking for his third Singapore Open title. It was the longest match of the final, and despite a slight injury to Tommy Sugiarto, it galvanized him to take charge of the deciding game. Taufik Hidayat can rest easy now ..... Pictures here: Tommy Sugiarto tried to prove a point .... .... aware that his coach would never forgive a defeat .... He kept pace at the net ..... ... but was unsure of himself at critical moments, so the opening game was lost. Thai Coach : The way you are playing, you'd better prepare for an appeal to void the final result .... BP : But Coach, I don't have a license to practice in Singapore ..... Estonian lovely Umpire : God! This haze is getting into me ..... Boonsak tried to finish it quick ..... .... but the tables had started to turn .... He tried to concentrate yet again ... .... but the haze had reduced the effectiveness of his smashes .... ..... and so Boonsak prepared for the inevitable. Tommy got himself injured at the start of game 3 .... Tournament Referee : What's the prognosis, doc? Tournament Doctor : It's fatal ...... for his opponent, that is. My magic spray would give him bionic powers. And so Tommy celebrated a maiden Super Series victory ...... ..... and so he hugged his coach .... ... before shaking hand with poor Boonsak ... ..... and prepared to tackle the interview girl. At the podium: BP : Pheewhit!!! Look at that girl! TS : Big deal, the Djarum Girls are miles prettier ..... BP : Then why are you still looking? Contestants receive their trophies TS : Erk!!! Where did the girl go? BP : She got insulted by your comments, Singapore Girls are pretty sensitive, you know. Like your nose during the haze ..... Receiving their mock cheques. And taking pics with the dignitiaries.
Women's Doubles Final Here are pictures from the Women's Doubles final and podium prize presentation. I was expected another long drawn match between the Olympic Champs and the Japanese No 1 pair, as per the previous week in Jakarta, but it was not to be .... pretty comfortable victory for the Olympic Champs.
Men's Doubles Final The humbled Korean duo of Ko Sung Hyun and Lee Yong Dae believed that they had a good chance of turning the tables on the Indonesian combination of Hendra Setiawan and Muhammad Ahsan. The battle was indeed a lot closer, and for a moment in game 2, there was a glimmer of hope for the Korean muscle men. But at 18-18, two netcords in a row went the Indonesians' way. As Gill Clark would say, "Much too frequent to be called luck." Back to the drawing board then .......hopefully in time for the Worlds. Pictures here. Indonesians in attack mode .... and the shuttle moves across Hendra's face KOR Coach : What?!! You lost that game because you forgot your towel? Here, use my notebook ..... INA Coach : As they move with their power taekwondo, apply this delicate silat maneuver (gestures with his arms) LYD restarted his offensive .... ..... but they were still forced to do the defensive dance .... ..... making him rage angrily like a hulk .... ... and so he tried to strike a mortal wound. Interview Girl : Those were great netcords .... how on earth did you guys do it? Ahsan : That's a trade secret ..... have dinner with me and I'll tell it to you .... KSH : WTH!!! I thought you were covering the net ..... LYD : Nobody said anything about those pesky netcords. Podium pics.
It was great to watch both Hendra and Ahsan being interviewed, and replied, in English. Tommy did a great job too.
