(Seong-nam Indoor Stadium, 27th September-2nd October 2016) M/Q Report version 1 (updated 19th August 2016) => http://system.bwfbadminton.com/uplo...ion 1 (Updated Friday, 19th August 2016).xlsx DRAW date : 6th September 2016 It contains same cast with previous week Japan Open, a farewell international tournament for home favourite Lee Yong Dae/Yoo Yeon Seong, pretty lack of participant for women's doubles category as no qualification here, all pairs have been registered in main draw.
I'm sorry. I just fainted when I saw that the Korea Open tickets were already on sale over a month before the event! Oh wait. Correction. They don't go on sale until the 29th. There are 3 different links. The one for Wed-Fri is here. But I just told you where and you asked for how. That is a different question. In the past, there have been over a half dozen criteria one needed to satisfy in order to order online. It may no longer be necessary to have been born in Korea, but you will likely still need a Korean cellphone and bank account or credit card and to have Internet Explorer so you can install the pile of ActiveX viruses the site requires during the login and/or payment process. You will likely still need to know the Korean language. There is now an English-language version of Interpark but it doesn't have the tournament in its list. You can try signing up and logging in via the English-language site - often the only way for non-Koreans to execute a successful login - and then trying the Korean site's URL for the event but a) that might not even work; and b) selecting a seat and paying will probably still have to happen in Korean.
Just an update on tickets. I contacted Interpark and they say that listing on the 'global' site (the one you can use in English) only happens at the request of the event organizer so clearly the BKA didn't concern itself with aliens buying tickets online. Interestingly, there are one or two other options that might work. Apparently, if you speak Korean, you can order by phone ( +82-2-1544-1555 ). Also confirmed that there is no physical box office for advance sales. The global site help centre says they'll take orders by email but they have no secure payment method.
Traditionaly in Korea Open the stadium is more then half-empty. I could never understand that. France, a low-level country regarding badminton, has its stadium full for the French open. Beside, at the Korea open, the cameras are placed very high in the stadium, giving us quite boring image to watch from tv. Definitely not top-notch tournament IMHO, sorry to say.
The latest M & Q report dated 26th Aug shown Chen Long has withdrawn. Similarly, Chen Long withdrew from the Japan Open due to be held the week before. Yup, we won't see Chen Long play two back-to-back SS tourneys, or any event for that matter, in September.
Really? You prefer video from the French Open to Korea? I would think of it as a trade-off. In the Korean one, you can see the faces a bit of the players on the far side. As for having half-empty seating and not being top-notch generally, virtually no one disagrees. Everyone involved with badminton in Korea - from players to coaches to officials - calls it a 비인기종목, or 'not popular sport' and adopts a fatalist attitude based on that. They seem to think no one from abroad will want tickets so they don't take any steps to make it possible to order from overseas or using the English, Chinese, or Japanese systems available from their chosen ticket seller. They should have posters in all regional badminton gyms - there are scores of badminton-specific facilities in the Seoul area - and yet I have never seen such a thing. The host broadcaster never shows more than 8-10h of total coverage for the week and routinely cuts the last match to avoid pre-empting their scheduled following show, which is often a baseball or soccer rerun or a non-sport variety show, rarely a live sport broadcast. One time, they interviewed the only Korean winners on court, over the PA system, but no other winners and I believe that 2011 Jung/Lee interview is the only PA interview since the Korea Open became a Superseries tournament. Question any of these conscious decisions by the organizers, and the response is always going to be 'Badminton is a bi-in-gi jong-mok'.
DRAW as released yesterday (6th September 2016), BWF link : http://system.bwfbadminton.com/uplo...W (Updated Tuesday, 06th September 2016).xlsx It's tricky opening round for three-time Olympic silver medalist Lee Chong Wei who will meet recent AUS Superseries winner Hans Kristian Vittinghus then his possible quarterfinal rival could be home favourite Son Wan Ho and slated to face either Jan O Jorgensen or Tommy Sugiarto at last four. Second seed Viktor Axelsen has qualifier at first round, three remaining seeded players who join him at lower-half of draw, Tian Houwei, Chou Tien Chen and Srikanth Kidambi. Newly-crowned Olympic Champion Carolina Marin has first round bye and should pass second round as well then she will set up a meeting with tall Chinese player, Sun Yu. A possible Tai Tzu Ying v defending champion Sung Ji Hyun clash most likely will happen in last eight. Current All England winner Nozomi Okuhara is drawn with her younger compatriot Akane Yamaguchi, former World Champion Ratchanok Intanon and Rio Olympic silver medalist, P.V. Sindhu. Only Men's Singles discipline has qualification round and there're first round bye for four remaining categories, this Superseries displays fewer participants than previous week Japan Open.
I think even LCW is finding it difficult to handle back-to-back tournaments, esp after how JOJ pushed him hard in the JOSS final. Either he doesn't want to risk an early exit or is becoming more selective in the tournaments he plays in so as not to overstretch himself or both, most probably. But I don't understand why Marin and Sindhu should withdraw after they've skipped the JPN Open last week; starting fresh has some advantage over those who played deep into the previous event. After all, the DEN Open PSS is more than three weeks away, there's more than adequate rest even for those who play all the way to the final of the Korea Open SS.
Top-notch players should be able to handle and adjust to any playing conditions which, after all, affect everybody equally as it's not under anybody's control, anyway.
Personally, I'm not optimistic that both or either He Bingjiao or Sun Yu can do well in back-to-back SS tourneys, not at this time yet. First, neither of them are particularly fit or have the stamina and endurance. Second, neither are experienced enough to know how to pace themselves properly throughout a tournament and then immediately the next which also requires strategising according to the opponents along the way, conserving energy as necessary and making correct adjustments as the situations unfold. Even so, the best of plans go awry and the unexpected often does happen as when a particular opponent plays especially well or manages to stretch you to the limit in a long,grueling war of attrition. I'd be satisfied at this stage if both and/or either HBJ and SY can at least advance to the QFs, anything more is a bonus. But I certainly will be expecting much more of them in the near future. There's no shortcut to success, they've to take one step at a time; they would be lucky if they can skip one or two steps to reach their goals quickly. Li Xuerui is a phenomenal exception but look at the price she paid for it, immense pressure, nervous tension and injury-prone. For me, a gradual and steady rise to the top is much more preferable, and ,I believe, would last for a longer duration, unless you're truly exceptional which very rarely happens; most tend to rise suddenly and fall just as quickly.
Sun Yu will most likely meet Marin at the Quarterfinal, while HBJ has to meet Ratchanok.. Even if HBJ call overcome Ratchanok at QF, she will meet Nozomi at the Semi... no easy feat!!! I think it would be better if they save energy for Denmark Open, which has more ranking points and prize money.
