ROUND OF 16 (12.00pm) => https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/matches.aspx?id=9DD0E721-E845-4C5C-8775-88BDCEDCA622 *R/16 Match Highlights : - Tian Houwei (CHN) v H.S. Prannoy (IND) - Shi Yuqi (CHN) v Angus Ng Ka Long (HKG) - Tai Tzu Ying (TPE) v Minatsu Mitani (JPN) - He Bingjiao (CHN) v Carolina Marin (ESP) - Kamura/Sonoda (JPN) v Astrup/Rasmussen (DEN) - Pratama/Suwardi (INA) v Liu C/Zhang N (CHN) - Chan PS/Goh LY (MAS) v Zhang N/Li YH (CHN) - Lee CH/Chau HW (HKG) v Lu K/Huang YQ (CHN) Three reigning champions found the exit door yesterday, mixed fortunes for Japanese camp as two unseeded pairs created major upset but one of their WS ace was ousted early. Men's singles frontrunners Lee Chong Wei-Lin Dan-Chen Long and two Danish aces Jan O Jorgensen-Viktor Axelsen passed first round with convincing fashion, underscore they're ready to show-off the best in this oldest tournament. Fourth seed Son Wan Ho was retired at 1-4 to Sony Dwi Kuncoro, indicating his injury when he played at Djarum Super League Final couple of weeks ago is still not fully recovered yet. China secured six last sixteen spots with Tian Houwei and three back-up players, Shi Yuqi-Huang Yuxiang-Zhao Junpeng also prevailed. 8th seed Angus Ng Ka Long dropped first game before came back stronger in next to game to eliminate local hopeful, Rajiv Ouseph. A similar story also involved H.S. Prannoy who almost sent packing by Qiao Bin, trailed behind 12-17 then 16-19, he turned the tables to seal the match that ended, 21-19 at third game. Chinese Taipei promising talent Wang Tzu Wei continued his fine form to dispose HKG vast experienced Wei Nan and this winning awarded him to meet high profile player Lee Chong Wei this afternoon. Nozomi Okuhara couldn't repeat her stellar feat last year and failed to clear heavyweight opening test, Saina Nehwal who has positive head to head against the Japanese young star. The real battle of women's singles discipline will happen on Friday when top 8 seeds will face each. Today's one intriguing tie will pit China rising star He Bingjiao against the reigning Olympic Champion Carolina Marin, first ever meeting between these two left-handed players. World number 10, He BJ often troubling the elite players like Ratchanok Intanon, Tai Tzu Ying, Sung Ji Hyun, P.V. Sindhu and no impossible he may spring upset here. Men's doubles former champion Boe/Mogensen bit the dust, stunned by China new partnerships Lu K/Zheng SW, another headline defeat saw Ivanov/Sozonov couldn't defend their title lost to the in-form 8th seed Conrad/Kolding in two straight games. The Russian also succumbed to same pair in Mulheim an der Ruhr last week. Rio bronze medalists and home favourite Ellis/Langridge lost narrowly to Indonesia number two Pratama/Suwardi, 25-27 / 19-21. China experienced a big shock yesterday where their new leading pair Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan downed to Tanaka/Yonemoto in marathon match, this Japanese pair also beat the Chinese in their first encounter at China Premier last November. Three more China combinations through to second round but it's tough chance to get maximum result considering their fragility against top pairs. Praveen Jordan/Debby Susanto couldn't maintain their 2016 winning form and swallowed disappointing outing to the dangerous Japan young duo Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino in three games. Jordan/Susanto performance are less satifactory post All England triumphant, only once runner-up in Hong Kong Superseries late last year. Indonesia brings five pairs here but they must rely on the Olympic Champion Ahmad/Natsir once again to pick title in this category, nothing stunning progress by the back-ups. LIVE TV COVERAGE (COURT 1, 12.00pm) : 1) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND) v Dinar Dyah Ayustine (INA) 2) Lee Chong Wei (MAS) v Wang Tzu Wei (TPE) 3) Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda (JPN) v Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (DEN) 4) Hsu Ya Ching (TPE) v Ratchanok Intanon (THA) 5) Xu Chen/Du Yue (CHN) v Chris Adcock/Gabrielle Adcock (ENG)
The tv selection is not ideal. Among them, the MS, MD and XD are the best. Overall today, I think Sony vs Chou might be a cracker, too bad its not on tv.
coming back from injury, i believe. i didn't expect her to win. marin looked really fast today, which is her #1 strength. if she keeps up her speed i'd bet on her over hbj. i wouldn't call it an upset. lk/zsw are young and fast. zsw is china's next superstar. skill, power, speed & intelligent shot selection. did anyone really expect them to? sozonov needs to get out of his own head. great natural talent but you can see how his mood swings & body language take a toll on ivanov. the brits are going to have a tough time getting past the 2nd round of any future superseries. they cannot focus 100% of their energy on training due to loss of funding. i'm not so sure i'd call it a shock at this point in time. they are still young. the future of wd is all about china and japan. as i mentioned before jordan/susanto don't play smart and are prone to easy errors. re. the 2 defending champs, md & xd: i didn't consider their 2016 all england titles a career break through. it was more like catching lightning in a bottle, as their follow-up 12 months proved by their lack of continuing success. i can't imagine any badminton fan would expect those pairs to dominate or consistently win a few ss tournaments per year.
Lee Chong Wei vs Wang Tzu Wei is gonna be good. The latter is still riding his momentum after beating Chen Long previously, and then Wei Nan.
Zhao junpeng don't need to do anything. Defend well, you will be the winner against srikanth. I watched the match. He was not at all himself. We know, Subhankar dey who defeated Zhao last week, when compared to srikanth is mediocre. But he did it. Srikanth is vulnerable to left handed players. Sent from my SM-G600FY using Tapatalk
Both Nehwal and Okuhara are back from injury as the Indian ace underwent knee surgery post Rio Games. I call an upset to Boe/Mogensen case based on their seeding and world ranking Chen/Jia is 4th seed, they're China best WD now and one of strong contender to lift AE trophy considering their impressive run lately. Of course, both of them are still young, 19 years old so no worries at all of their unexpected defeat here. It's one hit wonder for Ivanov/Sozonov also Jordan/Susanto as well to nail AE crown last year.
But he did beat the supposedly best left handed player in his own backyard for his maiden super series title.
Too bad, Chen Yufei and Sun Yu have to square off so early in R2. Unlucky, Huang Yuxiang has to face Lin Dan today. Also MD, WD, and XD each has all-CHN affairs.
The seeds that fell in R1: 1. AM MS Sony Dwi KUNCORO [INA] Beat [KOR] SON Wan Ho [4] 4-1 Retired 2. AM WD BAO Yixin [CHN] YU Xiaohan [CHN] Beat [CHN] HUANG Dongping [7] [CHN] LI Yinhui 21-13 21-13 3. MD LU Kai [CHN] ZHENG Siwei [CHN] Beat [DEN] Mathias BOE [2] [DEN] Carsten MOGENSEN 21-15 22-20 4. PM WD Shiho TANAKA [JPN] Koharu YONEMOTO [JPN] Beat [CHN] CHEN Qingchen [5] [CHN] JIA Yifan 15-21 28-26 21-18 5. PM XD Yuta WATANABE [JPN] Arisa HIGASHINO [JPN] Beat [INA] Praveen JORDAN [4] [INA] Debby SUSANTO 21-17 19-21 21-12
If only Tzu Wei Wang is not too tired from his match against Wei Nan. That was a tough one. And not 24 hours since, he has to play again. Anyone can beat Srikanth any day. He is too inconsistent and has too many ghosts in his mind. When he plays for country, he is all aggressive and good. Like in Thomas cup or Olympics. But in individual events he is a complete nervous wreck.
As usual, Ct 2 is here http://videostream.dn.ua/videopage/videoPage.php?g=c2J2b2JoK2F0Y3ZsbmhZ&c=en&i=eWlhaXVidGd1bA№f№f
