First edition : 1977 Official Website : https://www.basel2019.org/en/ https://bwfworldchampionships.bwfbadminton.com/ LIVE STREAMING : - BWF Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/user/bwf - OLYMPIC Channel : http://ocs-en.deltatre.it/en/events/detail/2019-bwf-world-championships-basel/ - http://www.zhuafan.live/channeltypes/Badminton DAY 6 - SEMIFINAL (11.00am & 05.00pm) => https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/...F75B1C-E72D-4248-865F-8EC38C06F7CB&d=20190824 DAY OF THE UNDERDOGS Sai Praneeth, Kantaphon Wangcharoen and Anders Antonsen steal the limelight, storming into best achievement of their career thus far, clinching world championships medal. All of them eliminate the favourites simultaneously. Praneeth follows Indian famous Prakash Padukone step who's standing on podium in Copenhagen 1983 edition. The underdog Indian conquers Asian Games Champion Jonatan Christie, 24-22 / 21-13, thanks to exact strategy to overcome the confused Christie who also has ankle problem but it's not an excuse that his opponent playing excellently. An uphill task awaits him this evening, title holder and world number one Kento Momota. The mighty Japanese has smooth path en route to semifinal, never drop any game including destroying the heavy nervous Malaysian young prospect Lee Zii Jia, 21-12 / 21-8. Thai rising star Wangcharoen disappoints one of leading contenders Chou Tien Chen in three games, 21-16 / 11-21 / 21-14. His relentless persistence frustrating the lost focus Taiwanese star in deciding game. Anders Antonsen also realizes his ambition to fulfill big dream in Basel world meet as he stated in press conference. The young Dane knocks out two-time World Champion Chen Long, 22-20 / 21-10, the Chinese had good start in opening game but losing momentum and faltered at the end. An intriguing duel between these two rising new prospects, Antonsen versus Wangcharoen. As predicted China men's singles carves disastrous result, fails to bag any world championships medal, repeating same nightmare 24 years ago, incidentally took place in Switzerland (Lausanne). TZU YING QUARTERFINAL JINX It's unbelievable story for skillful world number two Tai Tzu Ying who couldn't pass quarterfinal stage once again in her fifth world championships campaign (2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019). She displays fantastic feat at first game to outplay Pusarla Sindhu but the Indian came back stronger and believing herself to balance Tai quality shot. A mental strength exhibited by major event specialist Sindhu who still composed and refused to give up in crucial stages, 19-all, Tai committed errors that cost dearly, ended the titanic clash with 21-12 / 21-23 / 19-21. The Indian mega star will take on Chinese best hopeful Chen Yu Fei who battled hard to overcome Danish quest Mia Blichfeldt, 21-17 / 18-21 / 21-15 in 76 minutes of play. Big match in semifinal round will pit two former world champions will facing off in today's second session, Ratchanok Intanon versus Nozomi Okuhara who subdued their opponents comfortably, Yeo Jia Min and He Bing Jiao respectively. FINAL SPOT FOR INDONESIA Men's doubles powerhouse Indonesia has guaranteed silver medal, much better outcome from last year edition. The high-profiles Ahsan/Setiawan neutralize Taiwanese explosive pair Liao MC/Su CH, 21-17 / 21-19 and set up a clash with the juniors Alfian/Ardianto who back on the right track with convincing style after demonstrating uninspiring feat recently, they oust giant-killers Choi SG/Seo SJ with two quick games, 21-13 / 21-17. China and Japan will hunt final ticket, defending champions Li JH/Liu YC outclass the defunct pair Liu C/Zhang N, 21-13 / 21-12 meanwhile Hoki/Kobayashi need longer time on court to dismiss senior teammates and last year runner-ups Kamura/Sonoda, 21-16 / 18-21 / 21-15. THE LONGEST MATCH China second-ranked pair Du Y/Li YH outlast the reigning Olympic Champion Matsutomo/Takahashi in unthinkable match duration in badminton history, 23-25 / 21-18 / 25-23 in 2 hours and 6 minutes tiring contest. Li Yin Hui suffered cramps but still figting back to earn semifinal spot in major tournament, the biggest achievement for the Chinese youngsters so far. Credit to both pairs who presenting an enthralling match with dramatic ending. A tough task to progress for Chinese to face another notable women's doubles pair Fukushima/Hirota who vanquish Korean challengers Lee SH/Shin SC, 21-11 / 11-21 / 21-18. Another close and thrilling encounter saw the strong-determined Polii/Rahayu edge past former world champions Chen QC/Jia YF, 25-23 / 23-21. The Indonesians aim to upgrade their bronze medal but they must overcome nemesis, world number one Matsumoto/Nagahara, a replay of 2018 Nanjing semifinal episode. PERFECT SEMIFINAL SCRIPT One step closer for China frontrunners to book final berth once again but they should never rule out today's dangerous stumbling block yet familiar opponents. Zheng SW/Huang YQ will take on Japanese energizing duo Watanabe/Higashino who halted Malaysian veterans Chan PS/Goh LY in three games. The world number two have more complicated mission to do, Thailand duo Puavaranukroh/Taerattanachai who had defeated Wang YL/Huang DP four times of eight encounters. China mixed doubles pair carry heavy burden to succeed and always dependable in every BWF tournament as chance in other fields are faded.
Country representatives in SF 6 - JPN 5 - CHN 3 - INA, THA 2 - IND 1 - DEN List of the WC semifinalists. Italic means first time WC medalist. MS Q1 - Kento Momota Q2 - B. Sai Praneeth Q3 - Anders Antonsen Q4 - Kantaphon Wangcharoen WS Q1 - Ratchanok Intanon Q2 - Nozomi Okuhara Q3 - Chen Yu Fei Q4 - Pusarla Venkata Sindhu MD Q1 - Fajar Alfian / M. Rian Ardianto Q2 - Mohammad Ahsan / Hendra Setiawan Q3 - Takuro Hoki / Yugo Kobayashi Q4 - Li Jun Hui / Liu Yu Chen WD Q1 - Mayu Matsumoto / Wakana Nagahara Q2 - Greysia Polii / Apriyani Rahayu Q3 - Du Yue / Li Yin Hui Q4 - Yuki Fukushima / Sayaka Hirota XD Q1 - Zheng Si Wei / Huang Ya Qiong Q2 - Yuta Watanabe / Arisa Higashino Q3 - Dechapol Puavaranukroh / Sapsiree Taerattanachai Q4 - Wang Yi Lyu / Huang Dong Ping
It is a need of the hour to reignite MS section after the retirement of LCW, last stages of LD career and also loss in form of CL. It's good that passing of the baton from old guard to new generation is happening.
How will you feel if Fajri get to Final but only get Silver? just like AG ... How will the players feel, i wonder? Like Again...? I hope HokiKobayashi can beat LiLiu, think LiLiu is favourite for the title though but we also said that in JapanO(slow hall) and TO. It just feels more deserved if Hoki , if they ended up winning the title then that means they beat HanZhou, KamuraSonoda, LiLiu and perhaps AhsanHendra or FajarRian. Compared to LiLiu beating R1 king InoueKaneko, Half alive-Half Dead LiuChengZhangNan and Hoki themselves in which they are the Fav.
Not gonna think too far...I'm just hoping Hoki Koba win LiLiu first. It's always a welcome change to see new winners than the same old faces all the time. Plus yoji is right - the young Japanese pair had a harder path to semis than LiLiu and are more deserving.
Kento Momota is the favourite against Sai Praneeth but you can't rule out an upset! HS Prannoy was able to get 19 points in game 1, that gives me hope and shows that Momota is not invincible like Lin Dan in his prime. If Praneeth can settle into his rhythm and maintain his focus he can put up a good performance. Should be an exciting semifinal. Sai Praneeth is India's most skilful badminton player and biggest underachiever. HIs lack of consistency has been his biggest stumbling block. Can he realize his potential?
Many of WD matches are notoriously long. Not sure if I want to watch WD match today. I will get tired for sure.
I got out of the hall to eat yesterday when the match of GP/AR v CQC/JYF started, while the 2 hours match was also ongoing on adjacent court. When I came back 45 minutes laters, INA was winning it to my surprise and the other match was still going on... hahhaa
I've noticed Kantaphon from last year since watching him troublesome Momota with his smash. Although he's still quite raw but the quality and physicality that he brought in the match is undeniable. This year, besides J.C, i feel he was the one that improved the most of the scene in every aspects of his gameplay. If he continue to develop at this rate, he would be the world beater soon since he already showed that he has really good net-play, can play effective attacking game with his smash and unlike the Indonesians, he can play at high pace while keep consistency throughout the match.