I guess no...hehe..Michele is a talented girl..she wanted to practice at Djarum again....she went to china for a week or two only
I am surprised that Jiang Xue Lian still plays well.....I remember seeing her and Chen Lin before and created some controversy in the past...I think they will win WD...
I saw one of her video on youtube like 2 or 3 years ago (Final of Canadian under 16 championship or something like that) and thought she was very good... Will we see her in the near future in any of the big tournaments? Btw, seems Canadians are going strong in this US Open.
Waiting... Btw, could you tell me in which part of Day2 highlights will Mr. Hidayat make his debut? I went through the 12 parts available... Thanks a lot!
Still Anna Rice but Michele improves a lot..I think she will beat Mona santoso today...Mona is a double player not a really single player...suprised that she could progress to SF..I think Michele will get to final...
Appreciate if u guys can come out with the preview of semi-finals. Btw, how old are Michelle and Mona? I think Michelle might have the slight edge though.
Day 4 recap..Day of the Fallen Defending Champions..... ..alrighty gang, sorry for waiting. Couldn't get my eyes to stay awake, even if i had to put on a masking tape to keep my eyelids open... Anyway, here are my recaps on what i witnessed, as it was really my first time to finally sit down and enjoy the matches..I must say, Day 4 brought out the best matches of the tourney and wildest finish, so far..I'll tell you guys soon.. XD matches: - Alvin LAU & Xuelian JIANG vs. Chandra KOWI & Mona SANTOSO. It was a match pitting the U.S.', arguably, 2nd best XD pair in Kowi & Santoso, against the newly combined Canadian pairing of Lau & Jiang. From the very get go, Lau and Jiang displayed a fast and an attacking oriented approach. They kept up the pace throughout the 1st game as the U.S. pair just wasn't able to establish their game until the 2nd game. In the end, the U.S. pair made it interesting, but it wasn't enough. - Howard BACH & Eva LEE vs. Tony GUNAWAN & Nantana Cee KETPURA. Probably the most entertaining XD match of the day, if not the whole week. This time, pitting the U.S.’ #1 XD pair vs. arguably the best Men’s Doubles player in this current generation. The match was truly a delight. It featured the many exquisite deceptive x-court shots and wonderful placements. When I was watching it, I thought it was 2 vs. 1, as it seemed Tony was the only one defending his side of the court. He and Cee held their own, as they forced a rubber game, but it wasn’t meant for them as Bach and Lee proved to be much formidable opponents. - Toby NG & Grace GAO vs. Halim Haryanto HO & Yun (Grace) PENG. The string of defending champions downfall began with this match. It was back & forth throughout the match but alas, the defending champs just couldn’t defend the barrage of attacks from the Canadian pair. - William MILROY & Fiona MCKEE vs. Jacob CHEMNITZ & Lauren TODT. The Canadian pair proved to be much more solid and quick to the point of attack throughout the entire game. Coupled with quite a few errors from the new combo pairing of Todt & Chemnitz and the Canadians ended the match in 2 games. So, it would be 3 Canadian pairs who will compete in the Semifinals Rd to earn their way for a chance to play in the Finals. My hunch say Bach & Lee and Lau & Jiang to advance.
U may be right....Michele does have the edge as Mona is not a real single player..reaching SF is good for Mona already....
Day 4 recap continues.. WS matches: - Nicole GRETHER vs. Rena WANG. The veteran vs. the junior. It was simply a no-match affair between the 2 players as the much more seasoned & physically stronger Nicole was too much for the rather green & petite Rena. - Anna RICE vs. Eva LEE. It was a pretty well played match between the 2 players. Eva was in control most of the 1st game until Anna finally and slowly figured and fought her way back. In the 3rd game, the determined Anna just seemed to be more focused as she simply coasted to victory. - Mona SANTOSO vs. Kuei Ya CHEN. It was no match for the much more experienced Mona as she cruised to a relatively easy straight games win. - Michelle LI vs. Liliane CHOW. The best WS match of the night. And yes, Michelle did prove that her training really paid off. Her skill and game seemed to be much more improved than the last time I saw her. She seemed to be more smooth in her form and technique. From the very get-go, I could tell she would give Liliane, last yr’s defending WS champion, one heck of a battle. It turned out to be true as at the end, Liliane just didn’t have enough and the younger Michelle earned herself a win but not after a grueling effort against Lili. And now, it's has 2 fallend defending champions. My hunch says, Rice and Li to reach the Finals.
Day 4 recap continues.. MS matches: - Carl BAXTER vs. Martin BILLE LARSEN. One of the most interesting matches of the day. It was back and forth, until the 3rd game when Carl finally put the brakes or stepped on the pedal to the metal and started to control the match. With his experience on his side and Martin’s errors, it was Carl’s match to take. - Hsuan Yi HSUEH vs. Howard SHU. Well, from the start of the warmup to the first few points of the match, one could already tell the gap of their level of play is pretty deep. Hsuan Yi really was a class better. - Taufik HIDAYAT vs. David SNIDER. I was going to write, “Taufik came, he saw, he entertained, and he left” again. But this time, Snider did indeed provide a much more resilient effort & worthwhile entertainment than Sattawat, at least throughout the whole match. From the scoreboard, one wouldn’t realize that it was really a very played match from both players. In one particular instance, i believe it was in the 1st game, after Taufik played a “mean” trick shot and left David wrong-footed. After that exchange, David seemed to be more energized and seemed to take the challenge as he strung a few pts together and Taufik committed more errors. I even wondered, has Taufik ran out of gas? But apparently he didn’t as he finished the 1st game with a couple of wonderful attacks. The 2nd game was more or less the same. The only difference was the last pt of the game which was somewhat controversial. What happened was, David made a loose return and Taufik pounced on the shuttle and his net smash seemed to sail just long. It happened so fast that the line judge probably didn’t see it. Even Taufik couldn’t believe the call as he bit and hung his arms around the net to get an approval. David also thought the shuttle landed long. From my point of view, it looked long. But the Umpire didn’t over-rule and a gracious David greeted a happy Taufik who was still clinging on to the net with both his arms, as he almost brought the entire netting equipment down. David did whisper something in Taufik’s ear as they congratulated each other. I wonder what did he say to Taufik??.. - Andrew DABEKA vs. Stefan WOJCIKIEWICZ. I had expected Andrew to return and at least reach the Final this yr. But lo and behold, I totally saw a completely & utterly an out of character Andrew. Now, I don’t know if he was physically fatigue, but he was all over the place and he fell on the court not once, but several times, trying to reach and chase the shuttle. He was like a totally different player out there, awkward footwork, late reactions and all. Or maybe the thought of possibly meeting Taufik reared in his mind and he became somewhat anxious. In the 2nd game, he made it interesting, but a few errors cost him the game. After the match, he made a Lin Dan move by approaching the crowd and offered everyone his racket. After he screamed “Who wants my racket?”, and I think I was the first one to raise my arm. But I guess sitting way too far up, he decided to throw it lower; if he did, he might’ve missed me and throw it into the window and break it. One guy was lucky enough, as Andrew threw a perfect lob straight to him; I guess Andrew was eyeing him the whole time. Too bad I didn’t capture the action. I'd say Taufik and Hsueh to reach the Finals.
Day 4 recap continues.. WD matches: - Nicole GRETHER & Charmaine REID vs. Chin GO & Paula lynn O'Bañana. The score didn’t justify the action and excitement of the match but Nicole and Charmaine used their experience & rallied back in the 2nd game to secure a Semifinals berth. It was one of the most entertaining WD matches of the night as the crowd really got into it and supported Go & O’Bañana. - Ruilin HUANG & Xuelian JIANG vs. Rulan YEH & Rulien YEH. Someone, in another thread, mentioned one or both of the players in the Canadian pair is from China. Well, they proved their level of play as they stormed their way into the Semifinals Rd with a convincing win. The Yeh twins simply had no answer. Although a few of their shrieks surely drew a bit of attention. - Priscilla LUN & Mesinee MANGKALAKIRI vs. Panita PHONGASAVITHAS & Vimla PHONGASAVITHAS. This was also a very well played match. The Phongasavithas sisters took charge in the 1st game and squeaked out a close win. But it wasn’t until the 2nd game, where Mesinee and Priscilla started to find their groove. It continued in the rubber game where the more in-sync and confident Mesinee and Priscilla stayed true to their game and earned their way to the Semifinals Rd. - Ying CHEN & Yun (Grace) PENG vs. Nantana Cee KETPURA & Eva LEE. The much more experienced pairing of Chen and Peng proved to be the difference. Eva had to do much of the work in her pairing. I really wonder what happened to her partnership with Mesinee? Or the coaches are thinking of partnering her and Mesinee with different & younger partners? My forecast, the 4 ex-CHN players to advance to the Finals.
Day 4 recap continues.. MD matches: - Jurgen KOCH & Peter ZAUNER vs. Haeng Ham LEE & Derrick NG. A display of brute force and power. The Canadian was on the attack most of the match, but a more solid and stable Koch & Zauner were able to contain the attacks as they absorbed the heavy artilleries and advanced to the Semifinals Rd. - William MILROY & Toby NG vs. Howard SHU & Agus WIJAYA. The much more consistent and coordinated pairing of Milroy & Ng proved to be too much for the scratch pairing of Shu & Wijaya, both of whom are basically Singles specialists. -Howard BACH & Tony GUNAWAN vs. Joe MORGAN & James PHILLIPS. Least to say, it was the most uninteresting MD match of the day. The Americans totally outclassed their younger opponents. Howard & Gunawan is set to win the U.S. Open title, one more time, after a few yrs hiatus of not playing & winning the U.S. Open. - Martin BILLE LARSEN & Jacob CHEMNITZ vs. Andrew ELLIS & Dean GEORGE. When I mentioned the QF day was a wild day, this match was the reason why. It was a perfect ending to the day. If watching a KKK & TBH on tv was nerve-wrecking, this match must be up there with one of those nerve-wrecking moments. If Hau-ge was there, he probably would go down and stay near the entrance door, couldn't stand the high tense moments>>TOO TENSE (TEGANG BANGET)!!!. I certainly could feel the butterflies and my nerves a bit shaking. Both pairs were pretty even. And Bille Larsen's humongous presence surely proved to be intimidating to the English pair. But the adventure and excitement didn’t start until the second half of the 3rd game. And that’s when the crowd began to get into the match, as the cheer and support started to magnify. With the score resembling a for-sure victory for the Danes, with 1 more pt to clinch, by some miracle, the English pair fought back. Little by little, error by error, smash by smash, the English pair actually climbed their way back from a 7 or 8 pts deficit to actually even the score at 20 a piece. With every single pt gained, the crowd's approval resonates even louder. From then on, it was a series of exchanges of errors and smashes until the score was at 27 a piece. At the end, with the Danes nearly on a complete meltdown, they were able to capitalize on the English players’ errors and none the most dramatic than the last pt, when one of the English players rushed and netted a serve return. After that, Chemnitz quickly fell to the ground, Bille Larsen raised his hands and the crowd gave a thunderous ovation to both pairs who provided a great entertaining match. Disappointing finish for the English pair but they sure provided a sparkling display of effort and grit. My hunch says Bach & Gunawan to advance and probably Koch & Zauner. Although Bille Larsen & Chemnitz could ride their emotional momentum for another day. Okay, that's all for now...be back in a bit with the pics..*sigh*
aboslutely, awesome. Chris not only do video, photo, and also reporting. this is a huge amount of effort. the BC community is really appreciated.
