WD: Bao Yixin/Zhong Qianxin [WR#90](CHN) beats (JPN)[WR#7] Shizuka Matsuo/Mami Naito 18-21, 22-20, 21-19
Naitou at match point 19-20, pushed a loose net shot wide. Bao Yixin / Zhong Qianxin beat Shizuka Matsuo / Mami Naito : 18-21 / 22-20 / 21-19. 1hr 25mins.
Good exciting match. Even though the Japanese defense managed to get on my nerves, it wasn't as bad as the German Open match I was forced to endure^^ The chinese pair has potential - a taller, slimmer Du/Yu combination. YB is definitely stronger at the net and looks to get there as much as possible. Classic Chinese doubles combination in that regard^^
both sides played well. particular impressed with the 90th ranked Chinese youngster. very solid technique and both tall and super powerful. a bit rough on the edge though as they only know how to attack but not how to win a point. they try to smash through the wall which sometimes help but sometimes not. the JPN girls are also very good, with solid defense and smarter play than the Chinese. the tall lefthander (Naitou) is very powerful. JPN is now becoming Chinese #2 turning out pairs after pairs of women players. if they managed to get some better WS players they may take over KOR as the #2 team in Uber Cup.
Still a long way to go for that... And I don't see how their defensive play in WD could overcome attacking talents such as YY/WXL. LCW showed for many years that good defense is not enough in front of good attack...
Not quite the same - Men attack much harder than Women, and with better angles thanks to jumping. WD is probably the only discipline where good defensive pair has good chances of beating an offensive pair - the Japanese are the prime example. All the girls string so tightly, their smashes are not as powerful as they could be. Also, Women can always train with Men to improve, even if those are ranked much lower. Training against physically superior opponents can help you improve your defense a lot. And if you're used to 250-270kph smashes from training, 200-220 in matches is not so tough
Wang Xiaoli/Yu Yang play like men's doubles, that's why they are a cut above the rest, raising the level of women's doubles to new height
I still remembered when LD told media when he got beaten by LCW in last year Japan Open that he wanna take revenge. So, I believe they will meet in the final.
I still think there will be another academy award show between LD and CL. No point killing each other and allow LCW to kill them.
RANKING OF PLAYERS The ranking of players/pairs in a pool after all the matches between players/pairs in that pool are completed shall be established as follows: a) Ranking will be established by the number of matches won. b) If two players/pairs have won the same number of matches, the winner of the match between them will be ranked higher. c) If three or more players/pairs have won the same number of matches, ranking will be established by the difference between total games won and total games lost, with greater difference ranked higher. i) If this still leaves two players/pairs equal, the winner of the match between them will be ranked higher. d) If three or more players/pairs have won the same number of matches and are equal in the difference between total games won and total games lost, ranking will be established by the difference between total points won and total points lost, with greater difference ranked higher. i) If this still leaves two players/pairs equal, the winner of the match between them will be ranked higher. ii) If three or more players/pairs are still equal, then ranking will be established by drawing lots. e) If illness, injury, disqualification or other unavoidable hindrance prevents a player/pair from completing all their pool matches, or if a player/pair chooses not to complete all their pool matches, then all the results of that player/pair shall be deleted prior to determination of the pool ranking order. Retiring during a match shall be considered to be not completing all pool matches.
Wow! Juliane Schenk waylaid WSX in straight games!! She has a very good shot at going to the finals now.
Yeah, chris-ccc, you are right. I am very poor in predicting. Let me try to guess again. My view is that after winning virtually almost every major thing, Lin Dan probably suffering from a bit of lack of motivation. Especially playing against his own countrymen where he probably often plays during practice. Probably at the moment, his current motivation is staying ahead of LCW whenever he meets him. So against CL, he might win and we will expect to see him at his best on Sunday. But if he wants to avoid meeting LCW this time, CL will win.
