Both Srikanth and Jindapon did well to beat their better-known, more established and experienced opponents, Son WH and Sung JH respectively.
Was thinking Tago and Chen Long would never play each other again. Kento and Jan O will have a rematch. Akane just keeps rolling. Gideon Markus and Kido feel like they want to win another super series. Both the Wangs showing why they are the seeded Chinese. I hope Du plays better than what he did in Korea, that was below his standard. Meanwhile...Swedish Masters started today. They are playing in Uppsala instead of in Stockholm this year. For me, there isn't as intresting participants as last year, with Kento being the highlight. But it seems like they are aiming for GP status.
The biggest upset was the loss of Mohd Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan (S1) to Lee Sheng Mu/Tsai Chia Hsin (U). Others were:- Boonsak Ponsana (S6) to Kento Momota (U) Sung Ji Hyun to Nichaon Jindapon (U) Saina Nehwal (S8) to Yao Xue (U) Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying (S6) to Praveen Jordan/Debby Susanto (U), a new pair Liu Xialong/Qiu Zihan (S4) to Angga Pratama/Ryan Agung Saputra Goh Liu Ying was obviously handicapped by her knee problem and CPS had to cover for her and that was too much to handle. If GLY goes for surgery, then CPS has to be paired with a new partner and that would mean they have to do well to be ranked. Akane Yamaguchi the young Japanese qualifier continues to progress and hopefully she could do well today against Bae Yeon Ju (S6). She is still a student. Saina Nehwal continues to lose in the early rounds of her matches and it is hoped that the slide will be checked soon so that she remains in the top 8 world ranking.
Matsutomo/Takahashi will be playing against Tian/Zhao. Tian/Zhao has a 6-1 H2H advantage. INA has three XD pairs in the top 8, pretty cool. Li Xuerui seems to be pretty sluggish coming out of the gate, lost first game before storming back to win the second and third. Hopefully we see a more dominant Li Xuerui for today's game.
QUARTERFINALS (03.00pm, 3 courts) => http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/matches.aspx?id=3A3CB08F-376F-4268-BEDD-905EECF07145 TV court matches (starting 05.00pm, court 1) : 1) Bao Yixin/Tang Jinhua (CHN) v Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth/Rizki Amelia Pradipta (INA) 2) Lee Young Dae/Yoo Yeon Seong (KOR) v Angga Pratama/Ryan Agung Saputra (INA) 3) Bae Yeon Ju (KOR) v Akane Yamaguchi (JPN) 4) Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam (THA) v Xu Chen/Ma Jin (CHN) 5) Jan O Jorgensen (DEN) v Kento Momota (JPN) MS, defending champion and home favourite Lee CW is on course to his 10th MAS Open title, looks like Du PY will get same result here as he did last week in KOR SS. While second seed Chen Long almost suffered early exit last night, second lucky escape against the qualifiers, Lee Dong Keun (R/32) and Wei Nan (R/16). Kenichi Tago surely is much tougher opponent than those two qualifiers. WS, China WS players dominate top-half draw and bottom half will eye Japan young sensation Akane Yamaguchi journey.
Well, as long as ZN has not broken up with ZYL, he would not focus on MD, in this sense LG is the best combination for him -- no expectation (thus stress-free) and early round exits (thus focusing on XD).
[TABLE="class: ruler matches"] [TR="bgcolor: #F8F8F8"] [TD="bgcolor: transparent, align: right"][TABLE] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD="bgcolor: transparent, align: right"]Chris LANGRIDGE[/TD] [TD="bgcolor: transparent"][/TD] [/TR] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD="bgcolor: transparent, align: right"]Peter MILLS[/TD] [TD="bgcolor: transparent"][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [TD="bgcolor: transparent, align: center"]-[/TD] [TD="bgcolor: transparent"][TABLE] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD="bgcolor: transparent"][/TD] [TD="bgcolor: transparent"]V Shem GOH[/TD] [/TR] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD="bgcolor: transparent"][/TD] [TD="bgcolor: transparent"]Khim Wah LIM[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Prove your win over the Den pair was NOT a fluke... boleh?
[TABLE="class: ruler matches"] [TR="bgcolor: #F8F8F8"] [TD="bgcolor: transparent, align: right"][TABLE] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD="bgcolor: transparent, align: right"]Chong Wei LEE [1][/TD] [TD="bgcolor: transparent"][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [TD="bgcolor: transparent, align: center"]-[/TD] [TD="bgcolor: transparent"][TABLE] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD="bgcolor: transparent"][/TD] [TD="bgcolor: transparent"]Pengyu DU [7][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Tough and long rallies match... expect to drag till the decider... 60-40... boleh?
[TABLE="class: ruler matches"] [TR="bgcolor: #F8F8F8"] [TD="bgcolor: transparent, align: right"][TABLE] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD="bgcolor: transparent, align: right"]Kenichi TAGO [5][/TD] [TD="bgcolor: transparent"][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [TD="bgcolor: transparent, align: center"]-[/TD] [TD="bgcolor: transparent"][TABLE] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD="bgcolor: transparent"][/TD] [TD="bgcolor: transparent"]Long CHEN [2][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Most exciting match for today... CL has not been impressive so far
Apart from the top 3 CHN WS, I'm also keenly watching the progress of their 2nd tier players. Unfortunately, Han Li after disposing of Carolina Marin was stopped by her teammate Wang Yihan; Sun Yu after eliminating Busanan was herself despatched by Wang Shixian; and Yao Xue who beat Saina yesterdayday will be facing Wang Yihan today, a tough proposition. They are all commendable results but too bad we will not be able to know how far they can go when they are often unlucky to face their top-notch seniors in the early rounds.
Unfortunately, it's almost unavoidable if they have 5-6 WS in the round of 16, there are going to be some CHN-CHN matchups. It would be cool if they upset their top-notch seniors though.
I'd expect Chen Long today to continue in the same vein and use K Tago to subject himself to another stress test in tournament conditions. If Chen Long still doesn't lift his game, he'll make his exit today; should he somehow survive, then I'm sure he will be shown the door tomorrow. Later, Lee CW will strut onto court brimming with confidence and emanating a killer instinct to slaughter another CHN player. Poor DuPY , agony time again.
