Venue : Wuhan Sports Centre, Wuhan-Hubei Province, CHN Total prize-money : US$200,000 Category : Continental Individual Championships Grade : Superseries Tournament prospectus : http://badmintonasia.org/upload/Don...-Championships-2016-Tournament-Prospectus.pdf Live Streaming (Court 1) alternatives : http://www.zoptv.com/live/cctv-5 http://www.zoptv.com/live/cctv-5-plus https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqIYoBi8GLVhj7F3XW4utjg https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfJwT6SO_rWs9YMaT3fX1XkzvC5JR2_Cz CHN time : http://www.worldtimezone.com/time/wtzresult.php?CiID=3596&forma=Find Time SEMIFINAL (02.00pm local time, 2 court) => http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/s...570B8E-D2AA-401B-96B5-D873594B6690&d=20160430 China has three representatives for MS semifinal, a strong signal for upcoming Thomas Cup Finals. The most awaited duel of two iconic names in world of badminton will headline tomorrow's semifinal, Malaysian hero Lee Chong Wei against home mega star Lin Dan. Lee won their last encounter in Fuzhou end of 2015 when he bagged first ever CHN Open title, a sensational victory over his two archrivals Lin Dan and Chen Long at semifinal and final respectively. Lee pushed extra effort to eliminate world #7 Chou Tien Chen and Lin had easier quarterfinal match against Lee Dong Keun who asked for medical treatment in first game. At upper half of draw, China has secured one final ticket through Chen Long v Tian Houwei, a rematch of BAC semifinal last year edition, the world number one Chen gave walkover to Tian at that time. Chen displayed convincing performance to dispose Tommy Sugiarto while the left-hander Tian had trouble to overcome Taiwanese youngster Wang Tzu Wei in rubber games. Two Wangs have different result here, Wang Yihan downed recent All England champion Nozomi Okuhara in gruelling 81 minutes match, an important win for Wang to hunt her second Olympic Games ticket after London 2012. Earlier at same court, Wang Shixian failed to force rubber games as she lost straight-sets to Indian jewel Saina Nehwal. Another marathon clash also happened in this category, Sayaka Sato once again lost to her nemesis Sung Ji Hyun in 84 minutes. Top-seed Li Xuerui took revenge over Tai Tzu Ying on her Malaysia Premier defeat and she will take on Sung Ji Hyun in last four. At the other half of draw, a familiar battle will pit Wang Yihan v Saina Nehwal. Mixed doubles semifinal is almost going to the script, home ace Zhang N/Zhao YL outclassed their previous opponents and the much-improved Ko SH/Kim HN will be their real test, this Korean top-ranked duo have experienced significant development since 2015 last quarter and their world ranking soar to number three now. Defending champion Ahmad/Natsir also have no problem to cruise into semifinal and will meet another Korean tricky combination Shin BC/Chae YJ. It's really complicated for China team to pick second mixed doubles pair for Rio 2016, either Xu C/Ma J or Liu C/Bao YX, both of them are far from outstanding performance recently. Women's doubles discipline delivers worrying sign at the moment for China as none of their three pairs advance into BAC semifinal. Tang/Yu withdrew from this event due to Yu Yang ankle injury, the Olympic Champion is losing their finest touch, succumbed to Chang YN/Lee SH, second seed Luo twins sisters is unreliable, still vulnerable against Japanese pair, this time lost to 2015 World Championships bronze medalist Fukuman/Yonao, the juniors Chen QC/Jia YH spring some hopes to stretch current best combination Matsutomo/Takahashi in two close games. The world number one is favoured to continue her gallant run in this year against Korean Chang/Lee while Indonesians Maheswari/Polii who played long duration match once again to overcome Jung KE/Shin SC will be challenged by Fukuman/Yonao tomorrow. One men's doubles ticket has been guaranteed by home pair, Fu HF/Zhang N have advantage to defeat their younger teammates, Li JH/Liu YC who created big shock in this tournament to stun reigning world champion Ahsan/Setiawan in second round. Heavy favourite Lee YD/Yoo YS got surprising fight by former All England champion Liu XL/Qiu ZH, this Chinese pair lost frequently in early rounds of Superseries tournament after bagged silver medal in last year World Championships. Lee/Yoo will up against the dangerous Kamura/Sonoda who scored pretty satisfying outcome in last two tournaments, they thwarted last INA hope in this category, Gideon/Sukamuljo in three games. Court 1 matches (02.00pm) : 1) Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei (CHN) v Ko Sung Hyun/Kim Ha Na (KOR) 2) Li Xuerui (CHN) v Sung Ji Hyun (KOR) 3) Lee Chong Wei (MAS) v Lin Dan (CHN) 4) Lee Yong Dae/Yoo Yeon Seong (KOR) v Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda (JPN) 5) Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan (CHN) v Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen (CHN)
Can Saina Nehwal sneak past "Golden flower 2" in China and make the final? India's last hope of a fairytale ending.
Fun fact: Lee Chong Wei never won two matches in a row against Lin Dan throughout their 35 encounters in official tournaments
Wow, is this the first time China has representatives in all events of superseries level Semi final except WD??? That just wow...
There goes Fukuman/Yonao Olympics dream... Even though they won this tournament, they still won't be able to beat Chang/Lee points. CMIIW
I kinda disappointed with the organizer choice here. They put 2 MDs, one with the same country affair, while there is some other matches that will more interesting to watch. Hint: any match that don't involve the same countries.
If Naoko Fukuman / Kurumi Yonao won the tournament and Chang Ye Na / Lee So Hee lost their semi-final, Naoko Fukuman / Kurumi Yonao would climb to the 8th spot by 69 points for an Olympic berth.
I think LD will play hard wanting to win this SF and not go 0-2 against LCW before RIO and also to get the points that will make him WR2. That way he will be sure he will not face CL unless they meet in OLY final, and pray hard that LCW lands on CL side. If LD goes to BAC final, I predict LD will win as LYB will want to ensure that he has 2 players on opposite side to enhance chances of getting the gold medal. If we see LD dive defense and play hard against LCW and not going through the motion, we know LD wants to win this one seriously. Anytime Dato plays LD, it brings out the best from both of them. I say this will be a tight match. LCW won in CO16, beating both LD and CL. Can he repeat this? LD lost narrowly in CO16, will he lose again when he surely needs to win this won for the points?
Of course once again none wd semis in tv court, well its understandable since no Chn wd left. But seriously, all Chn md in last match should be put aside.
Yeah the TV court choice is a bit peculiar/ disappointing oO The All-china MD is really not appealling -less appealing than CL/TH all-china MS for ex. Wang Yihan- SN should be a much better match than LXR-SJH -where I don't think LXR will find any difficulty to win in straight sets. Mashewarri-Poli / Yonao/ Fukuman could have been a good WD to put on Court 1 to have at least representation of one indonesian team in the SF. (Btw Such a shame we will never get to see this 1h56 QF match from yesterday against Ying/Yu)
there is a lot to lose for either player for this match as you mentioned. I am sure LCW is also aware of that fact. it looks like we will be treated to a great match tomorrow. and maybe the 2nd last time we will see them, or perhaps even the very last time.
Yeah, they are not facing off in TC so you could be right maybe last time. If Dato lands in CL side in RIO, 50-50 which player will come out alive. Maybe CL gets KO early. Even though CL is at the peak of his career and if he plays true to form, he really is untouchable but then he is not dependable and reliable like both my Camry and Corolla, investing in him is like you really not sure if your stock goes belly-up or soar. BAC SF, I gonna hit the sack early tonight, set my old faithful I-phone at 3am to see this match. On who to win, my prediction (I have to be careful not to further diminish my already badly tainted prediction record LOL) is ahem...LD to win. On another side, WYH vrs SN, this is more than a match, WYH wins and she punch her ticket to RIO. It is nothing against WSN, both are worthy of RIO, but who plays better against the competition in LYB's mind will get the ticket. Playing against NO, CM, May, Tai, SN an attacking player may chance better, that is IMO. And we see LXR peaking.....check her focus, intensity, movement, smash, and especially her fitness and stamina which are up a notch gearing towards RIO. CHN may not get 5 golds this time, even though WS are getting better, I would not count CHN out of the gold.
I like saina's chances here to reach her first ever final in Asia championships. .only if she can remain focussed and calm throughout the match.
It should have been WYH vs SN on tv instead of LXR vs SJH. The latter would probably be one sided favouring LXR.
