man out of town for few days and misses this tourney .... glad ohori made it this far .... though probably gonna lose now..... quite surprising result for LD and LXR.... now fun matches going forward
Precisely, this is not a celebrity talk show or specially arranged personal segment on his life and career. The reporter should've the sense of appropriacy and focus more on badminton in general and the US Open event itself.
Li Xuerui again, this time beating Kim Hyo Min, a promising young up-and-comer, by that scoreline of 21-12 and 21-14 in 42 mins...hmm... well,... it's only the QFs, I'll wait and see.
Gao Fangjie, after a disastrous start in G1, routed 8-21 by Michelle Li, pulled up her socks in G2 but didn't handle the crucial points well when 19-18 up, dropping the next three points to crash out of the quarterfinals. That leaves LXR the sole survivor in CHN WS here , of whom I must give credit for her victory over Sayaka Sato yesterday who like her also came back from a long injury break but in comparison SS has been back about two years now as opposed to LXR whose comeback is barely three months in the pro circuit. Too bad, all of LXR's main draw matches were not on TV or livestream court so far, but, for tomorrow's semifinals, she'll be on TV Ct 1 versus Michelle Li, I'm looking forward to it.
SEMIFINAL (01.00pm) => https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/...D7EA54-4BF9-4B26-8AD4-E391B086FE0E&d=20180616 LIVE TV Coverage (court 1) : 1) Ajay Jayaram (IND) v Mark Caljouw (NED) 2) Zhang Beiwen (USA) v Aya Ohori (JPN) 3) Michelle Li (CAN) v Li Xuerui (CHN) 4) Naoko Fukuman/Kurumi Yonao (JPN) v Kim Hye Jeong/Kim So Yeong (KOR) 5) Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying (MAS) v Mark Lamsfuss/Isabel Herttrich (GER) 6) Kang Min Hyuk/Kim Won Ho (KOR) v Jason Anthony Ho-Shue/Nyl Yakura (CAN) The organizer arranges two WS matches on court 1 considering will present intriguing encounter, local hopeful Zhang Beiwen is stretched to the limit by Thailand promising teen Pornpawee Chochuwong in really close battle, 21-18 / 22-24 / 21-19. At the adjacent court, defending champion Aya Ohori demolishes the error-proned Busanan Ongbamrungphan who displayed high spirited performance along Uber Cup event at homesoil and became heroine when Thailand team shocked title-holder China in semifinal stage. Last year beaten finalist Michelle Li conquers China upcoming player Gao Fangjie who's still vurnerable and lack of shot accuracy. Li will meet another Li, none but 2012 Olympic Champion Li Xuerui for a place in final spot. Men's singles TV court will stage Indian veteran Ajay Jayaram against Netherland rising player Mark Caljouw. Jayaram knocked out Korean back-up Heo Kwang Hee in two straight-sets victory. Upper-half of draw, Lee Dong Keun continues his good run here to beat 19 years old Kantaphon Wangcharoen, next another Thailand player will await him, Khosit Phetpradab who eliminates China sole survivor in this category, Lu Guangzu, the latter lost focus in critical points, it's understandable since Lu only taking five tournaments prior to US Open. China MS is fruitless this time particularly the second-layered shuttler who didn't perform as expected, both Huang Yuxiang and Zhao Junpeng suffered early exit. Korea accelerates their regeneration in men's doubles and seems promising so far, Kang MH/Kim WH stun top-seed Ellis/Langridge in rubber games and will take on Canadian pair Ho-Shue/Yakura. One more Korea combination Jung JW/Kim JH also make it to final four and facing Chinese pair Ou XY/Ren XY. Two experimenting WD pairs march on to semifinal, Malaysian duo Chow MK/Vivian Hoo will meet Tang JH/Yu XH while Kim HJ/Kim SY have tournament top-seed Fukuman/Yonao.In mixed doubles, three European representatives secure semifinal berth, Lane/Vendy spring surprise to defeat more-fancied compatriot Ellis/Smith and set up a clash with Seidel/Efler next. Malaysian high-profile duo Chan PS/Goh LY will find stern test, second seed and SUI Open Super 300 winner Lamsfuss/Herttrich.
Yup they're streaming these matchups: Caljouw vs Jayaram (MS); Zhang Beiwen vs Aya Ohori (WS); Michelle Li/Li Xuerui (WS), Fukuman/Yonao vs Kim/Kim (WD); Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying vs Lamsfuss/Herttrich (XD); Kang/Kim vs Ho-shue/Yakura (MD)
What a comeback by Zhang Beiwen against Aya Ohori: Saved SIX match points and came from 14-20 down to win the game 22-20!
Well despite her quite high ranking she seems to still have problems with nerves. She is still quite young, after all
Technically, she's still part of Team A, as there are five spots and she has earned her place by making the final of the All Japan. However, she wasn't selected for the Uber Cup team, as B Team member Sayaka Takashi has perfomed much better this year. Park Joo Bong keeps it fluent these days. Sayaka Sato and her are imo fighting the battle of underachievers for the 4th spot behind Takahashi and the US Open has been a bit of a debacle for both of them. Sato is going to lose some 8000+ points next week and quite frankly, she seems well past it. Let's see if Kawakami and/or Minatsu Mitani can join in and make the race interesting. The main factor will probably still be the All Japan in December.
FINALS (01.00pm) => https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/...D7EA54-4BF9-4B26-8AD4-E391B086FE0E&d=20180617 1) Lee Dong Keun (KOR) v Mark Caljouw (NED) 2) Zhang Beiwen (USA) v Li Xuerui (CHN) 3) Kim Hye Jeong/Kim So Yeong (KOR) v Tang Jinhua/Yu Xiaohan (CHN) 4) Marvin Emil Seidel/Linda Efler (GER) v Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying (MAS) 5) Kang Min Hyuk/Kim Won Ho (KOR) v Ou Xuanyi/Ren Xiangyu (CHN) US Open final will be started by singles categories title contention. Both China and Korea have most representatives in last round with three spots each and four different nations complete the final line-up, Germany, Malaysia, Netherlands and host United States. The underrated Lee Dong Keun who created headline in first round to defeat crowd favourite Lin Dan has good prospect to nail MS crown. Not many excellent feat by this 27 years old Korean, bagging some GP Gold titles at home soil. Lee drew attention in recent All England second round when he delivered stiff resistance to deliver Lee Chong Wei in hard times. Lee DK involves in tough battle to book final berth against Khosit Phetpradab that hits 89 minutes of play. Mark Caljouw, a young and upcoming player, bright prospect from Europe to balance Asian shuttlers. Caljouw beat Ajay Jayaram who commited many uncharacteristic errors yesterday. Zhang Beiwen shows mental toughness, saving six match points to reject Aya Ohori defends US Open title, the Japanese young lady collapsed in deciding game, psychological effect of her second game wasting chance. A steady performance by Li Xuerui who ousts Canadian Michelle Li, the Olympic Champion is better player in netplay as her opponent often pushes the Chinese at baseline. A second final of BWF World Tour for Li XR after Ling Shui Masters last April, almost two years hiatus to recuperate her severe injury in Rio OG, August 2016. One step closer for Korean unranked combination to clinch WD crown here, Kim HJ/Kim SY wrapped up all their previous matches convincingly including how they dispose number one seed Fukuman/Yonao in semifinal. China relatively new partnerships Tang JH/Yu XH don’t look so promising in last five tournaments they participating but China doesn’t have many established players to forge formidable pair. A right test for the Chinese whether they succeed and be permanent pair for next tournaments. It’s challenging path for Malaysian prominent XD pair Chan PS/Goh LY to enter finale, they almost knocked out by Korean new hotshots Seo SJ/Chae YJ in opening round, also tough quarterfinal clash against English duo Mairs/Moore. Out of prediction, they pass second seed Lamsfuss/Herttrich quite comfortably with two quick games, 21-16 / 21-14 and will face another German opponents Seidel/Efler to seek second Super 300 title in this year after THA Masters in January. Young and energetic duel between Korea and China men’s doubles pairs, Kang MH/Kim WH won their first meeting in recent AUS Open Super 300 second round, a thrilling match at that time. The Koreans have valuable experience to compete in top-tier tournament in just concluded Thomas Cup. They beat the most difficult foe en route to final, Rio OG bronze medalists Ellis/Langridge in last eight. China back-up pair Ou XY/Ren XY made debut in last April Ling Shui Masters Super 100 but they have shown pretty good progress and well-developed so far.
OTOH, amazing, Zhang Beiwen coming back from the brink of defeat, her second escape, more spectacular, than the one with Pornpawee. OTOH, what a shame for Aya Ohori for failing to close out G2 with 4 matchpoints and even losing the deuce as well as letting ZBW back into the match to turn the tables on her. Aya Ohori looked rattled in the decider, probably unable to put the second game lost behind her.