Saw much of the QF's but had to leave so missed a XD, WD & WS match at the end. MS LCW vs Boonsak Having seen Boonsak & not LCW the previous day I thought this might be a decent match. Unfortunately it is a bit like watching Arsenal vs Barcelona - when two players have the same attributes but on is slightly (or a lot) better in each area of play they it is a very one sided game. Boonsakrelys on a fast paced game and good net play to make openings to finish shots. LCW is faster more skillfull & defence too strong for Boonsak. The 21-7 in the last game flattered Boonsak, LCW wasn't even trying. LD Vs Nguyen TM This should have been a simlar match up as above. NTM plays a similar style as LD, but this time the gap was not so large. It was comfortable for LD, but not easy. What was noticeable today is ho much slower and less agile LD is no than a few years ago. He looks not as smooth. PG vs Chen Long Despite the fairly straight forward scoreline this was quite a good match. First time watching CL. He is certainly a physical prescense. I would have preferred a bit more agression as he could afford it, but his rallying ability and consistency was obvious. If he had a bit more flair he could be a really good player. Zweibler Vs Yamada Zweibler was in control all the time, not sure how he lost the 2nd game. Thought he might tire against the Industrious JP player in the third, but he controlled it well. His movement is good and he can play some skillful deceptive shots. Just not quite got the pace to trouble the top players I feel otherwise he could cause some upsets in draws. WS Saina Vs Eriko Saina was disappointing again. as yesterday her rallying not up to usual and attacks not as incisive. Against the runner like Eriko it is not enough to be inconsistent & not hit winners. Was a great chance for her to Reach final as I was sure she could win the potential SF WSX Vs Schenk First time I saw WSX, I confess I didn't know she was a very consistent player in tournaments Judging her on this performace alone It wasn't very impressive. she isn't a pretty player to watch she doesn't hold her non-racket arm (left) high and lets it droop, but her drops were fairly effective. Schenk played out of her skin & with full commitment I have to say I thought she was going to win WSX wasn't convincing until midway through the third. She made it through though. MD The match of the day was definitely KKK/TBH vs Kido/Setiawan it was finely balanced throughoutand I felt the INA pair were going to win. Unfortunately Kido has an annoying habit of drifting during games, making a run of errors, then waking up and playing really well. I think Hendra need to recognise this & play shots that get Kido to the front in these cases because Kido seems to move backwards and make errors. with KKK you expect brilliant flair play & errors, and TBH backed him up well with consistency. Cai/Fu were also good to watch. They have changed well over time to become more balanced as a pair (Fu taking more net time & having better defence) and have matured to be a difficult pair to beat. They are definitely a lot slower and less powerful now. I can't see them winning many more big titles but they are are really solid pair who play good MD WD Only match I really watched was Roepke/Kruse vs Chien/Cheng. The DEN pair were a totally different pair to the day before. Attacking harder, defencing resolutely. not sure the TPE pair were expecting it and they got caught out. XD No really good matches her the all CHN being the pick of them. Xu/Ma were very solid and didn't give any easy points whereas Zhao/Zhang tried too hard to win the points rather than making the opponent work
