Other ties Thailand has beaten Sweden 3-0 -> Sweden relegated to group 2 France has beaten Switzerland 3-0 -> France promoted to group 3 Poland and India still fighting for promotion to group 2, Poland leading 2-0...
Also : close fight between Italy and Lithuania for promotion to group 4, 2 all with mixed doubles to be decisive...
very impressive match. not counting the Chinese players, this must be one of the best WS match i have watched in recent history. we need to watch this Hirose player in Beijing 2008. i think i can go to bed now. to be continued tomorrow evening.
Hirose's technique is superb. When she needs to clear, it goes really clear. When she wants to drive, it is penetrating. When she smashes, it is hard and crisp towards the sidelines. When she drops, it is sharp to either corners. And to boot, she is deceptive. The reason she can do all those is because she has fast and efficient footwork. She gets behind the shuttle really well. Wong MC is a rally player. She does not have a very good attack. She smashes close to the body and her opponents usually have no problems dealing with direct attacks from her. But then, how do you explain the score? Her speed, stamina and lunges are impressive. You can never count a rally over until the shuttle touches the floor. Her opponent is driven to extreme measures to finish the rally. They have to attack the lines and corners, and therefore, to make mistakes. At the same time, they also have to deal with her fairly good lobs and drops. If she can attack better and improve further on her footwork and racquet skills, she will be somewhere up there in the top 10. As it is now, I think she belongs to the top 20. Back to Hirose, I see her as already a serious contender to the Chinese. We'll see more of her in the top level, this smiling chubby assassin.
Those Polish players must be very tired....only three men (Logosz, Mateusiak and Wacha) and two women (Kostiuczyk and Augustyn) are playing today!! Thats 5 players taking up 8 positions, think they'll sleep well tonight