Li Ning Singapore International Series 2011

Marcus made a mistake but they were too good and won G2 21-9 in the end.

So the more experienced Agri and Marcus are the MD champions.

 

Now comes the all-SIN WS final between Xing Aiying and Gu Juan.

Surprisingly, Xing spoke in reasonble English when interviewed and she said that she wants to win as much as Gu Juan, who stil spoke in Mandarin.

 

Aiying in Purple shirt and Gu Juan in light blue.

A started with a smash down the base corner but now the sscore is levelled at 2-all.

 

Another smash from A and a two out-of-court shots from GJ gave A a 7-3 lead now.

 

GJ responded with a baseline smash and A made a net error to give GJ 5-7.

 

GJ smashed then hit out twice, now 10-7 for A.

But A played more steadily and now led 11-7 at interval.

 

I must say both players looked fresh and fit with A being the more agressive.

A did a backhand net drop to bring her now to 14-7.

 

A gave another baseline smash to make it 15-7 and another 3 poor returns gave a tremendous lead 18-8 now.

 

GJ scored another point but A played another drop shot down the side line to bring it 20-10 and a good net shot shortened GJ's challenge.

 

Can GJ come back in G2?

She was a little slow in G1 and trailed too far behind to make any real comeback.

 

A fierce rally to start off G2.

A now serving at 1-all to make it 2-1.

Looks like "GJ has no idea of what is going on" commented Susilo.

 

GJ made it 4-all and a sharp drop to A's all.brings her to 5-4 before A wins back the point to make it 5-all.

 

Now it is a see-saw battle, the score at 6-all before GJ made a cross-court error to put A a point in front.
A net tumble saved GJ a point followed by a good smash. Now 8-all with A serving. GJ delivered another cross-court to win a point.
Now 9-all.

 

Aiying was relentless and never allowed GJ to get ahead. She still leads 11-9 at the interval.

 

GJ hit out of base line but A also hit out on the side. Now 13-10 for A.

But A then hit out to be compensated by a good smash 15-11.

Aiying moves much better than GJ despite her heavier build.

 

18-11 in Aiyings favour! now 19-12 and the end is near for GJ. An upset indeed.

What a delightful rally in the end and Aiying forced GJ to a weak return before ending it with a smash 21-12.

So Xing Aiying surprised by being the WS champion.

The good thing is that SIN now has 4 WS players of about the same standard.

 

Not surprised... But good run for Kevin-Lukhi.....

 

Aiying is a happy lady by winning this WS title after a long, long while.

She said the team has been playing together in training and they know each others' game in and out. It is the form of the day and the desire to win that separate them.

Congrats to Aiying and may more titles come her way.

 

Now I see two young man, Indonesian Wisnu Yuli, aged 18, coming up against Kozai of Japan in the MS final.

Now Kozai is taking a 3-1 lead.

 

Kozai looks the stronger of the two in build. Yuli is lean and thin. But that did not prevent Yuli from scoring ace smashes.
However Kozai now won another point from his powerful smash before Yuli did likewise to make it 6-all now.