Li Ning Singapore Open News Jun 19-24, 2012

[Loh]

Olympics-bound Wong, Gu bullish despite early exit

(Just for the record)

Singaporean duo see positives from Singapore Open defeats, as Sasaki and Taufik also eliminated


by Dan Guen Chin
Updated 11:11 PM Jun 20, 2012

Li-Ning Singapore Open 2012



Dan Guen Chin

DanGuenChin@mediacorp.com.sg



SINGAPORE -- Shuttlers Derek Wong's and Gu Juan's final warm-up before next month's London Olympics ended prematurely, as they crashed out of the US$200,000 Li-Ning Singapore Open badminton championship.

At the Singapore Indoor Stadium yesterday, Wong lost 2-0 to India's R M Gurusaidutt in the last 16 of the men's singles, whileGu Juan also lost 2-0 to Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk in the women's singles opening round.

However, Singapore's seventh-seeded London Olympics-bound women's doubles pair of Shinta Mulia Sari and Yao Lei beat Malaysia's Vivian Hoo and Woon Khe Wei 2-0 and will meet Hong Kong's Poon Loke Yan and Tse Ying Suet in their second round today.

"Things just didn't work out the way I wanted today," said Wong, 23.

"There was no consistency in my game either, especially in the rallies. And when I needed to speed things up a bit I just could not find the tempo. Now I know what I need to do before I head off to the Olympics."

On her loss to Porntip -- her fourth in their last six meetings -- world No 16 Gu said: "I admit I was a bit nervous on the court today. Maybe it's the opening day of competition but to be fair, my opponent played very well. She overpowered me. But I will be strong and will not allow this defeat to affect my physcological preparation for the London Olympics," said Gu Juan.

But 2010 women's doubles pair Shinta and Yao's progress was one of the highlights of the start to the tournament's main rounds yesterday.

"It was a close match against the Malaysians and it was the same too when we met at the Indian Open two months ago where we won in three games," said Shinta.

"We were much prepared this time but after winning the opening game, we took it a little easy in the second and paid the price."

Other names to exit the tournament included men's singles' top seed Sho Sasaki of Japan, who lost 2-1 to Denmark's Viktor Axelsen, while former world and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia was beaten 2-1 by Malaysia's Chong Wei Feng.

But the talk of the tournament must surely be the fall of Sasaki to world junior championship runner-up Axelson, 17.

"This must be the sweetest win of my career so far," said the Dane. "Sasaki is a good player and his world ranking will tell you that. But I have beaten him and it will boost my confidence for the tournament ahead."

 

[Loh]

Taiwanese badminton players progress to 2nd round in Singapore

FOCUS TAIWAN

2012/06/20 23:02:30

Taipei, June 20 (CNA) A number of Taiwanese badminton players on Wednesday made it through to the second round in their respective events at the Li Ning Singapore Open after defeating their opponents in the first round.

Seeded fourth in the contest, Cheng Shao-chieh edged out her unseeded Chinese rival Han Li 22-20, 21-10 in 37 minutes at the Singapore event, which is part of the Badminton World Federation's Superseries tournament and the last Superseries contest before the London Olympics.

Cheng, who is currently ranked 11th in the world, will face Chen Jiayuan of Singapore Thursday in the second round.

Fellow Taiwanese female badminton player Tai Tzu-ying, ranked 12th in the world, defeated Indonesian Aprilla Yuswandari 21-19, 21-15. The contest's fifth seed, Tai is scheduled to face Eriko Hirose of Japan in the second round.

Cheng and Tai will both represent Taiwan in the womens's singles event at the London Games that start July 28.

In the men's singles event, Hsu Jen-hao lost to Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka of Indonesia 23-21, 21-16 in the first round. Hsu, who is ranked 24th in the world, will also represent Taiwan in London

 

[Loh]

Singapore Open Super Series: Daren Liew stuns Lee Hyun Il

http://blogs.bettor.com/Singapore-O...surge-into-Mens-Singles-quarter-final-a164464


Posted By: Shaun Hector

• 

Singapore Open Super Series: Daren Liew stuns Lee Hyun Il to surge into Men’s Singles quarter-final

Malaysia’s talented player Daren Liew showed an impressive progress in his game as he surged into Men’s Singles main round after beating the higher ranked Lee Hyun Il of Korea in the round-of-16 battle at 2012 Singapore Open Super Series on Thursday, June 21, in Singapore.

The lower ranked Daren, who is currently World Number 31 in Men’s Singles world rankings, showed his superb skills in the court and stunned the second seeded Lee Hyun who is ranked at number 10 in the world.

The in-form Daren put up gutsy performance and snatched the opening game from his rival but lost the following set. However, he played flawless badminton in the final set and won the match in rubber games.

In the first set, the intensity of the battle started from opening points as both men played impressive badminton by keeping the pace of rallies high and also managed to remain close until the mid-game interval.

After the break, Lee Hyun managed a small lead but the lower ranked Daren played with control and precision in his shots and ended the gap easily.

In the ending points of first set Daren was fully in command of the game and managed to win it with a reasonable score of 21-18.

In the second set, Lee Hyun showed his brilliance as he played on a different level this time. He was impressive in his game plan and took an incredible lead of 11-5 until the break.

After the interval, the Malaysian could not bridge the huge gap created by his Korean opponent and lost the game with a one-sided score of 12-21.

In the decider, it was a completely different story as Daren was on driving seat this time and he established an impressive 11-5 lead on the board until the one-minute break.
After the interval, Daren remained on track and did not slow down his speed until the end of the set and bagged it with a huge margin of 21-13.

The un-seeded Daren emerged as victorious against Lee Hyun in rubber games with a 21-18, 12-21 and 21-13 score on the board.

 

[Loh]

Badminton: Vietnam's Minh on course for Singapore Open win

Posted: 22 June 2012 2322 hrs

SINGAPORE: Vietnam's Nguyen Tien Minh took a step closer to his first victory of 2012 after coming from a set down to beat Malaysia's Daren Liew in the quarter-finals of the Singapore Open on Friday.

The unseeded Liew had eliminated second seed Lee Hyun-Il of South Korea on Thursday in the second round of the Super Series tournament.

He appeared to be on course for another surprise win at the Singapore Indoor Stadium when he took the opening game against sixth-seeded Minh.

But the world number 11 recovered to take the last two games comfortably and win the match 14-21, 21-11, 21-13, setting up a semi-final clash against Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana.

The Thai also came from a set down to beat Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka of Indonesia 21-23, 21-7, 21-18.

Minh is the highest remaining seed in the men's singles draw in the competition.

Top seed Sho Sasaki of Japan was eliminated by Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the first round while third seed Kenichi Tago of Japan fell to China's Wang Zhengming in the second round.

Axelsen and Wang will meet in the other men's singles semi-final on Saturday after the Dane overcame Indonesia's Sony Dwi Kuncoro 21-17, 26-24 and Wang downed Chong Wei Feng of Malaysia 21-12, 22-20.

In the women's singles semi-finals, second seed Juliane Schenk of Germany will take on third-seeded South Korean Sung Ji-Hyun after both players came through tense three-set games.

Schenk overcame Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk 21-12, 9-21, 21-19 while Sung beat Japan's Eriko Hirose 21-14, 10-21, 21-13.

Fourth seed Cheng Shao-chieh of Taiwan beat seventh seed Sayaka Sato of Japan 21-15, 21-8 to set up a semi-final meeting with local favourite Xing Aiying, who got past Hong Kong's Yip Pui Yin 21-9, 23-21.

Men's singles quarter-finals:
Nguyen Tien Minh (VIE) bt Daren Liew (MAS) 14-21, 21-11, 21-13
Boonsak Ponsana (THA) bt Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka (INA) 21-23, 21-7, 21-18
Viktor Axelsen (DEN) bt Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA) 21-17, 26-24
Wang Zhengming (CHN) bt Chong Wei Feng (MAS) 21-12, 22-20

Women's singles quarter-finals:
Sung Ji-Hyun (KOR) bt Eriko Hirose (JPN) 21-14, 10-21, 21-13
Juliane Schenk (GER) bt Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (THA) 21-12, 9-21, 21-19
Cheng Shao Chieh (TPE) bt Sayaka Sato (JPN) 21-15, 21-8
Xing Aiying (SIN) bt Yip Pui Yin (HKG) 21-9, 23-21

Men's doubles quarter-finals:
Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan (INA) bt Goh Wei Shem/Lim Khim Wah (MAS) 21-18, 21-17
Ko Sung-Hyun/Yoo Yeon-Seong (KOR) bt Hong Wei/Shen Ye (CHN) 21-17, 21-12
Hiroyuki Endo/Kenichi Hayakawa (JPN) bt Christian John Skovgaard/Mads Pieler Kolding (DEN) 20-22, 21-12, 21-9
Mohammad Ahsan/Bona Septano (INA) bt Hirokatsu Hashimoto/Noriyasu Hirata (JPN) 19-21, 21-12, 22-20

Women's doubles quarter-finals:
Miyuki Maeda/Satoko Suetsuna (JPN) bt Shinta Mulia Sari/Yao Lei (SIN) 21-19, 17-21, 27-25
Bao Yixin/Zhong Qianxin (CHN) bt Mizuki Fujii/Reika Kakiiwa (JPN) 21-18, 21-19
Meiliana Jauhari/Greysia Polii (INA) bt Anneka Feinya Agustin/Nitya Krishinda Maheswari (INA) 21-10, 21-12
Cheng Wen Hsing/Chien Yu Chin (TPE) bt Shizuka Matsuo/Mami Naito (JPN) 21-18, 16-21, 21-14

Mixed doubles quarter-finals:
Shoji Sato/Shizuka Matsuo (JPN) bt Fran Kurniawan/Shendy Puspa Irawati (INA) 19-21, 21-14, 21-19
Chen Hung Ling/Cheng Wen Hsing (TPE) bt V.Diju/Jwala Gutta (IND) 13-21, 21-14, 21-17
Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying (MAS) bt Yoo Yeong-Seong/Jang Ye-Na (KOR) 21-13, 22-20
Shintaro Ikeda/Reiko Shiota (JPN) bt Hendra Setiawan/Vita Marissa (INA) 21-17, 22-20

- AFP/de

 

[Loh]

Badminton: Boonsak, Wang to meet in Singapore final

Posted: 23 June 2012 2111 hrs


SINGAPORE: Thai ace Boonsak Ponsana battled through a tight three-set match to beat Vietnam's Nguyen Tien Minh at the Singapore Open Saturday and set up a men's singles final with China's Wang Zhengming.

The unseeded Thai won the opening game of the semi-final at the Singapore Indoor Stadium comfortably only for sixth-seeded Minh to fight back strongly, coming from 14-9 down to take the second set 21-18.

Boonsak, 30, looked to be heading for defeat as he lagged 9-2 behind in the deciding game, but he came back to win the match and keep alive his hopes of taking the Singapore title for a second time after first winning it in 2007.

The Thai, ranked 32nd in the world, will meet Zhengming in the final on Sunday after the 22-year-old Chinese player dispatched Danish teenager Viktor Axelsen 21-13, 21-14 in a battle of former World Junior champions.

Wang, who beat third seed Kenichi Tago of Japan in the second round, won the World Junior title in 2008 but has yet to win a senior badminton title.

In the women's singles, second seed Juliane Schenk of Germany came through a three-set battle with third seed Sung Ji-Hyun, defeating the South Korean 21-11, 20-22, 21-12.

Schenk, the world number six, will face fourth seed Cheng Shao-chieh in Sunday's final after the Taiwanese player eliminated the last remaining local hope Xing Aiying 23-21, 21-7 in the other semi-final.

A number of the world's leading players have opted to skip the Singapore Open as it falls outside the qualifying period for the upcoming London Olympics.

- AFP/ck

 

[Loh]

Boonsak wins Singapore Open for second time

Posted: 24 June 2012 2020 hrs


Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana hits a return against Wang Zhengming of China in the men's singles final at the Singapore Open super series badminton tournament in Singapore. (AFP - Roslan Rahman)



SINGAPORE: Thai ace Boonsak Ponsana claimed his second Singapore Open men's singles title on Sunday after beating China's Wang Zhengming in a hard-fought final.

The 30-year-old, whose world ranking has fallen from fourth in November 2010 to 32nd, beat Wang 21-18, 21-19 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, in a boost for the Thai ahead of the London Olympics.

Boonsak made a sluggish start and trailed former World Junior champion Wang 10-5 early on but he came back to win 10 of the next 12 points and claim the opening game in 25 minutes.

The second game was tight and Wang appeared to have the edge after taking a 19-18 lead.

However, Boonsak fought back and secured the title when Wang smashed wide on match point. The Thai first won the Singapore Open in 2007.

Boonsak will compete at the upcoming Olympics in London although a number of the world's leading players opted to skip the Singapore Open as it falls outside the Games qualifying period.

Second seed Juliane Schenk of Germany took the women's singles title with a straight sets win over fourth seed Cheng Shao-chieh of Taiwan.

Schenk won the opening game 21-11 but the world number six had to battle back in the second game when Cheng reeled off nine straight points to take a 19-15 lead.

However, the German fended off three game points to force deuce before she finally took the game and match 26-24.

In the men's doubles, Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia beat South Korea's Ko Sung-Hyun and Yoo Yeon-Seong 22-20, 11-21, 21-6 while Bao Yixin and Zhong Qianxin of China won the women's doubles with a 21-12, 21-17 victory over Taiwan's Cheng Wen-hsing and Chien Yu-chin.

The mixed double title went to Taiwanese pair Chen Hung-ling and Cheng Wen-hsing who downed Shintaro Ikeda and Reiko Shiota of Japan 21-17, 21-11.

- AFP/ck

 

[Loh]

Markis Kido, Hendra Setiawan win Singapore Open title

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sports | Sun, 06/24/2012 10:10 PM


Former world champions Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan triumphed at the 2012 Li-Ning Singapore Open Super Series badminton championship after defeating South Korean pair Ko Sung Hyun and Yoo Yeon Seong in three dramatic sets.

The 2008 Olympic gold medalist pair delivered 23 smash winners to send their opponents packing in the match which lasted 49 minutes at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore on Sunday afternoon.

For Kido, who ranked no. 8, with his partner Hendra, won a US$200,000 prize and their first Super Series title this year, making it more than just another award.

“This is an important trophy [for both of us] because we can prove that we can still compete in a world-class event,” said Kido as quoted by Antara news agency.

The performance of the Indonesian pair, who had won prestigious titles, such as the 2007 World championships and 2010 Asian Games, had been declining in the past months after Hendra suffered injuries.

In the Indonesia Open championship last week in Jakarta, the pair was beaten by current world no. 1 Lee Yong Dae and Chung Jae Sung in three sets.

As a result of their waning performance prior to Singapore Open, both Kido and Hendra were not qualified to represent Indonesia in the upcoming London Olympic, losing the spot to their younger compatriots world-no. 7 Mohammad Ahsan and Bona Septano.

Ahsan and Bona were beaten by Ko Sung Hyun and Yoo Yeon Seong in the Singapore Open’s semifinals 21-19, 19-21 and 14-21.

“We are prepared to regain the number 1 position,” added Kido, who won the Australian Open title earlier this year with Hendra.

Meanwhile, fifth seeded Bao Yixin and Zhong Qianxin of China edged out Taiwanese Cheng Wen Hsing and Chien Yu Chin at 21-12 and 21-17 in 39 minutes to take the women’s doubles event.

Second seeded and world No. 6, Juliane Schenk, faced difficulties in the second set before taking home the women’s singles title by beating fourth seeded Cheng Shao Chieh of Taiwan with 21-11 and 26-24.

Taiwan did not go home empty handed, however, after pair Chen Hung Ling and Chien Yu Chin captured the trophy for the mixed double’s event by defeating Japanese Shintaro Ikeda and Reiko Shiota at 21-17 and 21-11.

Thai player Boonsak Ponsana, who defeated Indonesian hopeful Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka in the tournament’s quarterfinals in three sets, gained victory in the final by crushing Chinese shuttler Wang Zhengming 21-18 and 21-19. (asa/swd)

 

[Loh]

Badminton: Markis and Hendra End 3-Year Title Drought

Jakarta Globe


Ami Afriatni & Sandy Pramuji | June 24, 2012

Hendra Setiawan, right, hitting a shot during a 21-18, 21-17 defeat of Malaysia's Goh V. Shem and Lim Khim Wah in the Singapore Open on Friday. (AFP Photo/Roslan Rahman)


Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan screamed in relief after winning the Singapore Open Super Series men’s doubles final on Sunday.

They embraced each other after their 22-20, 11-21, 21-6 defeat of second-seeded Ko Sung-hyun and Yoo Yeon-seong of South Korea in the men’s doubles final at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

For Markis and Hendra, former world champions and the 2008 Olympic gold medalists, the victory ended a three-year title drought that started in 2009 when they beat Malaysian top pair Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong in the French Open Super Series.

“This is incredible. This means that we can still compete against the world’s best and win,” Markis said in a text message on Sunday. “Our only regret is, why only now? Why didn’t we play like this since last year so that we would probably have qualified for the Olympics?”

The pair, now ranked No. 8 in the world, had struggled with their game since 2008, when they won four Super Series and took the Olympic gold medal in Beijing. In 2009, they won just two titles before the long drought began.

It was the darkest three years of the pair’s career. Their biggest achievement during the period was winning the gold medal at the 2011 Southeast Asian Games.

The long stretch of poor play caused them to miss out on this year’s Olympics in London, where they would have had the chance to defend their gold medal. Only the top eight doubles teams in the Badminton World Federation rankings were admitted to the competition, and they were ninth when the cut was made on May 3.

“We regret that, but now we’re looking forward to our future,” Hendra said.

Their rejuvenation started with a title in the second-tier Australian Open Grand Prix Gold in Sydney in April.

Then they made the semifinals of the Indonesian Open — their first semifinal in a major tournament since last year’s Japan Open — before falling to eventual winners Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung of South Korea.

“Now we have our confidence back,” Markis said.

Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand took the men’s singles title by edging out China’s Wang Zhengming 21-18, 21-19 in the final.

Germany’s Juliane Schenk took her maiden Super Series trophy with a 21-11, 26-24 defeat of Taiwan’s Cheng Shao-chieh in the women’s singles final.

Bao Yixin and Zhong Qianxin of China won in women’s doubles with a 21-12, 21-17 defeat of Taiwan’s Cheng Wen-hsing and Chien Yu-chin, while Taiwan’s Chen Hung-ling and Cheng Wen-hsing beat Shintaro Ikeda and Reiko Shiota of Japan 21-17, 21-11 for the mixed doubles title.

 

[Loh]

Taiwanese grab one title, reach two other finals in Olympictune-up

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Singapore, June 24 (CNA) Taiwan's Olympic badminton players captured one title and reached the finals in two other events at the Li Ning Singapore Open this past week as they hoped to fine-tune their games ahead of the London Games beginning in late July.

Chen Hung-ling and Cheng Wen-hsing, ranked fifth in the world in mixed doubles, topped the world No. 11 Japanese duo of Shintaro Ikeda and Reiko Shiota 21-17, 21-11 to win the mixed doubles title at the Singapore event.

The victory served as an additional confidence booster ahead of the London Olympics for the duo, even if the world's top three ranked teams did not play in the tournament.

Chen and Cheng, who began to play as a team in March 2010, grabbed the first medal for Taiwan in a badminton event at the Asian Games in 20 years when they won bronze at the Guangzhou Games in November 2010, and they're hoping for a similar breakthrough in London.

Other Taiwanese players were trying to get back in winning form after recent runs of inconsistent play.

Taiwan's Cheng Shao-chieh, who fell to 13th in the world recently after being ranked in the top 10 for most of the past year, reached the women's singles finals in Singapore before losing to second-seeded and world No. 6 Juliane Schenk of Germany, 21-11 26-24.

Cheng said she made too many unforced errors and was unable to maintain her composure in crucial moments during the match.

But she said her runner-up finish was still a breakthrough after reaching only one quarterfinal in eight tournaments this year and that she would not think too much about the upcoming London Games.

None of the top five women's singles players participated in the Singapore event.

Also on Sunday, Taiwan's Cheng Wen-hsing and Chien Yu-chin lost to the world No. 5 Chinese duo of Zhong Qianxin and Bao Yixin 21-12, 21-17 in the women's doubles final.

The Taiwanese duo, who were ranked first in the world as recently as April 2011 but are now ranked 11th, said they lost the match because they were too passive in defense.

The Chinese duo was one of the two women's top-five doubles teams to play in the Singapore event. They eliminated the world No. 4 team of Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa of Japan in the quarterfinals.

Other Taiwanese Olympians who participated in the Singapore tournament were Hsu Jen-hao, who was ousted in the first round of the men's singles, and Tai Tzu-ying, who lost in the second round of the women's singles to Eriko Hirose of Japan.

Fang Chieh-min and Lee Sheng-mu, seeded fifth in the men's doubles in Singapore, lost in the quarterfinals to a Danish duo in three sets.

(By Lu Hsin-hui, Lee Yu-cheng and Jamie Wang)
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[bad's fan]

want to ask, yesterday after the matches finished, each winners gave their autograph on something like glass thing. anyone know what's it for exactly? any photos of it would be nice. thanks.

 

[Loh]

Germany's Juliane Schenk wins 1st Superseries title at Li-Ning Open

Published on Jun 24, 2012


Germany's Juliane Schenk kisses her winner's trophy after beating Taiwan's Cheng Shao Chieh at the Singapore Open Badminton tournament during their final match held on Sunday, June 24, 2012 in Singapore. Schenk won the match 21-11 26-24. -- PHOTO: AP


By Alvin Chia

German shuttler Juliane Schenk won her first Superseries title at the Li-Ning Singapore Open on Sunday afternoon.

The second seed defeated fourth seed Cheng Shao Chieh of Chinese Taipei in straight sets 21-11, 26-24 in the final at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Top seed Jiang Yanjiao had withdrawn before the start of the tournament.

Schenk, the world No. 6, needed five championship points to close out the tenacious Taiwanese, who was appearing in her first final at a Superseries tournament.

She took home a winner's cheque of US$15,000.