Tough run for Lin Dan at S’pore Open Chinese shuttler Lin Dan speaking to the media after conducting a badminton workshop during the Li-Ning Singapore Open 2011. Photo: Don Wong By Low Lin Fhoong 5 hours 42 min ago SINGAPORE — Chinese superstar Lin Dan, who was booed by fans after a late withdrawal from the final in 2011, can expect a tough journey to the men’s singles final when he returns for the US$200,000 (S$250,000) Li-Ning Singapore Open this month. The 29-year-old, who is regarded as badminton’s greatest player after winning the super Grand Slam of nine Major titles will face sixth-seeded Vietnamese Nguyen Tien Minh in the first round. A quarter-final match-up against top-seeded compatriot Du Pengyu may be on the cards if he makes the top eight. Team Singapore will face an uphill battle with new women’s doubles pair Fu Mingtian and Shinta Mulia Sari to meet Japan’s Reika Kakiiwa and Miyuki Maeda in the qualifiers, with world No 1 pair Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli awaiting them in the first round of the main draw. Gu Juan faces second seed Saina Nehwal of India in the first round of the women’s singles, while Derek Wong will need to get through the men’s singles qualifiers to meet defending champion Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand in the main draw.
Local shuttlers get tough Li-Ning S'pore Open draws By Chan U-Gene The Straits Times Saturday, Jun 08, 2013 SINGAPORE - The luck of the draw at the Li-Ning Singapore Open did not go the way of the hosts yesterday, as the nation's players will meet tough opposition. The annual badminton tournament, which will be held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium from June 18 to 23, sees national women's singles shuttler Gu Juan drawn against world No.2 and 2010 champion, Saina Nehwal of India, in the first round. Gu's compatriot Derek Wong, who is unseeded, will need to see off two opponents in the men's singles qualifying stages - only to meet defending champion and twice winner Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand in the opening round of 32 if he gets there. In doubles, the women's pair of Fu Mingtian and Shinta Mulia Sari, who are making their debut in the competition, will face the world No.1 pairing of Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli of China, if they get through their single qualifier against Japanese duo Reika Kakiiwa and Miyuki Maeda. But the Singaporeans are determined not to be overwhelmed in the face of tough competition. Said Wong, ranked world No.48: "I will not let myself be affected by who my opponent is." Added Fu, the 2011 SEA Games singles champion: "This will be my first Superseries partnering Shinta, and we do not want to give ourselves any pressure by thinking of our opponents. We want to focus on our play." Chinese superstar Lin Dan, a two-time Olympic singles gold medallist and arguably the sport's best-ever player, will meet Vietnam's Nguyen Tien Minh in their opener. (I thought LD has withdrawn due to injury, as reported in the above post?) Should he advance to the last eight, he may face team-mate and world No.3 Du Pengyu, who became the event's top seed after the late withdrawal of world No.2 Chen Long. Said Du, who was knocked out in the first round last year: "Being the top seed, I hope to achieve better results this year and will aim to fight my way to the championship match." And an exciting clash between China's Olympic champion and world No.1 Li Xuerui against holder Juliane Schenk of Germany will take place in the women's singles semi-finals, should both reach that stage.
And I always thought... Where there is a Will, there are always more relatives that I thought I had! BTW, where is [MENTION=109328]BobbyLee1668[/MENTION] ?
He's in the picture of the above article which I did not include as it was also shown in a previous post. Probably too engrossed with the nitty-gritty of the Singapore Open!
I hope reporter, Chan U-Gene, can "will" LD back to life and to return to the SO despite his purported injury.
Badminton fans can only sit on one side of the stadium behind the players' courts as the other side has been reserved for VIPs and guests. The organisers have dimmed the usual lightings in the Indoor Stadium and there are spotlights directed at the courts. Spectators please bring along your sunglasses as there will be also be spotlights shining at you. Can the organisers who came up with this great idea please explain how do they expect spectators to enjoy the matches with spotlights glaring at them?
F1 is able to attract people in other countries to come to Singapore to watch. Perhaps SBA need to look into attracting not just people in Singapore to come and watch. Obviously need to tie up with STB and perhaps other organization, private and governmental ones
There is a big difference between F1 and people smashing shuttlecocks. The drama is ever so slightly different. F1 also has Murray Walker commentating. How did you get on with them? Not trying to be nosy but it's very informative to us grassroots players to know the scale of the difficulties. Take it a problem sharing and learning exercise.
I am sorry I am unable to help. My suggestion is because in Indonesia, there are lots of advertisement, credit card promotion and other related promotion for F1 in KL and Singapore. There are bundled packages including special airfare and hotel prices for those. Also, there are promotion for other events too. Sometimes it is arts event or other sports. Of course not as big as the formula 1. Even some exhibition held in Singapore sometimes have special tour packages advertised here. I am sure Singapore Super series should be able too. Of course there are big differences between F1 and badminton, the biggest difference is the money behind it
A friend of mine was stopped from using his telephoto zoom lens. Why is there such a ruling this year? By the way what happened to the badminton carnival?
Yes, it is possible that the badminton will follow the other sports having multi sponsors for the Singapore Open and national team because it helps to follow rules and regulation of other games/sports.
we should try harder then harder and we should have to practice a lot of because pratice makes a man perfect also if we tried harder than we are abel to get success in our work. sothat we have to practice harder than harder to get success.
Looks like Singapore will have a bright future in MD [video=youtube;4NDuMBukJzI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NDuMBukJzI[/video] The rest of the parts are available from the same uploader.
Hmmm... just wondering.. if the haze situation does not improve or worsens...will it affect the tournament? Actually I bought a season ticket to the LNSO 2013; it is my first time attending an SS tournament and was actually looking forward to it. But now,given the current haze situation, I am abit apprehensive attending the LNSO 2013. Does anyone have any idea what are the conditions like in the indoor stadium, e.g is it air-conditioned ?
Not good. I remember Sealman got a hugely impressive shot of a jump smash a number of years ago. Haze will stop you from going outside? Pick up an N95 mask on your way to the stadium
