NEWS : Bao Chunlai in last four

Discussion in 'World Championships 2003' started by kwun, Aug 1, 2003.

  1. kwun

    kwun Administrator

    Joined:
    Apr 24, 2002
    Messages:
    41,044
    Likes Received:
    2,066
    Occupation:
    BC Janitor
    Location:
    Santa Clara, CA, USA
    The Hindu

    Bao Chunlai in last four

    By Prakash Padukone (Ed: note the author!)

    BIRMINGHAM Aug. 1. The Chinese domination at the World badminton championships continued unhindered when most of its top players smoothly sailed into the last eight stage in all the five events at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.

    But for the fact that in a few of the events there was an all-Chinese clashes in the pre-quarterfinal stage, there would have been more representation from the country.

    With only two days remaining in the tournament, China is likely to dominate the proceedings by annexing at least three titles.

    The Indonesians have been a big let down and the solitary Indonesian left in the men's singles, Sony Dwi Kuncoro, lost to the in-form Malaysian southpaw, Wong Choong Hann 8-15, 5-15.

    China, on the other hand, has a good chance of putting at least three of its top players in the semifinals with Bao Chunlai having already made the grade. Top seeded Chen Hong and former All England champion, Xia Xuanze are the other Chinese players who are tipped to make the semifinals along with Bao.

    The unseeded Bao, conquerer of third seed, Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia, on Thursday, gave yet another sterling display to outlast Roslin Hashim of Malaysia 15-7, 15-10. Bao has impressed one and all with his speed, guile and temperament.

    His game reminds one of the all time Chinese greats Zhao Jin Hua, who was a force to reckon with in the late eighties and early nineties. Just like Zhao, he is quick, fleet footed & and has a variety of shots.

    Added to this, Bao has a cool head which makes it that much more difficult for the opponent. He takes his own time between rallies and does not hurry with his strokes unlike some of his compatriots. In short, Bao has all the qualities of a champion in the making.

    Bao showed this in abundance when he staged a smart recovery in the second game after being down 4-9 to win in straight games. From 10-10 in the second, Bao scored 4 quick points in a row with his jump smashes that completely caught the Malaysian by surprise.

    At this stage Bao seemed to be in a hurry to finish the match and committed two mistakes on his serve at match point. But Roslin was unable to capitalise on these lapses and conceded victory on the third match point. This will be Bao's maiden entry into the semifinals of World championships.

    Aparna crashes out


    Meanwhile, the Indian challenge at came to an end on Thursday when Aparna Popat went down 4-11, 5-11 to World No. 2, Zhang Ning of China in the pre-quarterfinals.

    The Indian, who gave a reasonably good account of herself against a vastly superior opponent, fought to the best of her ability and made the Chinese work hard for her points. If only Aparna had a little more self-belief in her game, I think she could have performed better.

    Neverthless, Aparna's performance here should improve her ranking considerably as this is a 7 star tournament that carries the highest number of points.

    There were some interesting matches, especially in the men's singles. Unseeded Malaysian Roslin Hashim fought a long battle of 103 minutes before emerging victorious against the eighth seed, Lee Hyun Il of Korea in 3 games. This will certainly be one of the longest men's singles matches ever played, if not the longest.

    The other major casualty of the day was Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat, the third seed, who put up a listless display against China's Bao Chunlai and went down 9-15, 4-15. It was a damp squib of a match.
     
  2. Faisal

    Faisal Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2003
    Messages:
    142
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Student
    Location:
    The Netherlands, Pakistan
    If I am not mistaken, Prakash Padukone was a top Indian Player, right? Or is he the coach of the Indians?
     
  3. Wizbit

    Wizbit Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2002
    Messages:
    768
    Likes Received:
    1
    Occupation:
    Testing ladie's lingerie
    Location:
    UK - London, Birmingham
    More misconduct

    I was initially happy to see my 2 favourite players, playing on the same court. I was rewarded with utter dissapointment.

    Bao gave Xia a huge lead at the beginning of the first set. He is usually calm on the court, but today he was too 'relaxed'...just playing passive shots, setting up Xia...and he did not even seem that bothered, when winning or losing.

    His smashes were tame. When he had to play catch up a few points, he showed us a glimpse of what he was capable of, eclipsing Xia at drives with incredibly quick reactions...

    For one of the final points, Bao 'slipped over' so that Xia could put away a winner at the net...but Xia missed, putting it out...but at that moment, you could see Bao was just balancing on the spot waiting for it to be the winner...

    A normal person would have been delighted for it to be called out..but in this case...

    Later during the day, I saw Bao Chun Lai and Lin Dan out at the concourse. I normally would have asked for their autographs...but the previous event was still lingering in my head...So dissapointed...
     

Share This Page