Badminton: It’s all up to Chong Wei PETALING JAYA: Lee Chong Wei has a good chance to keep his unbeaten record thus far this season in the Super Series as the top Chinese shuttlers, including Olympic and world champion Lin Dan, have opted out of the Singapore Open from June 15-20. The Chinese have commitments in their national league and Chong Wei will be looking to capitalise on it to regain the title. Chong Wei, who won the Open in South Korea and Malaysia in January before claiming a first All-England title in March, should clear the first two rounds against Brice Leverdez of France and young Indonesian Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka. The world No. 1 is tipped to play against Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the quarter-finals but should not be duly troubled by the Indonesian whose fitness is still in question. Sony came down with a back injury while playing in the second singles match of a Thomas Cup group tie against India in Kuala Lumpur last month. The other quarter in the same half has third seed Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam and eighth seeded Japanese Kenichi Tago, who lost to Chong Wei in the All-England final. Tien Minh defeated Chong Wei in the second round in last year’s tournament. The other half of the draw has Thai Boonsak Ponsana and Danes Jan Jorgensen and Peter-Gade Christensen, who is the second seed. Malaysian veteran Wong Choong Hann has a first-round match against Tien Minh while Mohd Hafiz Hashim will have to overcome Jorgensen if he harbours hopes of securing a first Super Series quarter-final appearance this year. It will be a much tougher challenge for the world No. 1 men’s pair of Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong with Indonesia’s Olympic champions Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan and Danes Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen and Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen in the fray. But they are not the only worries for the top seeded Malaysians, who have unseeded Korean pairs in their path in the early rounds. Kien Keat-Boon Heong open against Kim Ki-jung-Shin Baek-cheol and may have to take on Ko Sung-hyun-Yoo Yeon-seong next. The Malaysian duo lost to Sung-hyun-Yeon-seong in the Swiss Open final in March and may find themselves at the losing end if they fail to respond to the Koreans’ swift attacking pace. Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif are in the same half as Kien Keat-Boon Heong but they will have to get past fourth seeds Paaske-Rasmussen for a possible all-Malaysian semi-final. Women’s doubles pair Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui have withdrawn from the Singapore Open as the former has yet to recover from a knee injury suffered during the Uber Cup Finals last month.
China's loss, badminton's gain TODAY 05:55 AM Jun 14, 2010 Korea's Uber Cup win good for the women's game, says Zhou Mi by Low Lin Fhoong SINGAPORE - It was an upset that sent ripples through the badminton world last month, as South Korea demolished 11-time champions China 3-1 to lift the Uber Cup for the first time in the tournament's 53-year history. For world No 9 Zhou Mi, who was part of the all-conquering Chinese Uber Cup teams of 2002 and 2004 but now plays for Hong Kong, the end of the juggernaut's reign can only benefit the sport. Speaking to MediaCorp on the sidelines of a KLRC friendly match against Singapore's national shuttlers at the Chinese Swimming Club yesterday, the 31-year-old said: "The badminton scene will be much more exciting and competitive. I hope that the other teams can pick up speed in terms of development and improvement." The former Chinese national expects countries like Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Russia and Denmark to give the Chinese a run in future. "Other countries have improved over the years and closed the gap (with China) ... I think it is a very good sign to see new players coming up all the time, like Germany's Juliane Schenk," she said. The veteran shuttler is in town for the US$200,000 ($280,200) Li Ning Singapore Open 2010 Super Series from June 15 to 20, and the defending champion will battle the likes of top seed Saina Nehwal of India (world No 6) and Denmark's Tine Rasmussen (No 7) in the women's singles event. While China's top five players are skipping the Singapore Open to compete in the country's domestic league, spectators can expect a star-studded performance at the Singapore Indoor Stadium from the Uber Cup champions, led by Bae Seung Hee and the doubles pair of Lee Hyo Jung and Kim Min Jung. Former All-England champion Zhou Mi (2003) is ready to get her season back on track at the Singapore Open after a series of poor performances last year. "I was in very poor shape last year due to some health problems ... I hope to be able to play at a much higher standard than before," she said. In the men's competition, fans can expect to see world No 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, Peter Gade Hoeg (No 4), and Vietnam's Nguyen Tien Minh (No 7) in action. Xing Aiying, Derek Wong and newly-crowned India Grand Prix Gold 2010 women's doubles champions Shinta Mulia Sari and Yao Lei will fly the flag for Team Singapore at the Super Series tournament. Visit www.singaporebadmintonopen.sg for ticketing details on the Li Ning Singapore Open.
I see Lu Lan is in the WS draw though. Did she not secure a spot on a team in the China Badminton League?
Ronald Susilo/Candra Wijaya in MD I like to see how far in this tournament Ronald and his brother-in-law Candra can progress. A quarter-final appearance would not be a bad start, assuming Ronald has had adequate practice with Candra. For Ronald it is like coming out of retirement and not much is expected from him. Malaysian uncles Choong TF/Lee WW would be another semi-retired pair to watch especially now that Choong is in the limelight with the prospect of a coaching job in China/HK. Except for the newly-crowned Indian Open WD champions, Yao Lei and Shita Mulia Sari I see little chance for our Singapore players to progress past the QF. With Zhang Beiwen out of the torney due to disciplinary problems, there is not much hope in the WS either, unless Xing Aiying could shock us with a rejuvenated performance.
Sad to see Derek Wong being knocked out in the MS qualification by teammate Ashton CHEN Yongzhao 21-17, 20-22, 21-19 in 0:55 min. At least Ashton has a chance to fight for a place in the tournament proper but there are quite a number of formidable opponents waiting to deny him that chance. The Indian players are especially impressive so far.
R.M.V Guru just defeated Korea No.2 Shon Wan Ho surprisingly. But the other Korean Hong Ji Hoon progressed after a tough match against Hsueh Hsuan Yi. And Beryno Wong defeated Sho Sasaki... hmm.. Those are the upsets in the qualifying rounds.
Not only Shon Wan-ho, Gurusaidutt also overcame Hong Ji-hoon with straight-sets, no KOR MS enter main draw here.
England's Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork make Singapore Open exit Telegraph.co.uk Published: 2:28PM BST 16 Jun 2010 Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork, England's burgeoning mixed doubles pairing, were the big-name, first round casualties at the Li-Ning Singapore Badminton Open on Wednesday. By Rod Gilmour The European mixed doubles bronze medallists - but Commonwealth gold medal contenders - fell 19-21, 21-13, 21-13 against Singapore's Chayut Triyachart and Lei Yao, who now face Robert Blair and Gabby White. Blair and White, in partnership for the first time, came back from a game down to defeat the experienced Thai pair of Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam 18-21 21-15 21-18. They were joined in the last 16 by Marcus Ellis and European Badminton Circuit winner Mariana Agathangelou who saw off New Zealand's Joe Wu and Danielle Barry 21-17, 21-17. Anthony Clark made a winning return after injury when he and Heather Olver defeated China's Qiu Zihan and Yu Luo 21-16, 21-16. A stiffer task awaits now for Clark and Olver, who need a run of results to kick start their world ranking. They face Denmark's second seeds and world champions Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Juhl. Robertson soon got the chance to make up for his mixed doubles disappointment when he and Clark began the defence of their Singapore men's doubles crown with a 21-13, 21-15 win over Thien How Hoon and Soon Hock Ong of Malaysia. Wallwork also made up for her mixed disappointment when she and White impressively disposed of Thailand's Savitree Amitapai and Vacharaporn Munkit 21-19, 21-14, the sixth seeds. In the men's singles Andrew Smith made an early exit, beaten 21-14, 21-11 by Malaysia's Muhammad Hafiz Hashim. Mixing it up: England pairing Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork Photo: SHI TANG The European mixed doubles bronze medallists - but Commonwealth gold medal contenders - fell 19-21, 21-13, 21-13 against Singapore's Chayut Triyachart and Lei Yao, who now face Robert Blair and Gabby White