http://www.tnp.sg/sports/all-other-sports/badminton-star-lin-dan-shocked-singapore-open The New Paper Badminton star Lin Dan shocked by Indonesian Kuncoro in Singapore Open China favourite pays for topsy-turvy form as Indonesian silences Indoor Stadium crowd Apr 17, 2016 6:00am By GABRIEL TAN It was evident who the fans had turned up to see at the Singapore Indoor Stadium yesterday. Almost the entire 7,000-strong crowd stayed for the final match of the day and, when he finally took the court, a resounding roar filled the arena. They celebrated every shot he made and, unfairly, cheered every failed attempt by his opponent. Yet, it was not enough to get Lin Dan over the line as he suffered a shock 21-10, 17-21, 22-20 semi-final loss to Indonesian qualifier Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the OUE Singapore Open. Regarded as one of best players in the history of badminton, with two Olympic gold medals and five World Championship titles to his name, the one knock on Lin Dan throughout his career has been his temperament. As the highest seed left in the last four, the Chinese was the favourite to go on and win the Singapore Open but, not for the first time in his career, he was his own enemy. He looked absolutely disinterested as he lost the opening game in just 16 minutes. BRILLIANT RESPONSE He woke up and squared the tie by taking the second set 21-17 but, just when it looked as though he was on the verge of sending his supporters home happy, Kuncoro produced a brilliant response to claim the rubber set. It was a curious display by Lin Dan. "He (Kuncoro) managed to play better than me," he said, with nary a sign of emotion, after the defeat. "He has played better than me throughout the tournament. "My performance in the first set was not good… I lost that set too quickly and it took me too long to get myself into the groove." Kuncoro will play South Korea's Son Wan Ho in today's final, with the Indonesian looking to reclaim the title he won in 2010. "This is definitely a comeback for me as it's been a while since I won anything," said Kuncoro, who won the gold medal in men's singles at both the 2003 and 2005 SEA Games. "I'm very happy to have played such an awesome game. "The first set went by really fast, but then it started to get closer and I just had to concentrate on taking it point by point. "I knew being a little hesitant cost me the second set so, when it came to the third, I just had the mindset that it was the final game and I needed to give it my all in being aggressive and keep attacking." Son, his opponent in the final, also showed good form, beating Hong Kong's Angus Ng 22-20 21-6 in his semi-final. Said the 27-year-old: "I don't want to think too much about winning, otherwise I end up making too many mistakes. "I just want to focus on giving all that I've got. "It's the first time in a very long time that I've made it to a final. "So I just want to finish the tournament knowing I've done my best, and that will give me confidence for the Olympics." - See more at: http://www.tnp.sg/sports/all-other-...n-shocked-singapore-open#sthash.xSBDCP0t.dpuf
http://www.tnp.sg/sports/all-other-sports/badminton-star-lin-dan-shocked-singapore-open The New Paper Badminton star Lin Dan shocked by Indonesian Kuncoro in Singapore Open China favourite pays for topsy-turvy form as Indonesian silences Indoor Stadium crowd Apr 17, 2016 6:00am By GABRIEL TAN It was evident who the fans had turned up to see at the Singapore Indoor Stadium yesterday. Almost the entire 7,000-strong crowd stayed for the final match of the day and, when he finally took the court, a resounding roar filled the arena. They celebrated every shot he made and, unfairly, cheered every failed attempt by his opponent. Yet, it was not enough to get Lin Dan over the line as he suffered a shock 21-10, 17-21, 22-20 semi-final loss to Indonesian qualifier Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the OUE Singapore Open. Regarded as one of best players in the history of badminton, with two Olympic gold medals and five World Championship titles to his name, the one knock on Lin Dan throughout his career has been his temperament. As the highest seed left in the last four, the Chinese was the favourite to go on and win the Singapore Open but, not for the first time in his career, he was his own enemy. He looked absolutely disinterested as he lost the opening game in just 16 minutes. BRILLIANT RESPONSE He woke up and squared the tie by taking the second set 21-17 but, just when it looked as though he was on the verge of sending his supporters home happy, Kuncoro produced a brilliant response to claim the rubber set. It was a curious display by Lin Dan. "He (Kuncoro) managed to play better than me," he said, with nary a sign of emotion, after the defeat. "He has played better than me throughout the tournament. "My performance in the first set was not good… I lost that set too quickly and it took me too long to get myself into the groove." Kuncoro will play South Korea's Son Wan Ho in today's final, with the Indonesian looking to reclaim the title he won in 2010. "This is definitely a comeback for me as it's been a while since I won anything," said Kuncoro, who won the gold medal in men's singles at both the 2003 and 2005 SEA Games. "I'm very happy to have played such an awesome game. "The first set went by really fast, but then it started to get closer and I just had to concentrate on taking it point by point. "I knew being a little hesitant cost me the second set so, when it came to the third, I just had the mindset that it was the final game and I needed to give it my all in being aggressive and keep attacking." Son, his opponent in the final, also showed good form, beating Hong Kong's Angus Ng 22-20 21-6 in his semi-final. Said the 27-year-old: "I don't want to think too much about winning, otherwise I end up making too many mistakes. "I just want to focus on giving all that I've got. "It's the first time in a very long time that I've made it to a final. "So I just want to finish the tournament knowing I've done my best, and that will give me confidence for the Olympics." - See more at: http://www.tnp.sg/sports/all-other-...n-shocked-singapore-open#sthash.xSBDCP0t.dpuf
http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/104219/badminton-greysianitya-champion-of-singapore-open-2016 Greysia/Nitya champion of Singapore Open 2016 Minggu, 17 April 2016 17:42 Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesias womens double players Greysia Polii/Nitya Krishinda Maheswari became champion of the Singapore Open 2016 on Sunday after their opponents from Japan resigned from the final round of the super series tournament due to an injury problem. The All Indonesia Badminton Association (PBSI) said in a written statement received here that day Greysia/Nitya won the champion title after Misaki Matsutomo who would pair with Ayaka Takahashi to meet them at the final round resigned due to Misakias left leg injury. "The title is a luck for us because we need not have to fight to get it. We hope Misaki would recover soon from her injury," Greysia said. Nitya said they had actually prepared themselves to meet the Japanese pair following their last meet at India Open recently in which Greysia/Nitya lost the match 18-21, 21-19, 21-23. Greysia/Nityas victory over Misaki/Ayaka at Singapore Open made the score to 3-3 in the past six matches between the two. The Indonesian pair, ranked third in the world, had to fight hard against two strong opponents from South Korea and China before being able to proceed to the final round. In the first round they beat Nadine Ashraf/Menna Eltanaty from Egypt 21-5, 21-4 and in the second round Go Ah Ra/Yoo Hae Won 21-14, 21-14. They defeated Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan from China 21-19, 20-22, 21-12 in the quarter final and South Korean pair Jung Kyung Eun/Shin Seung Chan 21-18, 21-13 before leading to the final round. "The last three matches were not easy to win. We had equal opponents. Our struggles from the first round have now been paid off," Nitya said. The victory increased their capital to participate in the Olympic Games. " Our focus is now on the Badminton Asia Championshiop 2016," Greysia said.(*)
SINGAPORE-BADMINTON-SINGAPORE OPEN Published on Sun, Apr 17 2016 22:45 IST http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/index.php?threads/oue-singapore-open-2016-12-17-april-2016.160928/page-4#post-2449450 SINGAPORE, April 17, 2016 - Fu Haifeng (1st R)/Zhang Nan (2nd R) of China attend the victory ceremony after winning their men's doubles final match against Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda of Japan at the OUE Singapore Open in Singapore Indoor Stadium, April 17, 2016. Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan won 2-0. Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan (L) of China attend the victory ceremony after winning their men's doubles final match against Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda of Japan at the OUE Singapore Open in Singapore Indoor Stadium, April 17, 2016. Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda (R) of Japan react during the men's doubles final match against Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan of China at the OUE Singapore Open in Singapore Indoor Stadium, April 17, 2016. Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan (front) of China compete against Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda of Japan during the men's doubles final match at the OUE Singapore Open in Singapore Indoor Stadium, April 17, 2016. Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia attends the awarding ceremony after winning his men's singles final match against Son Wan Ho of South Korea at the OUE Singapore Open in Singapore Indoor Stadium, April 17, 2016. Sony Dwi Kuncoro won 2-1. Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia competes during the men's singles final match against Son Wan Ho of South Korea at the OUE Singapore Open in Singapore Indoor Stadium, April 17, 2016. Sony Dwi Kuncoro won 2-1.
http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...e-open-2016-12-17-april-2016.160928/add-reply Singapore Open organisers need more sponsors before bidding again The New Paper Apr 18, 2016 6:00am By LIM SAY HENG In 2013, the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) launched an ambitious bid to make the Singapore Open a top-tier Superseries Premier event, despite not having secured a title sponsor before that bid. The national sports association failed in that attempt for the current cycle, from 2014 to 2017, but improved the tournament in aspects such as stadium lighting and fan experience as a second-tier Superseries event, with OUE coming in as the main sponsor till next year. Its media facility, helmed by Crowd PR, even won the inaugural Best Media Facility 2015 award by the AIPS (Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive) Badminton Commission this year. But organisers said yesterday that the Singapore Open may not even be a Superseries event from 2018 onwards. Bids for the Badminton World Federation tournaments start in about two months and the SBA is now unwilling to go big without sound financial backing this time. "I'd rather not (bid for Singapore Open to even be a Superseries event)... SBA is a charitable organisation and we have reserves, but do we want to use it on one cycle of (Singapore Open) and wipe out the reserves?" said SBA secretary-general Michael Foo yesterday. SBA chief executive Ronnie Lim said ticket sales for the event contribute at most 15 per cent of the costs of running the event, which he declined to reveal. Sponsorship money contributes about 70 per cent of the event's cost, while both Lim and Foo declined to reveal to what extent grants from Sport Singapore help defray the cost. While the SBA has been in touch with OUE on renewing its sponsorship beyond next year's tournament, it is looking to expand its pool of financiers. There are currently five Superseries Premier events, where attendance is compulsory for players ranked in the top 10 and seven Superseries events, including the Singapore stop. While details for the next cycle of tournaments have not been released, the minimum cost of a bid for the two top tiers is expected to rise. "The prize money is US350,000 ($475,000), a few hundred thousand dollars in running costs," said Lim. "We expect it (the costs) to become bigger and it may be impossible for us to do (without enough financial backing). - See more at: http://www.tnp.sg/sports/all-other-...e-sponsors-bidding-again#sthash.XnwpDVmF.dpuf
