Shuttler Roslin prevents a wipe-out in Japan Open

Discussion in 'Korean Open 2004 / Japan Open 2004' started by ants, Apr 8, 2004.

  1. ants

    ants Regular Member

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    TOKYO: Shuttler Mohd Roslin Hashim prevented a complete Malaysian wipe-out in the US$180,000 Japan Open at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium when he reached the men’s singles quarter-finals in convincing fashion yesterday.

    The 29-year-old Roslin has also thus sealed his place in his first-ever Olympic Games at Athens. And he did it in style, stunning world number three Lee Hyun-il of South Korea 15-7, 15-11 in the third round.

    It was also sweet revenge for Roslin, who had lost to the Korean in the second round of the Hong Kong Open last year. Roslin will now take on Chinese Bao Chunlai in the last eight.

    Once again, Roslin will be gunning for revenge, but of a different kind.

    Chunlai defeated his younger brother Hafiz 15-10, 15-10 in the third round yesterday and Roslin is out to make the Chinese pay.

    Although Hafiz’s elimination was expected, national number one Wong Choong Hann’s defeat in the third round came as a big surprise.

    The world number four, who was determined to win his first title for the year to boost his morale ahead of the Athens Games, faltered 10-15, 5-15 to world number 15 Ronald Susilo of Singapore.

    National singles chief coach Misbun Sidek had mixed feelings.

    “Except for Roslin, it was a flat performance from the men’s singles players. Choong Hann was sluggish. He was even struggling to beat teammate (Yeoh) Kay Bin in the previous match. I want him to recover from this setback. He will not be fielded in the Asian Badminton Championships (April 20-25),” said Misbun in a telephone interview from Tokyo.

    “Hafiz’s game is getting better but not his patience. He is still too eager to win and as a result there are too many mistakes and it affects his confidence.”

    On Roslin’s performances, Misbun said: “He is playing very well. Unlike his sloppy showing in South Korea (Roslin lost 13-15, 15-7, 11-15 to Germany’s Bjoern Joppien in the third round), he is playing a more controlled game.

    “He has a 50-50 chance against Chunlai. The youngster is getting special attention from head coach Li Yongbo in this tournament. Hopefully, Roslin will be able to advance.”

    Roslin has played Chunlai once before – in the quarter-finals of the World Championships in Birmingham last year. The Malaysian lost.

    Two other Chinese players also advanced to the quarter-finals. Top seed Lin Dan will take on Peter Gade-Christensen of Denmark while second seed Chen Hong will face South Korean Park Tae-sang.

    Malaysia’s challenge in the doubles also ended when both pairs, Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah and Chan Chong Ming-Chew Choon Eng, lost their second round matches.

    All-England runners-up Tan Fook-Wan Wah squandered their leads several times before losing 15-5, 16-17, 12-15 to Indonesians Trikus Hariyanto-Sigit Budiarto in the second round.

    Chong Ming-Choon Eng showed they were still struggling to make headway when they crashed to a 8-15, 3-15 defeat to world number three Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng of China.

    National doubles chief coach Yap Kim Hock agreed that Chong Ming-Choon Eng had a lot of catching up to do.

    “Our hopes were on Tan Fook-Wan Wah but they are struggling to win points at crucial moments. They were leading 7-1, 13-11 and 16-14 in the second game but could not go all the way to win it. In the rubber, they were leading 12-8 but again could not go for the kill,” said Kim Hock.

    “As for Chong Ming-Choon Eng, they are still lagging behind. Hopefully, they will give stronger performances in the ABC. It is their last chance to get points to qualify for the Olympics.”


    TheStar
     

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