The Japanese pair Keita Masuda/Miyuki Maeda beat the home pairing of Howard Bach/Eva Lee in rubber-sets 19-21, 21-11, 21-19 to snatch the XD title. A close and entertaining match from the live-score and guaranteed that my PAW is safe
Lee TS the winner --> congrats !! His games improve rapidly.. Destroy the defending champion in just 35 mins.. He should able to dispose HH as no. 2 MS player in MAS
So JAPAN is the big winner of the US Open 2007, with 3 titles in Men's Doubles (Tadashi Ohtsuka/Keita Masuda), Women's Doubles (Miyuki Maeda/Satoko Suetsuna), and the Mixed Doubles (Keita Masuda/Miyuki Maeda). Both Keita Masuda and Miyuki Maeda are double gold-medallists MALAYSIA and KOREA each win a title in the Men's Singles (Lee Tsuen Tseng) and the Women's Singles (Jun Jae Yun) respectively.
is the US OPEN over?? actually i fink the us badminton open should not at this week,... becoz the date is clash with US TENNIS OPEN.. many america people wants to see tennis,,,,... anyway, the tournament is at its last day and MAS AH SENG wins d mens title
He definitely feel disappointed but I think he has tried his best. In XD, the Japanese ranks 23th and HB and EL rank 28th. And in MD the Japanese ranks 16th and HB and KM rank 24th. The Japanese are just better.
Sure.. ..dan kembali or makasi kembali or sama-sama...(i'm sure you know what those mean, yannie?!?!)
Videos of the Quarter Finals Round are.. ...up in this thread, for anyone who's interested: ..for anyone who wants to see, in this thread..enjoy!: http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=652056&posted=1#post652056 Pics, quick reviews & full length videos from Finals will be up soon..
Well, Jun Jae Youn has started her effort to back on track, won the tourney. I think her latest title is 6* KOR Open 2005. With Lee Tsuen Seng victorious, maybe better for Hafiz to take part in GP tourney rather than participate in SS or GP Gold level without satisfaction result.
2007 U.S. Open Finals reviews....XD Final.. If the Russian team was the biggest winner in last yr's Yonex/OCBC U.S. Open edition, this yr's biggest winner is the Japanese team, winning 3 of the 5 respectable titles. With a full board of their 2nd & 3rd tiered players, it would be somewhat of a major disappointment for the Japanese team not to win anything. But behind all the supporters who cheered and chanted "Nippon, Nippon (claps)" continuously, they probably felt more at home playing here in the U.S. Unlike last yr, the atmosphere and electricity were indeed in the stadium early on, as the enthusiastic crowd was definitely there to support the U.S. squad. Yet, even with their fans' support, for the first time in quite a while, it was the U.S. team who failed to grab any titles. Wits its, arguably, the #1 player, in Howard Bach, representing the U.S. in 2 of the events played at the same facility which has held this U.S. Open tournament for a while, the U.S. team failed to win any events. The other representatives who bagged the other 2 titles included Lee Tsuen Seng from M'sia, winning the MS title, and Jun Jae Youn from Korea, who won the WS title. The ending wasn't what the U.S. fans/squad/organizer were hoping for, but it was very enjoyable ending to this edition of the U.S. Open. A lot of surprises along the way but overall the players and organizers have given another memorable moment & exposure for all the badminton fans in the U.S., esp. Southern California region. Looking forward again to next yr's edition. XD Final - Howard BACH & Eva LEE vs. Keita MASUDA & Miyuki MAEDA - 21-19 11-21 19-21 The first of 2 thrilling rubber matches of the day involved the U.S. pair vs. the JPN pair. Playing with the support of the crowd, chanting "USA, USA!!" in unison and in between rallies and breaks, Howard and Eva played with enthusiasm and vigor. Creating chances & taking advantage to attack on every opportunities and won a very entertaining and close 1st game. After the break, the JPN pair regrouped. And did they. Without any thoughts of what happened in the 1st game, the JPN pair rushed and pulled away from the Americans as they tightened up their defense and were on the attack more. On the other hand, the U.S. pair seemed to be out of focus and couldn't get the same rhythm as they did in the 1st game. With the U.S. pair scrambling and on the defense, the JPN pair pulled away and took the 2nd game. With 1 game each for both pairs and going into the rubber game, it was time to show which pair had the focus, energy and nerve of steel to win. And indeed, the 3rd game became a true barn burner as every rallies and points scored put the crowd and all of U.S. fans on the edge of their seats. The lead changes weren't much, but the U.S. pair held a slight edge up til the 11 pt interval. After that break point, the JPN pair turned on their game & coupled with a few erros from the U.S. pair, raced ahead & seemed to be in control of the game. While the U.S. pair seemed to be stuck at their interval score. The U.S. pair never gave up, rallying back and even came as close as 1 pt of evening up the score. But with a chance to possibly even up the score, and the game on the line, it was Howard who was on the spot. This time, as he did a few times early in the game, his serve went into the net and the JPN pair was in jubilation. The disappointed expression on his face really reflected back on the crowd as they gave a big sigh of disappointment and perhaps relief (after the tense moments). Nevertheless, it was a closely fought battle, as both pairs turned a very well played match and it was truly crowd-pleasing. Howard and Eva were gracious at the podium, though, even in defeat. Will Howard redeem himself against Masuda in the his MD match later in the day?? Or will his errors cost another losing effort?..
WS Final.. WS Final - Jae Youn JUN vs. Yun Hwa LEE - 21-18 21-16 The WS Final match turned out to be pretty enjoyable, as the fans were treated to watch 2 of the young and up-and-coming KOR WS players. And one of them, Jun Jae Youn, didn't disappoint the crowd. Playing as if it was another practice session, the 2 KOR gals, displayed some marvelous skills complete with an array of drop shots, cross-court net shots & trick shots, which drew several "oohs and aahs" & applauses from the crowd. Early in the 1st game, Lee took the initiative and led Jun by a sizeable score, even led by as many as 8 points. But not bothered by the big margin, slowly and surely, the ex-#1 WS for KOR turned on the afterburner and patiently caught up with Lee. With the score tied at 14 a piece, Jun showed her exquisite footworks and techniques, as she took over and pulled away to take the 1st game. After the break, Jun continued her lead by showing her superior yet consistent & simple style. Lee tried to catch and even up the match at 1 game a piece, but Jun never relinquished her lead. Jun's almost effortless style of play, coupled with a couple of errors here and there by Lee, essentially secured her first title after a recent struggle with an injury. At the end, the young Jun was able to redeem her recent lost to her compatriot, in a recent National championship match, and showed why she was KOR's ex-#1 WS player. And perhaps she is now back to compete and challenge the rest of the world's top WS players.
MS Final.. MS Final - Tsuen Seng LEE vs. Yousuke NAKANISHI - 21-14 21-10 After the wonderful performance by the 2 KOR young ladies, it was time for the 2 guys to display their skills. With the defending U.S. Open MS champion on the court, it was time for MAS' Lee to step up and try to dethrone Yousuke. It was a slow start by the defending champion, as Lee took a quick 4-0 lead, eventhough both were still feeling each other's playing style. But once each player warmed up, it was Lee who started to force the tempo of the game in his favor. By playing more accurate shot placements, not allowing Yousuke to perform his exciting crowd-favorite jump-smashes by playing more net-game and a couple or so erros from Yousuke, Ah Seng (nickname of LeeTS) took a big lead in the 1st set and raced away to take a tightly contested 1st game. After the 1st game, it was a bit different out there on the court. Yousuke finally started to get his rhythm back and began to show more of his trademark jumpsmashes, as well as his speed. The score was close for the 1st half of the 2nd game. But once again, Lee never lost focus of his strategy and started to take advantage of more errors from Yousuke. After the break point, it was Lee who dominated as he pulled away for a convincing win and thus dethroned Yousuke of his U.S. Open title. After clinching his final point, Lee was seen very joyful as i'm sure many of his M'sian fans must be thrilled with his win.
WD Final.. WD Final - Miyuki MAEDA & Satoko SUETSUNA vs. Aki AKAO & Tomomi MATSUDA - 16-21 21-14 21-15 If the first match of the day was a nerve-wrecker, then this WD match turned out to be the most thrilling one, esp. towards the end of the 3rd game; very titillating. Playing with a shoulder & arm tape, strapped around her shoulder, this Maeda gal truly was a great competitor and showed why she deserved her double gold titles in this whole tourney. Though the match was being fought back and forth for nearly 1 hr. long, the JPN combo of NA-DA (Suetsuna & Maeda), fought with all they've got and showed a much better team chemistry. In the 1st set, the fresher legged JPN combo of AO-DA (Aoki-Matsuda), took their game and led throughout, closing the 1st set in nearly 20 min. long. But even after losing the 1st game, the exhausted and spent Maeda was able to gain enough energy, whatever was left of her, to force a rubber set. In the 2nd game, the NA-DA combo, regained their focus and ran away with the game. For some reason, the AO-DA seemed to lose their focus, playing much more defensively. For some reason, Maeda seemed to gain a 2nd pair of legs. And along with the support of Suetsuna, the rejuvenated Maeda was still able to keep on smashing, repelling & returning all types of shots that were thrown at her. The momentum of their 2nd set victory carried over to the 3rd game, where the game was tightly played. After several lead changes, and after the break point, the NA-DA combo raced ahead, whilst the AO-DA combo were left running and chasing all the shuttles. Even with the continuous chant support from the crowd of "Matsuda, GANBATTE!!", the NA-DA combo never relinquished their lead as they focused their attack on Aoki. Aoki in return, never was able to control the situation, and instead committed more errors, perhaps due to fatigue. Even her body language showed that she was panting. Towards the end of the match, there was 1 play which signaled the end of the AO-DA combo. It was when they just finished a long rally, and the NA-DA combo sent a cross court shot, which forced Aoki to rush over and dive for the shuttle. She failed to retrieve the shuttle, while sliding on the mat, and that play drew applause from the crowd as the NA-DA combo was set in winning the match. After the final point of the match, the NA-DA combo raised their hands, hugged each other in sheer jubilation and received high fives from their coach. Whilst the AO-DA combo was left still wondering and trying to regain their breath. All in all, the 1 difference i noticed between these 2 pairs, was the NA-DA combo really worked as a team/pair and their collected effort propelled them to victory. And the crowd rewarded them with a big round of applause for their effort. One interesting note: I notice for these 2 pairs, each pair had a different coach.
MD Final.. MD Final - Tadashi OHTSUKA & Keita MASUDA vs. Howard BACH & Khan MALAYTHONG - 21-18 21-11 To cap off the night, the last match of the night gave the crowd, who waited til past 10 pm, with some high energy performance and hope of perhaps a victory, saving at least 1 title for the U.S. As a rematch of their recent World Championships Round of 32 match, the U.S. pair jumped to an early 2-0 lead. But the lead was soon evaporated and the JPN pair was on the attack, cutting and smashing whatever shuttles that were in front of them. The lead changed a couple of times, until the JPN pair was able to break through. Just like how they played against Howard and Bob in the WC, the JPN pair never gave much chance to the U.S. pair to unleash their attacks or set up one themselves. Even with a few brilliant plays from Bob & Howard, the JPN pair kept the shuttles low and never gave the Americans any rhythm and any further confidence. Along with several errors and long shots from the Americans, the JPN pair raced ahead and closed off the tightly contested 1st game. But even after the 1st game lost, the crowd still chanted "USA! USA! USA!", in hope it will spur an inspired U.S. comeback. But any comebacks by the U.S.' #1 MD pair quickly went down the drain as they trailed quickly by as many as 8 points (the JPN lead 8-0 to start off the 2nd game), some of which were the results of errors. And as if it wasn't bad enough, the lead grew to 9 pts, as the U.S. pair along with its fans/supporters knew that the JPN pair was just too much too handle. Towards the end, a frustrated and disappointed Howard and Bob could only get as close as 10 points, as they saw a chance of continuing the U.S. domination in the MD event slipped away. The JPN pair simply steamrolled their way to claim their first ever U.S. Open title with not much sweat. IMO, for some reason, Howard seemed to be pressing or perhaps trying to think too much out there in his 2 Finals events, as he also made 2 or 3 faulty serves during his MD match which found the net, a couple of which happened in a crucial stage of the match. At the end, it was Maeda's XD partner who became the other double gold titlist, and at the same time finally winning their sought after U.S. Open MD title which they lost at the hands of Tony G. and Bob M., 5 yrs. ago. *Just a quick observation of this U.S. MD pair: IMO, usually in MD, 1 of the pair will be the setup/front court player, while the other the smasher/finisher. It seems to me, that this current U.S. pair doesn't have that someone to be a setter or front court player. If they have one, i can't really distinguish if it's Howard or Bob, as both seem to be interchangeable and not sure what role each player should be focusing on. I also wonder, I know they wanted to pair up Bob and Howard in preparation for next yr's Olympics's seeding, but what if Tony and Halim were still playing in the Finals?!?..we'll never know..
Additional MD Final pics.. ...just a few more of this fast-paced & exciting match.. Last pic shows an interview with Otsuka & Masuda after the award ceremony..
Walao Chris .. this page took 5 mins for my lousy laptop to load :crying::crying: Anyway.. Thanks for all those marvelous pic !!
Sure.. ..no problem & glad to share with you guys.. Sorry also for the loads of pics & yeah, i know the internet connection in Asia (S.E. Asia) could be a bit slow... Actually, if you take a look at last yr's U.S. Open thread, i've probably uploaded much more pics than for this yr's U.S. Open..hehe
