Total prize-money : US$600,000 Venue : Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham-ENG Tournament website : http://www.allenglandbadminton.com/ Tournament official twitter : https://twitter.com/YonexAllEngland Birmingham time : http://www.worldtimezone.com/time/wtzresult.php?CiID=4872&forma=Find Time Live Streaming : - http://videostream.dn.ua/videopage/videoPage.php?g=c2J2b2JoK2F0Y3ZsbmhZ&c=en&i=eWlhaXVidGd1bA№f№f - SEMIFINAL ORDER OF PLAY (12.00pm) => https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/...D0E721-E845-4C5C-8775-88BDCEDCA622&d=20170311 One step closer to Lee-Lin classic duel as these two badminton iconic men of contemporary era have high possibility to face off in tomorrow's final. Three-time champion Lee Chong Wei was doing his routine to dispose last year beaten finalist Tian Houwei, 21-12 / 21-15, earlier at the same court his arch-rival Lin Dan came back from first game losing, 8-21 to take revenge over Rio bronze medal match defeat against Danish star Viktor Axelsen, 21-14 / 21-15. The in-form Chou Tien Chen continues brilliant run to thwart Thai player Tanongsak from semifinal stage in close contest. Last but not least China new talent, Shi Yuqi demonstrated remarkable court coverage and aggressive play to frustrate giant-killer Kazumasa Sakai, 21-13 / 21-4. Lee CW will see Chou TC this afternoon at TV court and Lin Dan will be tested by his junior compatriot, Shi Yuqi. Three of four WS quarterfinal ties presented heart-pumping match, a mission impossible comeback was did by 2013 runner-up Ratchanok Intanon to end Carolina Marin campaign here, 11-18 trailed behind Intanon catched up and broke the over-confident Spaniard who hitted shuttle into the net several times. Another notable tight contest involved Japanese starlet Akane Yamaguchi won over the tall Sun Yu narrowly in gruelling deciding game in 87 minutes pulsating match, 21-23 / 21-14 / 22-20. The Japanese saved one match point before she grabbed three consecutive points at crucial stage. Sung Ji Hyun edged out Saina Nehwal with identical scoreline, 20-22 / 22-20. Nehwal saved three match points before Sung sealed the first game then a dejavu came into second game with same situation. Top-seed Tai Tzu Ying was too strong for Sindhu yesterday, the below-par performance by Rio silver medalist as she couldn't do too much to counter attack her skillful opponent. Chinese combinations eliminated their more fancied rival, Li JH/Liu YC stunned world number one Goh VS/Tan WK while Liu C/Zhang N did marvelous job to knock out the dynamic Japanese pair Kamura/Sonoda. Both winners battled hard to down those higher-ranked pairs in three games. On bottom-half draw, Danish duo Conrad/Kolding will challenge Indonesia last hopeful in this tournament, Gideon/Sukamuljo today. All Japanese WD pairs faltered in last eight, three familiar names secure semifinal spots. Pedersen/Juhl will face Jung KE/Shin SC. Another Korean combo, Chang YN/Lee SH will find another Chinese hurdle, the surprising semifinalists Bao Yixin/Yu Xiaohan who outmaneuvered recent GER Open champion Fukushima/Hirota. Two upsets happened in mixed doubles last night, home favourite The English married couple ended Olympic Champion Ahmad/Natsir journey, Liliyana Natsir seemed still not fully recovered yet and her movement was pretty slow. Adcock/Adcock will face Lu K/Huang YQ who powered past the veteran Dane Fischer/Pedersen. Japan new hopefuls Watanabe/Higashino through to last four, passed Korean fresh partnerships Yoo YS/Kim HN in close match. They will set up a clash with Rio silver medalists, Chan PS/Goh LY to chase final ticket. LIVE TV COVERAGE (COURT 1, 12.00pm) : 1) Akane Yamaguchi (JPN) v Ratchanok Intanon (THA) 2) Lee Chong Wei (MAS) v Chou Tien Chen (TPE) 3) Lu Kai/Huang Yaqiong (CHN) v Chris Adcock/Gabrielle Adcock (ENG) 4) Jung Kyung Eun/Shin Seung Chan (KOR) v Kamilla Rytter Juhl/Christinna Pedersen (DEN) 5) Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA) v Mads Conrad Petersen/Mads Pieler Kolding
My prediction for the winners today: Ratchanok defeating AY TTY defeating SJH Too close to call will be: LCW vs CTC Lu/Huang vs Adcocks Bao/Yu beating Chang/Lee
The last encounters between Chong Wei and CTC weren't really close. We will see if the latter improved today.
If the WS now playing boils down to fitness,I'd feel sorry for Intanon who expended superhuman effort in overcoming Marin yesterday in a long, grueling match and coming from behind to win the decider.
of course, the head-to-head between LCW and CTC is 5 to 0. I guess it was just some wishful thinking on my part, wanting to see CTC vs LD in the final. CTC deating LD in Chinese Taipei in 2015 was one of best moment in recent years.
I felt really bad for CTC at the Olympics and WC the year before. He was so damn nervous against ZZ and Chong Wei. Let's just hope for a good match and that he can play freely. I still regard him as the underdog.
Intanon is impressive, now that her fitness has returned, hence her prowess. Akane Yamaguchi is also a joy to watch, short and stout yet not disadvantaged by it at all, dashing, jumping, smashing, diving, lunging everywhere and fine racquet skills to boot.
the head to head of RI vs TTY is 7 to 6.. that's pretty close.. will be a great final tomorrow.. http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/p...D28A5&p2=E7478462-B482-44AA-8170-A719B6AE45C9
