AVIVA Singapore Open - Womens doubles upside down

Today will definitely be a day to remember for Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Lena Frier-Kristiansen. After all these years in the circuit, this was their first victory over one of the top Chinese pairs – Tian and Pan, who had ousted the Olympic Silver medalists Lee and Lee in the previous round. The Chinese pair probably had in mind to go all the way to the final and an all China affair, however the European Champions had other ideas on.

The first game was the key to the match, with both pairs eager to take a head start but it was the Danes who had the control over the first few rallies. Leading 6/1, then 14/9, it became more complicated when the Chinese starting playing flat shuttles and moving forward on the court. They even took the lead 17/16, but the Danes still put pressure on their opponents, relying on Juhl’s attacks – the tall Dane has one of the most efficient smashes on the circuit.

Missing a first game point at 20/19, the Europeans were to take the next opportunity to nail the game 22/20. The second game went much faster, with the Chinese unable to read Juhl’s attacks, while Frier’s consistency at the net and flat cross court defenses were stunning. Things were rather even until 7/6, but then, the Danes played amazingly well, putting all shuttles down and avoiding long rallies, which the Chinese pair are so good at.

One point after the other, they took a strong lead and were never to be caught, shouting after each point with their fists in the air. The Chinese seemed to find no solution to Juhl’s constant attacks and left the court with 10/21 in the second game.

“This is just amazing. We’ve been hoping for this to happen for a long time. We’ve never qualified for a Super Series semi final, and it shows that the hard work we’ve done at home finally paid off today” said Juhl. “ Beating the Chinese is such a great feeling. We know that if we want to play amongst the best, and become number ones, we’ll eventually have to beat Chinese pairs along the way. We never succeeded until now, to beat a top pair, and it feels so nice. It even feels better than being European champions” added Lena Frier.

The Danes may have been ranked 8^th seeds and better ranked than their opponents of the day, yet this came as a surprise.

“We haven’t looked at the draw so we don’t know who we are playing next, but this will definitely boost our confidence for the future. Our main goal remains to do well in the upcoming world championships and we took this tournament as a preparation for India. So, it’s all good for our confidence” added smiling Juhl.

World’s best out !

The Danish duo will take on Indonesia’s Polii and Maheswari in Saturday’s semi finals as the new pair stunned the world’s number one and top seeds in the event. The Indonesians, who teamed up only 8 months ago, played a very safe and steady game to upset the favorites, in one of the most exciting matches of the quarter final day.

Leading one game to nil, the Indonesians kept putting the shuttle in play and tired their opponents. “Our goal was to keep playing safe, in these conditions with a lot of wind, but to also take our chances and kill the shuttle when we could” said Greysia Polii.

The second and third game went their way, with a suspenseful ending, when the Malaysians saved one match point at 18/20 before kneeling 21/19 in the decider after just over an hour of play.

“We saw our draw and hoped we had a chance here, without some of the top Chinese. Nowadays, however, it’s more difficult for all the top pairs as a lot of countries have been playing better in this category. We have to be aware and very careful to beat lower ranked pairs. Now, I hope that we can make it to the final and beat the Danes. I am confident that we can and we’ll think positive” added Polii. The other semi final will see Korea’s Ha and Kim take on China’s Zhang and Zhao, who upset their younger compatriots Zhao and Cheng.

Boonsak back in lucky garden

Boonsak Ponsana will be once again featured in the Singapore Open semi finals, just like in 2007. At the time, he had beaten Lin Dan to enter the last four. On Friday, the soft spoken Thai made light work of Anup Sridhar of India, who didn’t find the right pace, obviously tired after playing two matches more than his fitter opponent, coming from the qualifying. Ponsana beat Sridhar 21/11 – 21/8.

“I feel like I played at home here as people cheer for me. I don’t know why, it’s a bit like Thailand. But it’s difficult to control the shuttles in this stadium, so I just try to play with the wind. It feels nice to win but actually, I wish I had played against Peter Gade. It’s been 9 years I haven’t played him and I was looking forward to meet him this time” said the Thai shuttler.

“But this is good for me. I was not at my top form for the past months as I had injured my shoulder and leg, but now I feel better and I’m back at 90 % of my game. I will try my best to beat Park Sung Hwan, even if I’ve never beaten him before” said the Thai, who had won his most prestigious title here in 2007, when he won the Gold medal. Park Sung Hwan stunned Sony Dwi Kuncoro, while Bao beat Vietnam’s hero and

Chen Jin had all the difficulties in the world to beat Denmark’s rising star Jan Jorgensen in three battling games.

China looking for 4 titles

China will be hoping for another show down after a good day for them. The women’s single event will see Zhou Mi face the Great Wall as three shuttlers from Mainland China are still in the draw to tackle their former compatriot, now playing for Hong Kong.

Zhou had to dig deep to beat Dutch Meulendijks, but the toughest match of the day was for her next opponent, Wang Lin, who came back from one game down to beat Saina Nehwal of India. The clever Indian was lifting high and using the wind but Wang’s fighting spirit made the difference towards the end. Wang Yihan, the best ranked Chinese will not be featured in the semis as she was beaten by compatriot Jiang Yanjiao who will take on Xie Xingfang in the other semi.

The mixed double will feature two Chinese pairs as well as Kamilla Rytter Juhl wasn’t as lucky with her other partner Thomas Laybourn. They were beaten by China’s Zhang and Xie in another close fight while Zheng and Ma outplayed Fischer and Pedersen in straight games.

Denmark’s day was even in the men’s double with Rasmussen and Paaske edging Tan and Gan of Malaysia while second seeds Boe and Mogensen bit the dust against Chinese Taipei’s Chen and Lin who won their third consecutive tie in a tie breaker. Paaske and Rasmussen will take on Olympic champions Kido and Setiawan, who barely survived the constant attacks from Singaporean last hopes of Wijaya/Saputra, while England’s Robertson and Clark will see a clear opportunity to make it to the final when they take on Lin and Chen.

Korea will still have a shot at 3 gold with one pair in the ladies double, Park in the singles, and Lee and Lee in the mixed, who had to fight hard to beat Thailand’s Prapakamol and Thungthongkam.

Semi final line up

Mens Singles

Boonsak Ponsana Vs Park Sung Hwan

Posted by Lucas Liau on 11:31 AM. Filed under News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0