Tournament Report - French Open

March of the tigers!

In a commendable effort by the Malaysian fighters in Paris, three pairs/players have advanced to the semifinals of the French Super Series tournament, more than any Super Series tournament we've seen before.


The first player that got through was Lee Chong Wei, when he easily breezed past Hong Kong-ian Chan Yan Kit, to set up an encounter with Chen Jin. While Lee Chong Wei is playing with a slight knee injury, he nevertheless, should take the game from Chen Jin without much drama.

The second pair to get through was Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah, the Malaysian veterans. Shrugging off their first round defeat in the Danish Open, they proceeded to claim the highly prized scalp of Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan, the current world champions. Today they face the surprise semifinalist Masuda/Ohtsuka which beat our reigning world number 1 Koo and Tan. Choong and Lee should defeat Masuda and Ohtsuka, and set up a mouthwatering finals encounter with Chinese pair Fu and Cai, which they beat on the last 2 occasions.

The third player that got through was our Malaysian lass Wong Mew Choo. Again, shrugging off the first round defeat in Odsense, Wong managed to beat the gritty Ella Diehl in a tight scoreline of 21-19 21-23 21-19 in a match that lasted for more than an hour. She faces world number 1 Xie Xingfang, which she beat in the World Championships but was demolished in the Japan Open. Nevertheless, this will be an interesting encounter for Xie who is trying to stamp her mark further in international badminton.

All the best to all players!