Major Hiccups in Malaysian Camp

Day 2 of the China Open proceeded with marginally less upsets than day 1, although several major hiccups have emerged.

The most severe hiccup was that of the departure of first seeds and world number 1 Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong in the hands of a relatively unknown Taiwanese pair in two tame sets. It seems that even the first round opponent of the Taiwanese were able to put up a better fight, going down in 3 tight sets. Instead, the hot favorites for the title shockingly went down tamely to this relative unknown. The emerging trend in this pair is that they have no problem in sweeping past known seeded pairs, while relative unknowns seem to trouble them. Lack of respect or psychological weakness, I am sure doubles coach Rexy Manaiky will address this problem. Hopefully he will be successful.

Hafiz Hashim's comeback to the elite club of shuttlers seem to have taken a heavy blow today. With the departure of top seed Lin Dan, Hashim's path to the quarterfinals could not have been any easier. However, Hashim lost to Korean Park Sung Hwan, Lin Dan's conquerer in 3 sets despite leading crucially in the 2nd and 3rd set; not being able to close up the game. With chance number 1 blown, Hashim better hope he performs more convincingly in Hong Kong next week.

Wong Pei Tty and Chin Eei Hui have once again failed to reach the crucial stages of the tournament, falling to China Masters winners Marrisa and Natsir. Although both Indonesian players had to play in the Mixed Doubles field before playing the Malaysians, they still managed to fend off the attack.

However, not all was lost today. Our top Women's Singles shuttler Wong Mew Choo managed to pull off a stunning upset against Frenchwomen Pi Hongyan. Despite dropping the second set, Mew Choo managed to dominate the 3rd game and storm into the quarterfinals where she will meet arch nemesis and reigning world champion Zhu Lin. Lee Chong Wei also continued his run by sweeping past Andrew Smith of England in 23 minutes. In the Men's Doubles department, apart from the shock departure of Koo and Tan, the other 2 pairs made it through. Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah managed to make it through easily, while Fairuzizuan and Zakry, perhaps a little overconfident with their win yesterday over second seeds Cai and Fu, survived a 3 set scare to fend of an unknown Chinese pair attempting to gain revenge for their compatriot's defeat.

All the best to all players.

Match Report – Semifinals French Open

Lee Chong Wei vs. Chen Jin
Both fight to secure a semifinals spot, with Lee trying to prevent an all Chinese encounter

After a cautious start by both players, Lee flies off to a magical lead, with Chen Jin unable to find any answers to Lee’s patient game. Chen attempted to play a long drawn out rallying game, but evidently failed as he trailed 1-11 in the mid game interval. The second game interval saw Lee play the most magnificent badminton ever, allowing Chen one point before taking a massive 16-2 lead that seemed unreachable. Chen Jin attempted to stage a comeback that saw him marginally reduce Lee’s humungous lead to 7-19. However, Chen’s futile efforts were all in vain when Lee took the first set eventually at 21-8, a complete whitewash.

Lee continued his gallant run, taking the first 3 points to lead 3-0. Refusing commit the same mistake as he did in Odsense, he raced to a further 6-1 lead, before conceding another point. It seemed like Chen Jin was being whitewashed. At 9-2, it seemed that this was a repeat of the lopsided first game. This proved true when Lee took the mid game interval advantage at an enormous 11-2 lead. Not much to report here as Lee continues his dominating form into an 11 point lead at 14-3. Reports have come in stating that they suspect Chen Jin to have an injury. By the looks of the score, it appears so, but Chen Jin seems to be playing fine. Chen Jin carries on, narrowing Lee’s lead to 6-15. The highly anticipated fight back did not occur, as Lee earned a match point at 20-8, and only needs one to win it 21-8 21-8.

Stay tuned for more reports

For full results of the French Open go here:

Badminton Loonsport Semifinals results

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!