Sport and News

Lin Dan Wins His Second Super Series Premier

2011-11-27T21:12:00.003+07:00

World champion Lin Dan won his second super series premier title in 2011 after winning China Open final today against compatriot Chen Long 21-17, 26-24. He also makes sure of world number two ranking until the end of 2011.

China Open final results:

Women's Doubles
1-Wang Xiaoli/Yu Yang (CHN) vs. Tang Jinhua/Xia Huan (CHN) 21-11, 21-10

Women's Singles
2-Wang Yihan (CHN) vs. 3-Wang Xin (CHN) 18-21, retired

Men's Doubles
3-Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen (DEN) vs. 4-Ko Sung-hyun/Yoo Yeon-seong (KOR) 21-17, 21-13

Mixed Doubles
1-Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei (CHN) vs. 3-Joachim Fischer Nielsen/Christinna Pedersen (DEN) 21-11, 21-14

Men's Singles
3-Lin Dan (CHN) vs. 2-Chen Long (CHN) 21-17, 26-24

pictures by www.bwfbadminton.org

Federer Seeks His Sixth Year-End Title

2011-11-27T20:51:00.004+07:00

London (11/27) - Defending champion Roger Federer reached his seventh final of ATP World Tour Finals, previously named as Tennis Masters Cup before it was changed in 2009. The fourth seed defeated 2007 runner-up David Ferrer of Spain 7-5, 6-3 in the semi-finals in O2 Arena, London.

In the final, Federer will face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who already met him in the group stage. In the last four, Tsonga overcame Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5.

"It's obviously going to be a special occasion for me tomorrow, playing my 100th final, possibly winning my 70th, winning my sixth at the World Tour Finals," Federer said after stretching his current winning streak to 16.

"It will be quite funny to play Tsonga in the finals of Paris, on the first day here and the next Sunday again. He's very confident right now and he's going to be extremely dangerous," added Federer. Federer's 806th victory on tour, the same as his boyhood idol Stefan Edberg, will not go down as one of his classics.
Federer's 806th victory on tour, the same as his boyhood idol Stefan Edberg, will not go down as one of his classics.

He made 29 unforced errors and struck four winners from the back of the court, but his B game was still too good for world number five Ferrer who, for all his hustle and bustle, could not engineer a single break point in the 85 minute contest.

The only sticky moment for Federer was at 4-5 in the opening set when he was taken to five deuces but he upped the tempo in the next game, breaking Ferrer's serve to seize control.

"Obviously it was a key 5-4 game for me to hold and then break the next game, then actually break again early on in the second set," Federer, who will climb back to three in the ATP rankings above Murray, said.

"That was a crucial 15, 20 minutes for me. I'm happy I was able to decide the match right there."

If Federer wins tomorrow's match, he will pass Pete Sampras' and Ivan Lendl's record of winning five year-end championships. He already won the year-end championships in 2003, 2004, 206, 2007, and 2010.

Meanwhile, Tsonga said victory in Sunday's final would be even bigger than beating Federer at Wimbledon this year.

"It's going to be better because this is for a title," he said. "This tournament is the top eight players in the world. If I can join the great names on the trophy it will be amazing.

"It's going to be really special for my first final here. It's going to be an amazing atmosphere on the court.

"Roger is the best player for the moment indoors. But I think I can join him for one match."

reuters

Once Again Lin Dan Thrashes Lee Chong Wei

2011-11-26T21:09:00.002+07:00

After defeating Lee Chong Wei in Hong Kong Open semi-final last week, now four-time world champion Lin Dan of China overthrew the Malaysian again to reach the China Open final. The former world number one needed an hour and 16 minutes to crush Lee Chong Wei 19-21, 21-12, and 21-11. In the final, Lin Dan will meet his junior Chen Long who beat Indonesia's Simon Santoso 21-14, 21-14 earlier.

Arshavin Scores for Arsenal's First Win

2011-09-11T21:42:00.006+07:00

Andrei Arshavin scored a goal to Swansea, giving Arsenal's its first victory in 2011-2012 Premier League. In the 40th minute, Theo Walcott’s shot looped high and wide only for Swansea goalkeeper Michael Vorm to intercept and bowl out the ball on the far side of the area. His effort hit the heel of Angel Rangel and fell nicely for Arshavin, who converted in to the empty net from an acute angle. Finally Arsenal won 1-0.

arsenal 1 2

Can China Repeat Last Year's Success?

2011-08-14T14:00:00.017+07:00

It is not impossible for China to take all the world championship title as they have done last year. Mixed doubles player Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei opened the match day, competing against another Chinese pair, Xu Chen and Ma Jin. Leading 21-17 in the first set, Zhang and Zhao did not need to play the second set as Xu and Ma retired due to Ma's injury.

In the other mixed doubles semis, Indonesia's world number two Tontowi Ahmad and Lilyana Natsir surprisingly were subjected to home favorites Chris Adcock and Scottish Imogen Bankier. The unseeded pair won in straight sets 21-16 and 21-19.

"Today I think I was playing with the best women's mixed doubles player in the world. She tore Natsir up and made my job so easy," Adcock praised his partner. He was also happy to reach the world championship final in his own country.

Meanwhile, disappointed Lilyana revealed that her and Tontowi's game were easily guessed by their opponents. "We should have been defensive first, not aggressively attacking. Bankier was ready in the net. Finally they attacked us which made us under pressure and confused," she said.

In the men's doubles, Korean Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung fail to advance to the final after losing to China's defending champions Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng in their 15th meeting, 18-21 and 14-21. Now Lee and Jung head-to-head is 7-8 against Cai and Fu.

However, Lee and Jung's teammates Ko Sung-hyun and Yoo Yeon-seong succeed to the final after vanquishing Indonesia's Mohammad Ahsan/Bona Septano 21-19 and 21-15.

Wang Yihan emerges as the winner in the Chinese-meeting semi-final. The second seed downs the third seed Wang Xin 21-15 and 21-15 to face Taiwanese Cheng Shao-Chieh in the final.

For sure, China will win the women's doubles title after placing their two pairs in the final. Top seed Wang Xiaoli/Yu Yang will play compatriots Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei. Wang and Yu excelled Japanese third-seeded Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna in the semi-final 21-8 and 21-15 while Tian and Zhao eases to the final with a 21-14, 21-16 victory over India's Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa.

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pictures by xinhuanews and bwfbadminton

Lin Dan's Fifth World Championship Final

2011-08-14T13:38:00.006+07:00

London (8/13) - Once again China's powerful Lin Dan makes it to the final of World Championship. He is closer to his fourth title after winning the same crown in 2006, 2007, and 2009.

In the the last four, 27-year-old Lin Dan defeated veteran third seed Peter Gade of Denmark 22-24, 21-7, and 21-15. Next, the former world number one will face nemesis Lee Chong Wei in the final. Previously, the 28-year-old Malaysian has beaten defending champion Chen Jin 21-13 and 21-9.

However, Lin Dan stated that he was more interested in winning ranking points for the Olympic Games than becoming the world champion again.

"I don't care about the result of tomorrow's (Sunday's) final," Lin Dan claimed.

"It's more important just to try to win as many ranking points as possible to qualify for the Olympics, and to get used to the venue. I think Lee Chong Wei is in really good form."

On the other hand, Lee Chong Wei who has just reached his first final of world championship is very ecstatic. He said that he was finally in the final in his sixth attempt at the world meet. "I am so happy that I kept my focus throughout the match and did not stumble,” he uttered.

Until now, Lin Dan has a better meeting against Lee Chong Wei with a 15-8 in their head-to-head record.

thestar

Rogers Cup - Serena and Stosur Clash

2011-08-14T13:23:00.003+07:00

Toronto - Serena Williams reaches Rogers Cup final after defeating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-3 and 6-3.

The former world number one, who returned to competition in June after 11 months out with injuries and health problems, will carry a 10-match winning streak into the final against Samantha Stosur and appears in ominous form ahead of the U.S. Open starting August 29.

Williams, who won the Stanford Classic last month in her third tournament back, said her game was reaching her Wimbledon-winning form from last year.

"I feel it's better today than it has been the past couple rounds but I feel it's coming along," Williams told reporters.

"I still can do better but overall I am almost where I was but I want to exceed that level."

Stosur booked a spot in her second final of 2011 with a 6-2 5-7 6-2 win over Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, who came into the match riding a nine-match win streak and having not dropped a set all week.

The 27-year-old Australian, who lost to Maria Sharapova in the Italian Open final in May, broke her opponent twice during a dominant first set before letting the 13th seed back in.

But Stosur, who has been improving with each match of the tournament, hit back the swift third set which she capped off in style with her seventh ace of the day.

Williams has a 3-2 edge in head-to-head meetings with Stosur, but the Australian won their last match in their quarter-final at the 2010 French Open.

reuters

BWF World Championship - No Surprises for World Number Ones

2011-08-12T15:27:00.013+07:00

London (8/11) - All world number ones advance to Yonex BWF World Championship semi-finals. In the men's singles semi-final, top seed Lee Chong Wei is challenged by Guatemala's unseede Kevin Cordon. Cordon, who is unexpected to reach the quarter-finals, beat Spanish Pablo Avian 21-19, 19-21, and 21-17 in the third round. Earlier, Cordon has crushed China's fifth seed Chen Long in the first round.

Meanwhile, in the bottom half, 2008 Olympic champion and three-time world champion Lin Dan of China conquered South Korean Lee Hyun-il in straight sets 21-16 and 21-13 to book the quarter-final clash with Japanese Sho Sasaki. If Lin Dan beat Sasaki, he might face either the only European men's singles player left, Peter Gade, or Vietnam's Nguyen Tien Minh.

“Hyun-il is a patient and steady player. He is certainly playing better after coming out of retirement. But I am happy that I stayed calm and did my job well,” said Lin Dan.

“I feel good about my game so far and I will give my best.”

Before meeting seventh-seeded Cheng Shao Chieh in the last eight, the women's singles number one Wang Shixian of China subdued Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk 21-7 and 21-11. Shixian's compatriots, Wang Yihan and Wang Xin, also successfully reach the quarter-finals. Second-seeded Yihan will play French Pi Hongyan while third-seeded Wang Xin will face Indian Saina Nehwal.

In the men's doubles, China's Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng won a three-set match against Japanese Naoji Kawamae and Shoji Sato 21-17, 15-21, and 21-14 to meet Mads Conrad-Petersen and Jonas Rasmussen of Denmark in the last four. Their juniors, Shen Ye and Hong Wei, also advances to the semi-final to face world number three Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung who defeated Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa easily 21-14 and 21-5.

China places two women's doubles pairs in the last eight, and so does Indonesia while Japan has three pairs. World number one pair from China, Wang Xiaoli/Yu Yang, will meet Japanese Shizuka Matsuo/Mami Naito.

In the mixed doubles, top seeds Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei cruise to the quarter-final with a 21-13, 21-18 win over German Michael Fuchs and Birgit Michels. Next they play Taiwanese pairs.

thestar

Korea Open Super Series Premier Winners

2011-01-30T19:58:00.020+07:00

Home favorites Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung triumphed in Victor Korea Open final with a 21-6, 21-13 victory over world number one pair of Denmark Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen in Seoul National University Gymnasium.

The sixth-seeded Koreans dominantly ended the match in only 33 minutes to secure the first men's doubles Super Series Premier crown. Yong-dae and Jae-sung, who are the defending champions, knelt down happily after the win. They deserve US$94800 prize money.

“We are sort of half and half against this Danish pair,” said Yong-dae.

“It seems each time we think we’ll beat them, we’ll lose and when we think we’ll lose, we beat them. Kido and Setiawan have really proven that they can come through in the big matches and they have a lot of experience doing so. This Danish pair is very difficult to play against but we always feel like we have more of a chance against them. It’s the same with Cai/Fu of China so we were actually hoping that it would be Boe/Mogensen who came up on the other side to the finals."

“The condition of my elbow has really improved and I feel so much more confident playing men’s doubles without having played mixed,” 22-year-old Yong-dae added.

“Coach Kang Kyung Jin coach has really had me working hard on the weights because my lack of power meant we were really at a disadvantage when I was rotated to the back. Now that my power has improved, we find it easier to rotate, knowing that we can both take on the attacking opportunities.

“There were so many people there today that I was really nervous at the beginning, especially when the 0-0 score went up on the board. It was only once we started winning and the crowd was behind us that I was able to settle down.

“We felt it was best to skip the Malaysia Open this year. After our loss in the final in Taipei, we really felt we needed more training. Also we lost in the first round there last year so we were glad to avoid being reminded of that this year.”

Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei pose

Lin Dan Reigns

In the men's singles, 2008 Olympics gold medalist and the three-times world champion 27-year-old Lin Dan showed his higher class to 28-year-old Lee Chong Wei in the men's singles final. The final was full of smashes and world-class shots that was eventually won by Lin Dan.

Lin Dan opened his arms after winning the third set. He jumped the advertisement board and ran to the crowds where he got the Chinese flag.

The former number one mastered the current number one 21-19, 14-21, and 21-16. Now their head-to-head is 15-5 for Lin Dan who won the last 7 meetings against Chong Wei.

In the mixed doubles, Chinese Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei won their second title in 2011 season by defeating compatriots Tao Jiaming and Tian Qing 21-17, 13-21, and 21-19.

Now it is Wang Yihan's turn to win because Wang Shixian had beaten her in Malaysia Open final last week. Wang Yihan vanquished Wang Shixian 21-14, 21-18 to grab the women's singles Korea Open title.

Zhao Yunlei failed to add her title collection as she and Tian Qing lost to Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang in the women's doubles final 18-21, 21-19, and 21-4.

Left to right : Tao Jiaming, Tian Qing, Zhang Nan, Zhao Yunlei

pictures by bwfbadminton.org
badzine.info

Aussie Kim

2011-01-29T16:30:00.005+07:00

Kim Clijsters poses with her Australian Open at Brighton Beach in Melbourne

(Reuters) - Kim Clijsters drew on her huge wealth of experience to ride out a Li Na storm and claim her maiden Australian Open title Saturday by shattering China's dream of a first grand slam champion.

The Belgian battled back after dropping the first set to beat Li 3-6 6-3 6-3 in an intense final and win her fourth major title, her third since her return from retirement and a first outside the U.S. Open.

The girl, who Australians had taken to their hearts when she was romantically involved with local hero Lleyton Hewitt, had returned a woman and a mother and she basked, teary-eyed, in the warm applause from the center court crowd.

"Now I feel you guys can call me 'Aussie Kim' because I won the title," said Clijsters, who lost the 2004 final.

Her triumph had looked unlikely when Li, Asia's first finalist in any of the sport's four majors, overcame her customary poor start to dominate most of the first two sets and genuinely rattle the tournament favorite.

Where the younger Clijsters might have crumbled, however, she now merely made subtle adjustments to her game to knock the powerful Li off her stride and in the deciding set it was the Chinese whose mental frailities betrayed her.

The 27-year-old Clijsters rattled through the third set in just over half an hour before claiming victory when Li slapped a forehand into the net for her 40th unforced error of the two hour five minute contest.

"It was such an intense match," Clijsters added, explaining her tears. "I don't think I had that in one of the grand slams where I've won. To win it in this way means it a lot.

"I think it's that moment that overwhelms you, where your mind has been so focused, I'm fighting every shot, running a lot of balls down, and it's finished. That's what makes it just nice, and I guess this big relief."

Li, who had come back from 5-0 down in the first set to upset Clijsters in the final of the Sydney warm-up tournament two weeks ago, again gave her opponent a head start by failing to win a point in the first two games of the match.

Despite the Sydney defeat, Clijsters had still entered the tournament as favorite in the absence of injured 2010 champion Serena Williams, after she beat former world number one Dinara Safina 6-0 6-0 in the first round.

reuters

Lin Dan Set Up Korean Final Clash with Chong Wei

2011-01-29T15:16:00.009+07:00

2010 Asian Games champion Lin Dan strove hard to book the final ticket of Victor Korea Open Super Series Premier. The Chinese man needed an hour and 15 minutes to down Simon Santoso of Indonesia 23-21, 20-22, and 21-15.

Lin Dan has the chance to win the first Super Series Premier if he overcome Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei in the final. Lee Chong Wei had beaten Chinese Du Pengyu 21-10 and 21-10 in the last four.

China dominates the women's singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles finals as the contestants are all from China. World number one Wang Shixian will compete against world number two Wang Yihan in the final. In the semi-finals, Shixian vanquished young Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk 21-7, 21-13 while Yihan defeated unseeded local player Sung Ji-hyun 21-5, 18-21, and 21-18.

In the women doubles, Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei will meet Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli in the final. However, Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei have to be opponents in the mixed doubles as Tian Qing pairing with Tao Jiaming will face world number two Zhao Yunlei and Zhang Nan in the final.

Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung are the only Koreans in the final as they defeated world number five Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong in the men's doubles semi-finals. The 2008 All England winners won 20-22, 21-9, and 21-10.

Nonetheless, crushed 17-21 and 19-21 by top seed Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen of Denmark, another Korean pair Ko Sung-hyun and Yoo Yeon-seong failed to reach the final.

pictures by bwfbadminton.org and badzine.info

First Title in 2011

2011-01-09T21:20:00.005+07:00

Switzerland's Roger Federer raises the golden eagle trophy after beating Nikolay Davydenko of Russia

Roger Federer started the 2011 season with an awesome 6-3, 6-4 win over Nikolay Davydenko to collect his third Qatar Open title on Saturday (1/8).

"It does feel great," Federer said to winning his 67th career title. "I can't believe the season is under way and I'm already on the board with a title."

It was a good preparation for Federer to play in Australian Open on January 17.

"I'm very happy to kick-off the season today this way I think I played an amazing match... it will give me a lot of confidence for the remainder of the season," said the 29-year-old Swiss, who will head to Australia for a week of practice.

reuters
rogerfederer

Federer Reached Qatar Open Final

2011-01-08T16:04:00.007+07:00

Doha (1/8) - Roger Federer sets up a final clash with defending champion Nikolay Davydenko after beating Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 7-6.

Federer ended the match against Tsonga a smash and will be favorite to win the title for a third time when he faces Davydenko Saturday.

"It was a good match," said the sixteen-times grand slam winner, who now has a good chance to win back the title he won in 2005 and 2006.

"I played well. It became a high quality match in the second set and it was right that it went to a tiebreak because Tsonga played well too."

Federer has a 14-2 career record against Davydenko, although he did lose to him in last year's semi-final.

Davydenko repeated his last-year success as he stunned sick top seed Rafael Nadal in the semi-final 6-3, 6-2. The Russian beat Nadal in the same tournament final last year.

reuters

Confident Arsenal Beat Chelsea

2010-12-29T21:52:00.048+07:00

Playing beautiful football, having talented young players, and staying in the top 4 of the English Premier League is not enough.

Last season Arsenal lost all four of their matches against Manchester United and Chelsea. And this season they had lost in Stamford Bridge and, recently, in Old Trafford. It seems that the only rival they surpass is Liverpool, which is now below their usual form.

However, on Monday (12/28), Arsenal proved that they could overcome with last season's title winner Chelsea. The Gunners beat the Blues 3-1 in an attractive London derby to go back to second spot in the English Premier League before Manchester City, which have played two matches more than Arsenal, overtook them on Tuesday.

In the first half Arsenal had a couple of chances by Robin van Persie and Samir Nasri but it was hard to penetrate Chelsea's defense. Didier Drogba fired a threatening shot but it was wide.

Then, one minute before half-time, Alex Song gave Arsenal a 1-0 lead at the same time Cesc Fabregas was felled by Paulo Ferreira.

In the 50th minute, Theo Walcott found a way through Chelsea's defense and skipped over Michael Essien and Petr Cech, passing to Fabregas who gave an accurate finish. 2-0 for Arsenal.

Three minutes later, Fabregas returned the favor and assisted Walcott to score a third goal for Arsenal.

Chelsea attacked back through Branislav Ivanovic's goal in the 57th minute.

However, the match ended 3-1 and Arsenal was satisfied.

pictures from arsenal.com

Korea 1, China 4

2010-12-05T13:54:00.009+07:00

World number seven Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung clinch China Open title with a 21-15 and 21-12 win over China's Chai Biao and Zhang Nan. Their victory erased China's hope for a clean sweep.

Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung crushed the Chinese pair with fiery powerplays and tricky net shots, never allowing them to pass their score. Chai Biao and Zhang Nan tried to put on a good fight in the first game, in which they came up short at 15-21 but could barely mount a challenge to the defending champions in the second and eventually succumbed 12-21.

The Koreans are the first non-Chinese players to win the China Open three times in a row. 22-year-old Lee Yong Dae matches Gao Ling’s record of 5 China Open titles, three in men’s doubles and two in mixed with Lee Hyo Jung.

Other China Open results:

Men's singles
5-Chen Long (CHN) def. 8-Bao Chunlai (CHN) 9-21, 21-14, 21-16

Women's singles
4-Jiang Yanjiao (CHN) def. 3-Wang Shixian (CHN) 21-16, 21-19

Women's doubles
2-Cheng Shu/Zhao Yunlei def. Ma Jin/Zhong Qianxin (CHN) walkover

Mixed doubles
Tao Jiaming/Tian Qing (CHN) def. 5-Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei (CHN) 21-18, 21-17

badzine

Defending Champions Reach China Open Final

2010-12-05T13:17:00.002+07:00

Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung of South Korea set up a final clash in China Open Super Series with Chinese Zhang Nan/Chai Biao. Lee and Jung, who are 2008 and 2009 China Open winners, only needed 29 minutes to upset compatriots Ko Sung-hyun and Yoo Yeon-seong 21-10 and 21-15.

Meanwhile, fifth-seeded Chen Long will challenge his senior Bao Chunlai in the men's singles final after beating third seed Chen Jin in tough rubber sets, 22-20, 18-21, and 21-18 while Bao Chunlai overcame Du Pengyu 22-20 and 21-16.

China makes sure of other 3 titles. In the women's singles final, Wang Shixian who stunned top seed Wang Xin 21-18 and 21-16 will play fourth seed Jiang Yanjiao.

Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei will face Tao Jiaming and Tian Qing. Zhang/Zhao subdued Malaysia's Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying 21-17, 21-18 as Tao/Tian vanquished teammates He Hanbin and Ma Jin 21-17, 8-21, and 21-13.

In the women's doubles, world number eight pair Cheng Shu and Zhao Yunlei defeated Tian Qing and Pan Pan 21-14 and 21-13 to meet Ma Jin and Zhong Qianxin in the final. In the last four, Ma and Zhong conquered Korean Ha Jung-eun and Jung Kyung-eun 11-21, 21-8, and 21-18.

The Maestro Reigns in London

2010-12-02T20:55:00.007+07:00

London (11/28) - Roger Federer of Switzerland overmastered world number one Rafael Nadal 6-3, 3-6, and 6-1 to win Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in front of 17,500 fans at London's O2 Arena.

Federer created a record-equaling fifth title at the year-ending finale, matching the feat of Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras.

Federer fired down 32 winners in the one hour 37 minute contest to Nadal's 11 as he beat the Spaniard for eight times.

"It's fantastic. I'm really thrilled the way I played all week. To win a fifth time is obviously amazing, for the third time in a different place," said Federer.

"I'm just really happy the way I was able to finish the season in style, playing some of my best tennis, really saving the best for last.

"Obviously beating Rafa in the final makes it extra special because of the year he had."

Nadal refused to say that he was defeated due to tiredness.

"I'm not going to say I lost the match because I was tired.

"What I'm going to say, and what I feel, is I lost the match because I played against a very good Roger Federer on one of his favourite surfaces. And when he's playing like this, it is very difficult to stop him.

"I had little chances, I was there, but it wasn't enough. He played unbelievable. I think in the beginning he was unplayable.

"I just can congratulate him for his victory and another great tournament for him," said Nadal who never won ATP World Tour Finals.

pictures from reuters
reuters
espnstar

Federer Chases His Fifth ATP World Tour Finals Title

2010-11-28T14:47:00.007+07:00

London (11/27) Four times Tennis Masters Cup winner Roger Federer is looking for the fifth as he overcame world number three Novak Djokovic in the semi-final of ATP World Tour Finals. Federer dispayed a virtuoso match, winning 6-1, 6-4 at O2 Arena.

"Obviously I'm really looking forward to playing against Rafa tomorrow," Federer, who can emulate Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl by winning the year-end title for a fifth time, told reporters. "Who wouldn't? I'm no different."

Federer serves the ball to Djokovic

Federer conjured 31 winners in a one-sided 80-minute contest against Djokovoic, who beat him at this year's U.S. Open.

"Every ball kind of listens to him," was Djokovic's eloquent description of 16-times grand slam champion Federer's sublime performance. "He's maybe playing the best tennis in 2010."

In the final, Federer would face Rafael Nadal who battled in three hours and eleven minutes to subdue local favorite Andy Murray 7-6(5), 3-6, and 7-6 (6).

"I just love playing against him," said Murray, who hugged his rival across the net at the end. "As a sportsman, I don't know if there's been many better than him ever in terms of the way he conducts himself.

reuters
espnstar

Arsenal to the Top for Two Hours

2010-11-28T13:35:00.010+07:00

Andrei Arshavin celebrates his goal with Jack Wilshere

Arsenal was back to a winning form with a 4-2 victory over home Aston Villa. The visitors bossed the first half but had to wait until 39 minutes until Andrei Arshavin fired home. On the whistle a corner from the Russian, excellent on the day, was volleyed in by Samir Nasri.

Ciaran Clark fired Villa a lifeline six minutes after the restart but Marouane Chamakh replied almost immediately to restore the visitors' two-goal cushion.

Clark headed home with 20 minutes to go but, despite the odd scare, Arsenal were untroubled.

Jack kisses Arsenal badge

In the final seconds, Chamakh squared to Wilshere who headed home into an empty net from barely a yard. Wilshere successfully sealed it.

Because of this result, Arsenal topped the English Premier League with 29 points before Manchester United won 7-1 over Blackburn Rovers. Chelsea, having 28 points, will play on Sunday.

arsenal.com

Asian Games Badminton - Fabulous Final

2010-11-26T21:09:00.010+07:00

Lin Dan Completes Title Collection with Gold Medal

Guangzhou (11/21) - 2008 Olympic gold medalist Lin Din of China won his first Asian Games gold medal as he mastered the same opponent as in Beijing 2008, Lee Chong Wei. Lin Dan who was the Asian Games 2006 silver medalist, becomes the first man to win the four main titles, overpowering the Malaysian 21-13, 15-21, and 21-10. Now Lin Dan has 4 All England titles, 3 world championship titles, an Olympic gold medal, and an Asian Games gold medal.

“I have reached my target. I have won all the major titles that a player can win. This is really a wonderful moment for me,” Lin Dan said whose victory made his meeting record against Chong Wei 14-5.

“Of all the titles that I have won, the 2004 Thomas Cup Finals, however, will hold a special spot for me. It was the beginning of my rise as a player. And the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games was an important one too.”

“This is my best Asian Games final. There was pressure on both of us. We played well even though it was so tough. Honestly, I was the lucky one to win.

“I give my due respect to Chong Wei. He really fought very hard today,” said Lin Dan

Meanwhile, sad Chong Wei refused to speak in the media conference.

One Gold for Each Indonesia and South Korea

In the men's doubles, Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan succeeded to present Indonesia's third gold medal in Asian Games, upsetting defending Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong who had beaten Markis and Hendra in Asian Games 2006 semi-final.

The 2007 world champions confronted strong shots from Kien Keat and Boon Heong before winning 16-21, 26-24, and 21-19 in 58 minutes. The match went tough that Kien Keat even fell many times to return the Indonesian pair's hits. It was also his fault tht Markis and Hendra clinched the winning point.

“Before this match, I had played badly. But today, Boon Heong and I gave it our all, especially at the crucial times.

“We fought hard and it’s disappointing to settle for silver. It should have been better. But overall, we do not regret with the way we played in losing the match,” commented Kien Keat.

He was disappointed about that they failed to win the second game.

“We let it slip through our hands. Then, it was difficult for us to focus after they took a big lead in the rubber game. We managed to chase and even led but, eventually, it did not end in our favour,” he said.

In the all-Chinese women's singles final, Wang Shixian beat compatriot Wang Xin 21-18 and 21-15. In the women's doubles final, Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei of China defeated teammates Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli 20-22, 21-15, and 21-12.

South Korean Shin Baek-cheol and Lee Hyo-jung ended China's Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei's dream in reaching gold medal in Guangzhou with a 21-19 and 21-14 victory.

Asian Games individual results:

Men's Singles
Gold - Lin Dan (China)
Silver - Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia)
Bronze - Park Sung-hwan (South Korea) and Chen Jin (China)

Women's Singles
Gold - Wang Shixian (China)
Silver - Wang Xin (China)
Bronze - Yip Puy Yin (Hong Kong) and Eriko Hirose (Japan)

Men's Doubles
Gold - Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan (Indonesia)
Silver - Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong (Malaysia)
Bronze - Lee Yong-dae/Jung Jae-sung (South Korea) and Muhammad Ahsan/Alvent Yulianto (Indonesia)

Women's Doubles
Gold - Tian Qing/Zhao Yunlei (China)
Silver - Wang Xiaoli/Yu Yang (China)
Bronze - Kim Min-jung/Lee Hyo-jung (South Korea) and Ha Jung-eun/Lee Kyung-won (South Korea)

Mixed Doubles
Gold - Shin Baek-cheol/Lee Hyo-jung (South Korea)
Silver - Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei (China)
Bronze - He Hanbin/Ma Jin (China) and Chen Hung-Ling/Cheng Wen-Hsing (Chinese Taipei)

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Asian Games Badminton - China on Zenith

2010-11-16T21:29:00.018+07:00

Guangzhou (11/15) - China won both men's and women's badminton medal in Asian Games 2010 at the Tianhe Gymnasium.

In the men's final, China overcame South Korea 3-1. Lin Dan gave China the first victory as he defeated Korea's striving Park Sung-hwan 19-21, 21-16, and 21-18.

“The start was not satisfactory, I was not doing well and I lost several points,” said Lin Dan, who also led his team winning Asian Games gold medal in Doha 2006.

Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung kept Korean hope alive as they equalized the score 1-1. They downed their usual opponent Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng 21-17, 20-22, and 23-21.

However, Chen Jin beat Shon Wan-ho and Xu Chen/Guo Zhendong conquered Ko Sung-hyun/Yoo Yeon-seong to secure the win for China.

In the women's final, China was too powerful for Thailand, clinching a 3-0 triumph. World number one Wang Xin responded hard resistance from young Ratchanok Intanon, who replaced Salakjit Ponsana, before winning the first match 20-22, 21-17, and 21-14.

"I was prepared but did not expect the match could be so hard, I think I was a little nervous," said Wang, who just turned 24.

Wang Shixian added more point for China after subduing Nitchaon Jindapol 21-13 and 21-12. Finally, Jiang Yanjiao mastered S. Taerattanachai, 21-15, 21-10, to present a gold medal for China.

Meanwhile, Indonesia gained two bronze medals, Thailand won a bronze from the men's team, and South Korea won a bronze from the women's team.

gz2010
thestar

Federer Reaches Stockholm Final

2010-10-24T14:49:00.003+07:00

World number two Roger Federer overcame an early break of serve to defeat Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 7-6 6-2 in the semi-finals of the Stockholm Open on Saturday.

The Swiss will meet German Florian Mayer, who beat Finland's Jarkko Nieminen 4-6 6-4 7-6, in Sunday's final.

The big-hitting Ljubicic started strongly before Federer broke back to take the first set on a tie-break.

He then gained an early advantage in the second when a lucky bounce off the net cord helped him convert a break point.

Federer said he had enjoyed a slice of luck but added he had felt his opponent had tried to force his game too much and had started to make too many errors.

"(In the first set) I had a tough service game that didn't really work well. I missed a couple of shots, next thing you know you're down break point.

"I missed another stupid forehand because I was still lacking rhythm and that's how it goes against big servers.

"He was serving well when he had to, doing all the right things and he really made it hard for me. He gave me a couple of chances, I was able to take them and then played a really good tie-breaker."

In the other semi-final, Mayer saved five set points on his serve in the first set before Nieminen finally converted the sixth.

Mayer, ranked 47th in the world, then upped his game to take the second and set up a tense climax in the third.

reuters

Big Three Reach Shanghai Semis

2010-10-16T13:35:00.015+07:00

Federer Invalidates Soderling

Shanghai (10/15) - Former world number one Roger Federer who was seeded 3, displayed a tremendous performance as he upset fifth seed Robin Soderling of Sweden with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph.

Federer scored 4 aces in the end and finally won the 53-minute match with a jumping smash. Next he will play second-seeded Novak Djokovic who overthrew Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2 and 6-3.

"I don't think Robin had his best day," Federer told Sky Sports. "You'd think a top-five player doesn't have days like these, but they do happen.

"In best-of-three-set matches, things can get ugly rather quickly.

"I didn't expect a result like this, but I'll take it any day."

Asked whether he felt more motivated to take on Djokovic in the wake of his defeat at Flushing Meadows, he added: "I'm not much of a revenge guy, but I like playing against the top guys.

"[But] after the US Open, the fans are looking for a rematch."

Meanwhile, Jurgen Melzer of Austria failed to continue impressive victory after he surrendered to unseeded Juan Monaco. Melzer, who defeated top seed Rafael Nadal in the third round, was crushed in tough three sets, 6-7(6), 7-5, and 6-3. 41-ranked Monaco will face British Andy Murray in the semi-final.

Monaco will play British Andy Murray in the last four. Murray conquered Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2, 6-2.

"He struggled a little bit on his serve and wasn't serving as big as usual, so I managed to get into a lot of the return games," said Murray.

"I served well and didn't give him any chances on my serve. I was hitting the ball really cleanly from the back of the court, so it was a good start," he added.

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pictures from espn.go.com

Home Clinches Clean Sweep in China Masters

2010-09-25T18:42:00.009+07:00

Changzhou (9/19)- China repeated successful Paris results as they won all titles in China Masters Super Series. Defending Lin Dan won his third China Masters crown with a 21-15, 13-21, and 21-14 victory over teammate Chen Long in an hour and 10 minutes.

“It is good to win the title after the disappointment of losing in the World Championships and it is a good confidence booster for me,” said Lin Dan who suffered a quarter-final defeat in World Championship last month.

“Chen Long gave me a tough fight and made it difficult for me but I am happy to have won the title.”

2010 World Championship finalist Wang Xin triumphed in women's singles final after she surmounted Denmark's Tine Baun 21-13, 21-9.

“She (Wang Xin) played really well and deserved to win. I just have to go back and work on my game to improve myself,” said Tine who beat world number one Wang Yihan in the semi-final.

In the men's doubles, world champions Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng vanquished fourth-seeded Ko Sung-hyun and Yoo Yeon-seong of Korea, 21-14 and 21-19.

In the all-Chinese finals in mixed doubles final, Tao Jiaming and Tian Qing emerged as the winner as they subjugated newly-paired Xu Chen and Yu Yang in an easy straight sets, 21-11 and 21-14. In the women's doubles, Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli beat teammates Bao Yixin and Lu Lu 21-8 and 21-8.

pictures by internationalbadminton.org

China Gain All Titles

2010-08-29T17:10:00.032+07:00

Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng's Third Title

China repeated history as the players clinched all gold medals at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin in Paris. Men's doubles player Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng presented the last gold for China as they stumbled Malaysian Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong 21-18, 18-21, and 21-14 in an hour and 3 minutes. As far, the Chinese pairs collect three world championship titles, including in Madrid 2006 and Hyderabad last year.

“We weren’t thinking about the four golds that China had already won. We just wanted to play our own game and take it a point at a time,” said Fu Haifeng. “Winning the World title, even if three times, is to us only a process, a learning experience in preparing us for the 2012 Olympics.”

The first set was a tough one. Both of the two contenders displayed strong defense and powerful smashes. Even though Cai and Fu led six times, Koo and Tan equalized 12-12 and left the Chinese 16-12 before ending the set 21-18. In the second set, Koo and Tan never led the match after the players chased each others points in the early set. They were left 12-17 and lost with the same score as they won in the first set.

The final set was easier than the first two. Cai/Fu showed the winning sign as they always led the match. Apparently, Koo and Tan were distracted after a second-set loss. Eventually, Koo Kien Keat brought victory for the Chinese pair when his return struck the net. Then, Cai and Fu knelt jubilantly.

“It was great to get off to a good start but we got into problems in the second game. We were too eager to win and attacked without any game plan,” said sad Boon Heong.

"We were mentally prepared but it is unfortunate that we did not have a good finish,” added Koo Kien Keat who won his fourth medal at the world championship.

Kien Keat then changed his focus to Asian Games: “We were the Asian Games champions four years ago. We will go back and work towards hitting peak form in Guangzhou. Along the way, we also hope to do well in the New Delhi Commonwealth Games (October)."

The 'Elderly' Cannot Balance The Young One

It is very obvious that worn-out Taufik Hidayat was too slow for active Chen Jin. The fourth seed of China rained Taufik with smashes and won the match 21-13 and 21-15. Chen Jin seemed to stroll easily 7-0 in the first set. However, Taufik was able to push Chen Jin stretching around the court, also falling and getting up again, that Chen Jin bit his disturbing necklace. Taufik won the point, making the score 3-10.

Taufik tried to find Chen Jin's weak link by playing a lot in front of the net but Chen Jin finally won the first set 21-13. In the second set, Chen Jin clinched the championship point 20-12, but Taufik's crossing return delayed Chen Jin's celebration. Chen Jin's mistakes gave Taufik two more points until Taufik's return was out of the court. Chen Jin won the second set 21-15. He hugged his coaches and ran to the manager Li Yongbo and the Chinese officials in the spectator bench.

“It was an emotional moment for me on the winner’s podium but the moment I got down, I believe it starts from zero all over again,” Chen Jin stated. “There are still many competitions waiting for me! I am my biggest competitor. Winning this title has been an invaluable learning experience. There are still many areas for me to improve on and to still be learning from the likes of Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei, Taufik.”

There was former tennis star from Switzerland, Martina Hingis, in the men's singles ceremony.

Exultant Wang Lin And Sick Wang Xin

Wang Lin was crowned as the women's singles world champion as she upset teammate Wang Xin in tough sets, 21-11, 19-21, and 21-13. It was good comeback for Wang Lin after she was dropped for Chinese squad in Uber Cup due to lack of form.

The match went predictably in first set. In the second set, Wang Lin protested the umpire since she though Wang Xin's return was out. Yet Wang Xin's return was still considered in that finally Wang Xin won the second set 21-19. Wang Lin screamed as she won the deciding set 21-13.

“This is my first world title and I am very happy even though my gold medal is broken,” said Wang Lin who trains under Olympic and former world champion Zhang Ning.

However, Wang Lin also gave credit to her worthy opponent.

“Wang Xin was down with stomach ailment before coming to this tournament.

“Despite that, she managed to reach the final. I am sure that she would have given a stronger fight if she were in better physical condition.

“That is how close the competition is among the women’s singles players in China,” she said.

World Championship Title for Yu Yang and Du Jing

Yu Yang and Du Jing completed their grand titles collection with a world championship title. After winning Olympic gold medal in 2008 and 2010 All England title, Yu Yang/Du Jing assassinated top seeds Ma Jin and Wang Xiaoli's 21-9 and 21-17. This is the shortest match in the final.

Yu Yang and Ma Jin also played in the mixed doubles final which was played earlier. Yu Yang, pairing with He Hanbin, was defeated by Ma Jin/Zheng Bo, 14-21 and 10-21. It was Zheng Bo's first world title after he was expelled from Chinese national team for indiscipline.

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Lin Dan Comforts Wang Yihan

2010-08-28T23:14:00.003+07:00

Three-time world champion Lin Dan advised the 22-year-old Yihan to pick up the pieces and move on to become a world champion one day.

He said that Yihan should learn from her defeat against Eriko Hirose of Japan and not give up – although her form has dipped since winning the prestigious All-England title last year.

Her hopes of becoming a world champion were dashed at the 2009 series in Hyderabad when she lost to Juliane Schenk of Germany in the third round. She has also lost to young and unknown players in China during the local league.

Lin Dan then went on to explain how he rose from an unknown to become one of the greatest players ever to have graced the badminton court.

He said that in 2002, he used to be called Lin Yi Lun, after a popular Chinese singer.

Lin is similar to his name, Yi means first and Lun refers to round. And, at that time, the spiky-haired Lin Dan used to be beaten in the early rounds.

“It was a tough beginning for me too. I used to struggle to establish myself. But I continued to persevere and throw all my energy into training to become stronger – physically and mentally,” he said.

“Just a year later, I began to reap the rewards of my hard labour.

“I continued to build on my momentum from there. And now, I am called Super Dan. One should never give up.”

The 27-year-old Lin Dan said that Yihan had many good years ahead of her.

“Sometimes, painful defeats make one stronger. She is young and talented and there is still time for her to come back and dominate the women’s singles event.”

thestar

Eight Chinese, Three Others into World Championship Final

2010-08-28T23:13:00.016+07:00

Paris - China dominated Yonex-BWF World Championship semi-final by putting three singles players and five doubles pair in the final tomorrow (8/29). In the first match of semi-finals, eight-seeded Zheng Bo and Ma Jin edged Korean Ko Sung-hyun/Ha Jung-eun out with a 15-21, 21-11, and 21-16. Zheng and Ma will play compatriot six-seeded, He Hanbin and Yu Yang, who mastered Taiwan's Lee Sheng-Mu and Chien Yu-Chin easily 21-13 and 21-8.

It is all-Chinese final in the women's singles also as Wang Lin toppled fourth-seeded Danish Tine Baun who suffered elbow injury, 21-11 and 21-8. The seventh seed will face third seed Wang Xin who defeated teammate Wang Shixian in rubber sets, 21-19, 11-21, and 21-16.

“I prepared very well for this match today and watched many videos of Tine. But in the end I was surprised I beat her so easily as she is truly a great player. We got new kits today for the semi-final and I was so happy to get blue as blue is my favourite colour,” Wang Lin revealed after her victory.

"She got a lot of confidence when she saw I wasn't as sharp as I used to," said Baun. "She didn't have to be ready for my hard smash."

In the men's singles, China's Chen Jin clinched the final ticket after fighting hard to beat veteran Peter Gade of Denmark, 19-21, 21-8, and 21-11, in the last four.

“Peter was also psychologically defeated as he failed to maintain his composure,” 24-year-old Chen Jin commented. “Peter kept forcing himself to play at the same intensity as he did in the first game, which is clearly not possible as he had obviously used up so much of his energy and was clearly digging into his reserves in the second and third sets.”

Afterward, The 2008 All England winner will meet 2005 world champion Taufik Hidayat. Taufik ousted Korean Park Sung-hwan 21-10 and 22-20.

“I committed way too many mistakes, which absolutely need to be corrected when I’ll be back in Korea with my coach Li Mao,” admitted Park after the match.

Defending Champions vs. Top Seeds

Defending champions Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng will confront top-seeded Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong in the final. Cai and Fu, seeded fifth, subdued 2008 Olympic gold medalists Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia 21-16 and 21-13 while Koo and Tan blew Chinese Guo Zhendong and Xu Chen out in a 39-minute match 21-14 and 21-18.

“Boon Heong and I are fitter – compared to our form in the Thomas Cup Finals. Malaysians have been branded as failures at the final hurdle but we will try to change that tomorrow,” Koo said.

Ideal Final

The women's doubles final is the only final of first seeds meeting second seeds. World number one pair Ma Jin and Wang Xiaoli booked the final match with a 10-21, 21-10, 21-13 triumph over last year finalists, Cheng Shu and Zhao Yunlei. Meanwhile, second-seeded Yu Yang and Du Jing outlasted Taiwanese Chien Yu-Chin and Cheng Wen-Hsing 21-16 and 21-15.

It will the seventh straight all-Chinese final since Gao Ling and Huang Sui played Zhang Jiewen and Wei Yili in World Championship 2001.

thestar
badzine 1 2 3

Andrei Brings Arsenal Win

2010-08-28T22:34:00.013+07:00

Arsenal visited Blackburn for the third match of the new Premier League season. This time, their two World Cup finalists, Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie, played as starters.

Only 20 minutes had passed when van Persie slid the ball to Theo Walcott, who then aimed it right into the far right corner of Paul Robinson's net. 1-0 for the visitors.

Blackburn responded quickly. Seven minutes later, El-Hadji Diouf went unguarded by Laurent Koscielny and Mame Biram Diouf got the full control of the ball, just to equalize the score 1-1.

However, van Persie had to go off early as he seemed to be injured. Marouane Chamakh replaced him in minute 34.

Six minute into the second half, Andrei Arshavin gave Arsenal a second lead. Bacary Sagna attacked from the right and passed to Fabregas, who shot but was blocked. However, Arshavin got the rebound and fired among the guarding home players.

Arsene Wenger decided to rest his captain as Tomas Rosicky substituted Fabregas in the 68th minute. And in the 83th minute Jack Wilshere came in for Arshavin.

The Gunners had a few chances in the time remaining, but no more goals happened.

arsenal.com 1 2

pictures from arsenal.com

Friday Surprises

2010-08-27T17:50:00.015+07:00

There are seven surprises at Yonex-BWF World Championship quarter-finals in Paris, France. The main shocking defeats are suffered by defending champion Lin Dan and world number Lee Chong Wei. However, world number one pair of Indonesia, Nova Widhianto and Lilyana Natsir, opened the better-seeded player lose syndrome as they were beaten by Chinese Zheng Bo and Ma Jin in a 53-minute match, 19-21 and 21-23.

Zheng Bo and Ma Jin are newly paired again after Zheng Bo was sent out from Chinese national team. However, this mixed doubles pair could not be disparaged. They could win in straight sets since old Nova was not agile anymore.

Following the match, second-seeded Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark were downed by six seeds He Hanbin and Yu Yang 19-21, 17-21. He Hanbin/Yu Yang will play Taiwan's Lee Sheng-Mu/Chien Yu-Chin who dazed Chinese tenth-seeded Tao Jiaming/Zhang Yawen in tough three sets, 14-21 21-18 21-17.

No Lin Dan, No Fun

It seemed that men's singles semi-final will not be quite exciting because Lin Dan was expelled earlier. The third seed was flabbergasted by Korean Park Sung-hwan 13-21 and 13-21. Park Sung-hwan will meet Taufik Hidayat.

Fifth-seeded Taufik defeated Lee Chong Wei who never won world championship 21-15, 11-21, 21-12. Refusing to admit that the opponent played better than him at that time, Chong Wei complained that he is always unlucky at the world championship.

“I am just not lucky when it comes to the world meet. This has happened too many times,” he said.

“I know this will sound as a lame excuse but I had picked up a back injury. I have never been down with this injury before."

About his future plan he said that he is not sure about his plans after this. "It is best that I get proper treatment for the injury first,” the top seed said.

The other semi-final contenders are Chen Jin and Peter Gade. Chen Jin strove to surmount Hsueh Hsuan-Yi 22-24, 21-5, and 21-13 while Gade beat Kazushi Yamada 21-19 and 21-12.

Yong-dae Is Not at the Zenith

Lee Yong-dae seemed that he had not wholly recovered from his elbow injury that he and Jung Jae-sung were defeated by Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong 25-23, 13-21, and 14-21.

In the first set, Koo and Tan appeared to be nervous that Koo fell twice. However, they are finally adapted to the situation. Lee and Jung left Koo/Tan 17-12 but the rivals could equalized 18-18. Finally Lee's smash ended the the first set 25-23.

In the next two sets, Lee and Jung created a lot of mistakes that they gave their opponents many points. Koo and Tan's strong defense also helped them to win the match. This result made Lee and Jung's head-to-head with Koo/Tan 8-2. Koo and Tan's last defeat from the Korean pair was in Taiwan Open semi-finals last month. They celebrated the win with hugging, an action they seldom did after winning.

Koo commented the heat in the stadium. “It's not really hot, but it’s really humid. Because the hall is small, there is less oxygen.”

In fact, Tan was breathless because of the heat. In the last four, they will take on Chinese Guo Zhendong and Xu Chen who overcame 2003 world champions Lars Paaske/Jonas Rasmussen, 21-16, 23-21.

2007 world champions Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan booked a place in the semi-finals with a quarter-finals win over Lee Sheng-Mu/Fang Chieh-Min, 21-14 and 21-14. They will meet defending champions Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng of China who beat Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen 21-11, 21-18.

picture by badzine
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World Championship 3rd Round

2010-08-27T17:49:00.003+07:00

Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung plays against Singaporean pair

Two-times world championship finalists Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung warmed up for the quarter-final clash with Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong in Stade de Pierre de Coubertin. Yong-dae and Jae-sung overpowered Hendri Kurniawan Saputra and Hendra Wijaya 21-14 and 21-8.

Meanwhile, Kien Keat and Boon Heong defeated Chinese Zhang Nan and Chai Biao 21-17, 21-17. Kien Keat said that they would have to play better tomorrow.

“There will have to be more accuracy and better quality from us. We cannot make errors like we did today,” he said.

In the mixed doubles, Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung surprisingly lost to Taiwan's Lee Sheng-Mu/Chien Yu-Chin 17-21 and 20-22.

In the men's singles, former world number one Lin Dan bombarded teammate Bao Chunlai 21-16 and 21-13 to face South Korean Park Sung-hwan. Lin Dan is looking for his fourth world championship title in a row.

Also China's Chen Jin make it to the last 8 by downing Ashton Chen 21-17 and 21-10. Later, the fourth seed will play Hsueh Hsuan-Yi of Taiwan.

Eriko Stuns World Number One Wang

Top seed Wang Yihan of China was eliminated from women's singles competition as she was humbled by Japanese Eriko Hirose 22-20, 16-21, and 18-21.

“It’s my first world championship in the last three years as I was injured, I was so happy to enter the tournament but also to play the world number one, I am extremely happy to have won the match,” said excited Eriko, who just couldn’t stop smiling at everyone.

“It’s my first time beating a world number one, I am just too happy,” added her. “I came in Paris to get a medal and I’ll do everything I can to get it.”

pictures by thestar and badzine
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Smooth Starts for Seeded Players

2010-08-23T19:26:00.007+07:00

Paris - In the first day of Yonex-BWF World Championship, almost every seeded players surpassed challenges from their opponents as they advanced into the second round. Men's singles top seed Lee Chong Wei opened the tournament by defeating Guatemala's Kevin Cordon 21-7 and 21-11. He will meet compatriot Muhammad Hafiz Hashim.

2008 Olympic gold medalist Lin Dan is looking for his fourth world championship title in a row as he dominates over Ali Shahhosseini 21-4, 21-10 in just 26 minutes. The world number three will play Swedish Henri Hurskainen in the second round. Before Lin Dan played, Chinese Bao Chunlai, seeded 10, had crushed Chan Yan Kit 21-11 and 21-17.

In the men's doubles, Kristof Hopp and Johannes Schöttler of Germany shocked 16th-seeded Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah in tough three sets, 22-20, 17-21, and 21-18. Moreover, another seeded pair Tony Gunawan and Howard Bach, who are also 2005 world champions, suffer loss from England's Anthony Clark and Nathan Robertson in an easier match, 9-21 and 20-22.

In the women's doubles, Thailand's thirteenth seeds Savitree Amitapai and Vacharaporn Munkit were defeated by Imogen Bankier/Emma Mason 17-21, 21-15, and 15-21.

Shining in Cincinnati

2010-08-23T19:22:00.021+07:00

Cincinnati (8/22) - Roger Federer ended his Masters title drought after winning his second-straight Cincinnati Masters. He also collected his fourth Cincinnati Masters title after 2005, 2007, and 2009. The world number two defeated American Mardy Fish 6-7 (5), 7-6 (1) and 6-4. Federer was barely on the court all week because his opponents got hurt and his game was so good.

Federer was pushed to the limit. Fish kept it as close as could be, dropping the final set after the match's only service break.

"Maybe I was just a touch fitter than him today," Federer said.

The Swiss star ended a streak of three straight losses in tournament finals, winning his first Masters event since Cincinnati last year. His 63rd career title tied Bjorn Borg for fifth place in the Open Era. Pete Sampras is fourth at 64, and Jimmy Connors holds the record with 109.

It took him 2 hours, 40 minutes -- a long match compared to how the rest of the week went. Federer had spent only 3 hours, 17 minutes on court while getting to the title match.

Federer sailed through his next two matches, winning each in two tidy sets. Fish provided his first real test.

The 28-year-old American is on the best stretch of his career, going 17-2 since July with titles at Newport and Atlanta. He'd won five in a row against top-10 opponents, gaining confidence with each upset.

The title match was an opportunity for a breakthrough win. Fish had reached only two other Masters finals -- including Cincinnati in 2003 against close friend Andy Roddick -- and lost both of them.

"I desperately want to sort of have my career maybe be remembered by a big tournament or something like that," he said. "So I've wanted badly to win a real big one. This would have been perfect."

Three games into the title match, Federer knew it wouldn't be easy.

With Fish serving, the third game dragged on for 13 minutes -- nearly half as long as Federer's opening match -- and 24 points. Fish fought off a pair of break points before holding serve with an ace.

"You lose that game there, and you know he might steamroll you," Fish said.

Fish's serve dominated all week, matching the tournament record with 87 aces. He struggled with it early but hung on, extending the opening set to the place where he's been best -- a tiebreaker.

Roger Federer clinchis his fist after breaking Mardy Fish in the third set

Fish is 18-5 in tiebreakers this season, showing a lot of confidence when it comes down to a few pressure points. Federer went ahead 5-4 in the tiebreaker and was serving the next two points with a chance to close it out.

Instead, Fish hit an overhead winner and Federer dumped a backhand into the net. Fish then finished it with a 126 mph serve.

It was the first set that Federer lost during his brief week on court. It lasted 70 minutes -- as long as Federer's semifinal match on Saturday night.

The second set was even tighter, with Federer fighting off the only break point. He was more aggressive in this tiebreaker, coming to the net to take control, then closing it out with a 122 mph ace.

Federer got the only service break of the match to go ahead 5-4 in the final set, leaving him in a good frame of mind heading into the U.S. Open.

Mardy Fish congratulates Roger Federer

"I've been playing well the last couple weeks, and today was just another proof that I'm playing really well," said Federer, who won five straight U.S. Open titles before losing to Juan Martin del Potro last year. "It's nice knowing that the hard work already in the offseason after Wimbledon pays off right away."

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BWF World Championship Draw

2010-08-21T12:42:00.009+07:00

Defending champion Lin Dan of China is looking for his fourth world championship title in Paris which will start on Monday (8/23). The third seed who is in the upper half will play Ali Shahhosseini in the first round. The Chinese seems that he will not face tough opponent until the third round where he probably will meet teammate Bao Chunlai who is seeded ten.

Lin Dan might take on seventh-seeded Nguyen Thien Minh or Korean Park Sung-hwan of Korea before he may meet Lee Chong Wei or Kenichi Tago in the semi-final.

Meanwhile, Indonesian sixth-seeded Sony Dwi Kuncoro withdraws due to injury. Thus, his opponent Misha Zilbermann progresses to second round.

In the men's doubles, Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung receives a bye in the first round. The two-times finalists will meet Matthew Fogarty and David Neumann in the second round.

The Korean pair could meet Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong in the last eight after competing Chinese Guo Zhendong/Xu Chen or Indonesian Hendra Gunawan/Alvent Yulianto in the third round. In the semi-final, Lee and Jung could play Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen of Denmark.

Korean mixed doubles players Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung are looking for their first world championship crown. They seems not facing any difficulties until quarter-final whereas they could meet Chinese tenth-seeded Tao Jiaming and Zhang Yawen.

If Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung win, they are expected to meet second seeds Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl or sixth-seeded He Hanbin and Yu Yang of China.

Federer to Face Baghdatis in Cincy Last Four

2010-08-21T12:18:00.011+07:00

Cincinnati (8/20) - Roger Federer advances into Western & Southern Financial Group Masters semi-final, defeating Russian Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 7-5. The three-time Cincinnati champion will take on unseeded, Marcos Baghdatis, who earlier stunned top seed Rafael Nadal 6-4, 4-6, and 6-4.

Federer hits the ball

The semi-final will be a rematch of 2006 Australian Open final where Federer became the champion.

In the other semi-final, American Andy Roddick will meet countryman Mardy Fish as in 2003 Cincinnati final. Roddick crushed second-seeded Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5 while Fish conquered world number four Andy Murray 6-7 (7), 6-1, and 7-6 (5).

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Murray Defends His Rogers Cup Title

2010-08-15T22:41:00.013+07:00

Andy Murray (left) poses with finalist Roger Federer

Toronto - Fourth-seeded Andy Murray defends his Rogers Cup Title as he downed former world number one Roger Federer 7-5, 7-5 on Sunday (8/15). Murray becomes the first man to repeat as champion since Andre Agassi in 1995.

"Winning a tournament is always great," Murray said. "This is the first time I've beat Roger and Rafa in the same tournament, which is probably the most pleasing thing. And I didn't drop a set against either of them -- so it's good for the confidence for the next few weeks."

The players last met in the Australian Open final, an easy win for Federer that gave him 16 Grand Slam titles, most in tennis.

Swiss Roger Federer stretches to reach the ball

Rain delayed the start of the match by 15 minutes, and when play finally began, Murray seemed intent on blasting Federer from the stadium before fans could dry their seats, breaking Federer twice in the first 10 minutes.

"I thought he played well," Federer said. "He wasn't giving me much and he clutch-served at the very end when he had to. He deserved the victory."

Federer's last action before this tournament was his quarterfinal loss at Wimbledon. He even worked with a coach, American Paul Annacone, and declared he would "love to win another 10 Wimbledons, another five French Opens, an Olympic gold in London, a Davis Cup and whatever -- you name it."

After being held to only two points through the first two games on Sunday, Federer broke back to get to 3-1 and climbed all the way to 5-5 when Murray double-faulted his way to a break. But Federer lost his own serve before Murray served out.

Murray was on serve with Federer up 2-1 in the second set when another rain delay happened, this one more than 45 minutes. Murray held serve to level the second set at 2-2 when the chair umpire called the two men back to their umbrellas just moments after play resumed.

Andy Murray of Great Britain is shielded from rain as he leaves the court

A storm rolled in just after 4 p.m., causing about an hour-long delay. Federer perked up briefly when play resumed, but eventually Murray's serve was too much, and the Swiss superstar hit his final return long to end it.

"The rain delays completely kind of shut it down for me to get any kind of rhythm," Federer said. "It was played at a couple of points here and there. It didn't even feel like the end of the match, you know? All of the sudden, it was all over."

The tournament had the top four players in the semifinals. Federer beat Novak Djokovic and Murray beat Nadal.

"I felt pretty good this week, and I prepared well for the tournament," Murray said. "I just wanted to go for my shots more this week, you know, play the way that I felt like playing and it definitely worked."

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No Top Two Seeds in the Final

2010-08-15T22:10:00.021+07:00

Federer in Final Again, Murray Surprised Nadal

Roger Federer progressed into Rogers Cup final after beating second-seeded Novak Djokovic 6-1, 3-6, and 7-5. The Swiss star improved his head-to-head 10-5 against Djokovic, who won Roger Cup title in 2007. Federer's victory brings him back to the world number two spot, downing Djokovic to the number three.

Roger Federer's forehand

"Once I make it to the finals I know where my game's at," said Federer, who stated his intent to regain the No. 1 ranking this season.

"I win more finals than I lose. Rarely do I go to a finals and play a shocker. But it's not the same playing a guy ranked 40 in the world and a guy No. 4. Murray who comes off a win beating Rafa. We all know how hard it is to beat Rafa and me, but it's been done in the past and that's why I have to be careful tomorrow."

Djokovic could not control his emotion in the 11th game as he smashed his before his elimination was sealed in the next and deciding game.

"It's a little bit frustratng that I haven't used the opportunity I had in the end," the 23-year-old Serb said. "But, you know, he (Federer) was realitstically a better player today."

Andy Murray shakes hand with Rafael Nadal after the match

Meanwhile, Scottish Andy Murray maintained his world number four rank by reaching the final. He thrashed top seed Rafael Nadal in the semi-final 6-3 and 6-4.

"You never expect to beat the best players in the world," Murray said. "But I think if I play my best tennis like I did today, I have a very good chance against all of them."

Improving his meeting 4-8 to Nadal, Murray is looking to be the first man to repeat as Rogers Cup champion since Andre Agassi defended his title in 1995.

Roddick Suffers Mononucleosis

Andy Roddick finally knows what's been getting him down the last few months -- a mild case of mononucleosis.

Roddick said on Saturday one of several blood tests came back positive for mononucleosis. Doctors told him he's probably had it for the last couple of months and should be nearly over it.

"I'm just glad that we found out something that was causing it," said Roddick, who is getting ready for next week's Cincinnati Masters. "It's weird, the fear of kind of the unknown and not knowing what's going on. There were some days where it was good, and some days where it was real bad. So it was like you would have one of those two or three good days, and it was like, 'OK, you're just being kind of a wimp.'

"So it's nice to have a little bit of clarity moving forward. It's not something that's going to affect me, anything super-serious."

Roger Federer had mononucleosis in 2008, leading to a decline in his wins and his ranking. Roddick has slipped to No. 11 in the world while struggling through a summer of out-of-character losses, making him wonder what was wrong.

Seeded fifth at Wimbledon, he lost to 82nd-ranked Yen-hsu Lu of Taiwan in the fourth round. He lost to Gilles Simon in the third round at Washington on Aug. 6, saying afterward that he didn't feel right. He got blood tests in Washington and more in Texas, and withdrew from the Rogers Cup in Toronto this week while awaiting results.

"I guess I've been dealing with a mild, mild case of mono for the last couple of months that I wasn't really sure about," he said. "So they think I'm fine now. They think I'm most of the way through it, if not all the way through it."

Roddick said he tired more easily this summer, prompting him to cut back on his workout schedule.

"I enjoy training all day and running all day long and doing all that stuff," Roddick said. "You know, I opted out of probably four or five workouts this summer -- that I've never done before. So that wasn't fun. It was just me wondering if I was out of shape or what was going on, why there was this lethargic feeling."

He expects to be fine for the U.S. Open, where he lost to John Isner in the third round last year. Roddick won the 2003 U.S. Open. He said his doctor was encouraging.

"He said, 'You know, the good news is you're probably ready to rock. Be a little careful, but you should be fine to go,' " Roddick said. "That was a relief."

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Roger into Rogers Cup Semi-final

2010-08-14T22:05:00.008+07:00

Toronto - Former world number one Roger Federer strolls into Rogers Cup semi-final after he beat Tomas Berdych 6-3, 5-7, and 7-6 (5). Federer, who was defeated by Berdych in Wimbledon quarter-final last month, worked hard to win after left 2-5 in the third set.

Seventh seed Berdych served for the match at 5-3, but Federer broke to force a tie-break. He seemed to cruise easily as he led 4-0 but Berdych battled back to make it 5-5. However, two-times Rogers Cup champion Federer finally ended the tie-break 7-5 and won the match.

"It was a tough match to go through. I started off great, was doing all the right things," the 16-time Grand Slam winner told Sky Sports 4.

I had some opportunities to defend in the beginning of the second, where he had a couple of break-points early on in two of the service games and then I had really big chances of my own.

"I was struggling to see the ball in the night - that was tricky going from day to night.

"He also had one service game where he all of a sudden served two double faults and I had the same thing. I just couldn't take advantage of it and he could.

"The third set was lucky. I tried and he got into a good momentum. He started to play better, loosened up a bit and got in a lead, but I just tried to hang with him. Those are the kind of matches I lost earlier on this season so I'm happy this one went my way."

Federer paid tribute to his 24-year-old opponent, who is ranked seventh in the world.

"He's got a massive game," said the 29-year-old. "I'm happy for him that he's finally making his move because I thought back when he beat me at the Athens Olympics in 2004 that he was going to make his move in the next couple of years but he was not able to, so I'm happy for him."

Next, Federer will play against second-seeded Novak Djokovic who defeat Jeremy Chardy of France 6-2 and 6-3 in the quarter-final. In the upper half, defending champion Andy Murray moves into the last 4 after rolling David Nalbandian out 6-2, 6-2. The Scot must reach the final in order to maintain his world number four rank.

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal fought hard to conquer Phillip Kohlschreiber 3-6, 6-3, and 6-4 in two hours to secure a place in the semi-final.

pictures by reuters

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What A Sun-Dae

2010-08-14T21:43:00.001+07:00

Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung of South Korea are crowned as Taiwan Grand Prix Open winners after overpowering teammates Cho Gun-woo and Kwon Yi-goo in the final on Sunday (8/8). Lee and Jung only need 27 minutes to end the match 21-10 and 21-16. They won their second title of this year after Korea Open.

In the all-Korean women's doubles final, Lee Hyo-jung/Kim Min-jung emerge as the champions as they subjugated Lee Kyung-won/Yoo Hyun-young 21-14 and 22-20. However, Korea's singles players fail to bring joy as they lost to their opponents. Bae Seung-hee was beaten by local player Cheng Shao-Chieh in tough three sets, 11-21, 26-24, and 17-21. Meanwhile, Simon Santoso of Indonesia won the men's singles final with a 21-14, 21-11 triumph over Shon Wan-ho.

Hunting for First Title after Five-Month Drought

2010-08-07T23:10:00.024+07:00

Lee Yong-dae Shows That He Is Still Supreme

Yong-dae displayed a powerful return in men's doubles. The twenty-one-year-old Korean reaches his first men's doubles final after injury with Jung Jae-sung despite of a quarter-final loss in the mixed doubles yesterday. The former world number one stopped Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong's errand with a tough three-set semi-final victory, 21-23, 21-18, and 21-17 in 59 minutes.

In the final, the third seeds will play compatriots Cho Gun-woo and Kwon Yi-goo. Cho and Kwon defeated fourth-seeded Fang Chieh-Min and Lee Sheng-Mu 21-19 and 21-14.

Another All-Korean Final

Korean women's doubles pairs also progress to the final. Unseeded Lee Hyo-jung and Kim Min-jung surprised second-seeded Cheng Wen-Hsing and Chien Yu-Chin with a 24-22, 18-21, and 25-23 win. Meanwhile, Lee Kyung-won and Yoo Hyun-young eased to the final after conquering Japanese Rie Eto and Yu Wakita 21-11 and 21-10 in just 34 minutes.

Simon Suceeds, Dionysius Disappoints

In the men's singles, Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka fails to create an all-Indonesian final as he lost to Shon Wan-ho of Korea 17-21 and 19-21. Earlier, Dionysius' teammate Simon Santoso, who was seed third, moves into the final after defeating top seed Nguyen Thien Minh of Vietnam 21-16 and 21-18.

Third seed Bae Sung-hee of Korea defeated Indonesia's Aprilia Yuswandari 21-19, 15-21, 21-18 to sets up a final-clash with local favorite Cheng Shao-Chieh who overcame another Korean Bae Youn-joo 21-14 and 21-14.

Although fail to have all-Indonesia final in the singles, Indonesia put her two mixed doubles pair in the final. Tontowi Ahmad and Lilyana Natsir surmounted Chen Hong-Ling and Cheng Wen-Hsing 21-17, 21-13 while Hendra Gunawan and Vita Marissa fought hard to win over countrymen Fran Kurniawan and Pia Zebadiah, 21-19, 15-21, and 21-16. This is a repeated final of Macau Open last week which was won by Lilyana and Tontowi.

Yong-dae, Hyo-jung, and Jae-sung to Last Eight

2010-08-05T22:13:00.005+07:00

Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung book a quarter-final ticket after struggling to subdue Indonesia's Muhammad Rijal and Debby Susanto in rubber sets, 21-13, 20-22, and 22-20. Next, Yong-dae and Hyo-jung will play another Indonesian pair Tontowi Ahmad and Lilyana Natsir. However, their success is not followed by their teammates, Ko Sung-hyun and Ha Jung-eun, who bow down to Yohan Wiratama and Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong, 21-14, 17-21, and 21-17.

Indonesia has more two contenders in the mixed doubles quarter-final, Hendra Gunawan/Vita Marissa and Fran Kurniawan/Pia Zebadiah. Hendra and Vita will face Thai Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thungthongkam while Fran and Pia will meet Wiratama and Tse.

To the Men's Doubles Quarter-final

Lee Yong-dae also achieves men's doubles quarter-final with Jung Jae-sung. They edged out countrymen Kim Ki-jung and Shin Baek-cheol easily 21-18 and 21-14. Afterward, the third seeds will take on local players, Chen Hong-Ling and Lin Yu-lang.

Meanwhile, veteran Candra Wijaya, partnering Luluk Hadiyanto, surpassed Korean Ko Sung-hyun/Yoo Yeon-seong who won in Macau last week, in straight sets, 26-24 and 21-15, to compete against Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong in the quarter-final. In the second round, Koo and Tan won a comfortable 21-12, 21-7 victory over Ross Smith and Glenn Warfe.

In the upper half, fifth-seeded Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah defeated teammates Chan Chong Ming and Chew Choon Eng 21-15, 14-21, and 21-19 as Cho Gun-woo and Kwon Yi-goo mastered Indonesian tough qualifier Fernando Kurniawan and Wifqi Windarto 19-21, 21-19, and 21-14.

Lee Yong-dae Is Back

2010-08-03T22:14:00.001+07:00

After more than a long rest because of injury for months, former world number one Lee Yong-dae will play in Chinese Taipei Grand Prix which starts today. Partnering with Jung Jae-sung in men's doubles, the third seed will face qualifiers Tseng Ching Chung/Wang Chia Min in the first round. Lee and Jung might take on compatriot Kim Ki-jung and Shin Baek-cheol in the second round and face top seeds Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong in the semi-final.

In the mixed doubles, Lee Yong-dae still pairs with Lee Hyo-jung. The second seeds will compete against Thailand's Thitipong Lapho and Vacharaporn Munkit. After probably meeting another Thailand pair Songpol Anukritaywan and Kuchala Worawichitchaikul who were seeded fifth in the semi-final, they can face top seed Hendra Gunawan/Vita Marissa or fourth-seeded Ko Sung-hyun/Ha Jung-eun in the final.

2010 World Cup: Spain and Holland to make history

2010-07-11T19:38:00.017+07:00

Spain and Holland are to write a new record in the World Cup history as they will clash in the 2010 World Cup final in Johannesburg, South Africa. Both countries have never won a World Cup, although Holland came close twice when they reached the finals in 1974 and 1978.

The Netherlands beat Uruguay 3-2 in the first semi-final on Wednesday (7/7), through the goals of captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Arjen Robben, and Wesley Sneijder.

Meanwhile, a day later (7/8), Spain upset Germany 1-0 through Barcelona defender Carles Puyol's header.

Arsenal stars Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie will meet each other in the final; however, they are in two different situations. Fabregas played only two matches in South Africa, and he was a substitute, while van Persie regularly started on the pitch.

Fabregas told the Sun: "If I'm lucky enough to get a start, I will give everything I have. But if I have to start on the bench, then so be it. All I can pray for is that I get a chance to play some part of this unbelievable game.

"If I'm not in the team, I will know deep down that Spain winning the World Cup is more important than Cesc Fabregas starting the game or not. So I will still be 100% behind the boys who do go out there. And I will be thinking about what I will do, what I must do if I come on."

The Arsenal captain heaped praise on his country's achievement of reaching the final and spoke of his anticipation of coming toe-to-toe with his club colleague Robin van Persie.

He said: "It is a privilege to be part of this Spanish team because we try to play the correct way.

"I know Holland invented Total Football back in the 1970s, and I know those players made the game beautiful to watch. But we try to play the same way and I think the world can see that. Against Germany, we never gave up our principles - pass, pass, pass and never stop trying to score. Eventually we got our reward.

"I have been texting Robin and we realised the only way we could face each other here was in the World Cup final. We joked about it after the early games and it is fantastic that it has now actually happened.

"It is great for us and it is great for Arsenal to have two players at the World Cup final."

Van Persie also sounded a similar response in an interview with FIFA:

"It’s always a bit strange to play against your colleagues, and we have been in touch via SMS a couple of times. Cesc is a fantastic player. I also find it really strange that he isn’t in the first team for Spain. I don't understand that at all. I think he’s incredible. I’ve been playing at Arsenal for six years with him and every year he’s improved. He’s the captain of our team and I have a lot of respect for him."

Netherlands vs. Spain match facts:

• This will be the seventh all-European final and means that a European nation will win the tournament for a record 10th time.

• It will be the first final to not include one of Brazil, (West)Germany, Argentina or Italy

• Netherlands go into the final unbeaten and if they are victorious on Sunday, they will become only the fifth side to register a 100% record in WC finals so far, joining Uruguay in 1930, Italy in 1938, and Brazil in 1970 and 2002.

• The Dutch also had a 100% record in qualification for South Africa and could become only the second nation ever to win all their qualifiers and finals games, after Brazil achieved this feat in 1970.

• The Dutch are now unbeaten in 25 successive international matches and have conceded more than one goal in only one of their last 14 games in World Cup finals tournaments (1-2 v Croatia in the 1998 third-place play-off).

• Spain are the first reigning European champions to participate in the World Cup final since West Germany in 1982 and are the 12th different side to reach a World Cup final.

• If Spain - who have seven goals - are to avoid becoming the lowest scoring winners of all time, they will need to net at least four. Italy (1938), England (1966) and Brazil (1994) all won the tournament with 11.

• Xavi has created 25 goalscoring chances in this tournament - eight more than any other player. He has made 560 passes at this tournament, completing 509 so far. Only Dunga (Brazil 1994) has completed more in a single World Cup tournament since 1966.

Germany Finished Third

Port Elizabeth (7/10) - Germany relieved their disappointment of failing to reach final by taking the third place.

They did the same thing four years ago in their homeland, beating Portugal for third place after losing to Italy in the semi-final.

And now they defeated Uruguay 3-2 (1-1). The German side led by Thomas Mueller's goal in the 19th minute, but Uruguay struck twice to reverse the position 2-1 through Edison Cavani (28') and Diego Forlan (51').

Marcell Jansen and Sami Kheidira saved the Germans' day by contributing a goal each, Jansen in the 56th minute and Kheidira in the 82th minute.

soccernet.com

fifa.com

pictures by reuters.com

Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold Semi-final Results

2010-07-10T21:45:00.000+07:00

Men's Singles
4-Wong Choong Hann (MAS) def. 2-Taufik Hidayat (INA) 21-15, 24-22
1-Lee Chong Wei (MAS) def. 14-Jayram Ajay (IND) 21-16, 21-13

Women's Singles
2-Zhou Mi (MAS) def. 4-Wong Mew Choo (MAS) 19-21, 21-12, 21-15
3-Yip Pui Yin (HKG) def. 1-Pi Hongyan (FRA)10-21, 21-10, 21-11

Men's Doubles
Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan (INA) def. Yohan Wiratama/Wong Wai Hong (HKG) 21-6, 21-16
Alvent Yulianto/Hendra Aprida Gunawan (INA) def. Mak Hee Chun/Tan Wee Kiong (MAS) 21-13, 21-11

Women's Doubles
4-Duanganong Aroonkesorn/Kuchala Worawichitchaikul (THA) def. Melati Nadya/Vita Marissa (INA)13-21, 21-17, 21-17
Ng Hui Ern/Ng Hui Lin (MAS) def. 5-Zhang Dan/Zhang Zhibo (MAC) 21-10, 21-11

Mixed Doubles
3-Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thungthongkam (THA) def. Markis Kido/Lita Nurlita (INA) 15-21, 21-12, 21-15
Devin Lahardi/Lilyana Natsir (INA) def. Ong Jian Guo/Chong Sook Chin (MAS) 21-13, 21-16

2010 World Cup: Germany Demolition, Spanish Conquest

2010-07-04T18:53:00.004+07:00

Germany embarrassed Argentina 4-0 in the quarter-final match of 2010 FIFA World Cup in Cape Town's Green Point Stadium. Thomas Muller scored the fastest goal in the tournament, when the game was only three minutes long.

Miroslav Klose gave Germany a 2-0 lead in the 68th minute, followed by Arne Friedrich's goal six minutes later. Klose then scored his second goal of the match one minute before time for a memorable German triumph.

Argentina was not without efforts but Gonzalo Higuain and Angel di Maria's efforts were blocked by Manuel Neuer. The world's best player, Lionel Messi, was forced to go home without a goal as he was kept guarded throughout the match.

Meanwhile, in the later match in Johannesburg, Spain got ahead of Paraguay with only a 1-0 win. More goals could have been created in the match, as two penalties were given by the referee. However, Spain's Iker Casillas saved Oscar Cardozo's penalty kick while few minutes later, Paraguay's Justo Villar cleared out the ball from Xabi Alonso.

The winner was decided only 7 minutes before the match ended. Midfielder Andres Iniesta and substitute Pedro each made an attempt to score but it was David Villa who succeeded. The ball hit the left-hand post and the right-hand post before it rebounded into the net.

Spain will face Germany in the semi-final. The winner of this match will meet either the Netherlands or Uruguay in the final.

photos from fifa.com and reuters.com

Once Again, Serena

2010-07-04T17:41:00.009+07:00

London (7/3) - World number one, three-times winner, and defending champion - Serena Williams arrived in Wimbledon with all those titles. And now she has done it: clinching her fourth cup and her 13th Grand Slam title last Saturday.

Serena, who was champion in 2000, 2008, and 2009, confidently thrashed 21-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-3, 6-2.

With this win, Serena was just one title short of her sister Venus, who had five Wimbledon titles, corroborating the Williams dominion in Wimbledon, with the sisters claiming 9 in the last 11 years.

photos from wimbledon.org

2010 World Cup: Netherlands 2-1 Brazil

2010-07-02T23:20:00.011+07:00

Port Elizabeth (7/2) - The Netherlands became the first team to go into the last four as the "Oranje" team defeated five-times world cup winner Brazil 2-1.

The Brazilians got off with a good start. Robinho seemed to score in the 7th minute but the referee judged that he was offside. Yet only 3 minutes later, Robinho fired Felipe Melo's pass into the bottom right corner. Until the first-half ended, the Brazilians led 1-0.

The Dutchmen struck back when a free-kick by Arjen Robben found Wesley Sneijder swung in a cross from out the penalty area on the right. Brazilian keeper Julio Cesar and defender Felipe Melo tried to clear out but the ball, hitting Melo's shoulder, was flung into the net.

The winning goal was scored in the 66th minute by Sneijder, following Dirk Kuyt's corner kick. The Inter striker now tallied 3 goals from five matches.

In the 73th minute, Felipe Melo was sent off for fouling Robben, apparently giving way to his temper and stepping on Robben's leg.

When the final whistle was blown, it was euphoria for the Netherlands but heartbreak for Brazil. The Netherlands now would meet the winner of the Uruguay-Ghana match in the semi-final.

fifa.com

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picture from fifa.com

Thomas Cup for China Again

2010-05-16T17:41:00.020+07:00

Favorite China won their fourth Thomas Cup title in a row and their eighth title. The master had better quality in skill and mental compared to Indonesia that they humbled the 13-time champion just 3-0.

Four-time All England and three-time world champion Lin Dan excelled Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat 21-7, 21-14 in just 44 minutes. Mighty Lin Dan effortlessly led the match in the first set. And the score was 11-1 for Lin Dan when the players took a break in the first set. Lin Dan won 5 smash winners and 7 net winners, compared to Taufik's 3 and 1.

In the beginning of the second set, Taufik tried to show some fight by leading 2-0, but Lin Dan was able to equalized the score until he left Taufik 7-4 and 12-5 to win 21-14 and clinched China's first point.

Lin Dan celebrated his win by hugging his coach after his win.

Lin Dan is happy with his straight-set win

I am tired, very tired. I hope to change my economy class ticket to first class when we return home tonight,” he said.

“I am happy to have got the chance to play (Lee) Chong Wei and Taufik and beating them both. They are two of the best players in the world. Chong Wei is still the most difficult player to play against.

“Today, we (Taufik and myself) tried to win the first point for our country. It was our responsibility to get the first point and I won.

“I put in a lot of effort in my win but I must say that I am not a class above the rest as many have made out. Chong Wei, Taufik and Peter (Gade Christensen) are at the same level.

“We have players like Chen Jin, Bao Chunlai and Chen Hong in the next group.”

Chinese team pose

In the second match, Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng fought hard to defeat 2008 Olympic gold medalists Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan 25-23, 16-21, and 21-12 - making China led 2-0.

In the last match, Indonesia's Simon Santoso surprised China's Chen Jin with a 19-21 first-set win. However, Chen Jin struggled to grasp the second-set win and downed Simon's mental in the third set that Chen Jin won easily 21-7. With a 19-21, 21-17, and 21-7 victory, Chen Jin contributed it to China's 3-0 win.

Japanese Thomas and Uber Cup team

Malaysia Thomas Cup team

thomasuberkl2010
pictures by thomasuberkl2010 and internationalbadminton

Back to Final

2010-05-15T22:47:00.006+07:00

Roger Federer celebrates his win

Madrid - Defending champion Roger Federer reached his first final after Australian Open last January. He worked hard to outlast local player David Ferrer 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. He is closer to equalizing Andre Agassi's and Rafael Nadal's 17 ATP Masters Series or now ATP-Masters 1000 tally.

Last year's final will be repeated as Federer will take on Rafael Nadal who defeated another Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 4-6, 6-2, and 6-2 in the semi-final.

Federer said after his victory: "I think I served really well. In the first set, there was some of my best serving in a long time.

"I knew on clay I was always going to go through a tougher period as well. That's what happened in the second set. I was serving with the old balls, the next change was coming and then one game after, I missed the two first serves, double faulted on the third and I was down 0-40 and he took advantage of that and it just shows what a tough competitor he is.

"He's one of the great return players in the game on the second serve. He makes you work extremely hard and that´s why he´s been so successful on clay.

"He doesn't miss much and he fights like crazy and it works well. He´s really improved a lot of the last couple of years. So I knew the danger and I'm extremely happy that I prevailed."

This win becomes a boost for Federer to defend his French Open title next month.

quote from espnstar

Korean Girls Make History

2010-05-15T15:33:00.019+07:00

Kuala Lumpur (5/15) - For the first time in history, South Korea will bring home the Uber Cup after embarrassing defending champions China 3-1.

The Chinese girls who played today are in the top spots of the BWF World Ranking, like Wang Yihan (1), Ma Jin/Wang Xiaoli (1), Wang Xin (2), and Du Jing/Yu Yang (2). China had also beaten Korea five times previously in the Uber Cup final and they would do it again, so boasted the Chinese manager Li Yongbo. Despite that fact and remark, the Koreans were not overawed.

Bae Sung-hee boosted her teammates' spirit as well as depressing the opponent's side, conquering 2009 All England winner Wang Yihan in just straight sets 23-21 and 21-11.

In the second match, Lee Hyo-jung and Kim Min-jung extended their country's advantage. After struggling 18-21 in the first set, Lee and Kim were never left behind by Ma Jin and Wang Xiaoli to capture the second and third sets 21-12 and 21-15.

Wang Xin gave her country a moment to breathe by subduing Sung Ji-hyun 21-14, 16-21, and 21-7.

The fourth match was an exciting one. Lee Kyung-won and Ha Jung-eun well knew that they should win if they wanted to win the cup, while Du Jing and Yu Yang had to win also if they desired the cup to stay longer in their country.

Lee and Ha made a late start when they surrendered in the first set 19-21, but took the second 21-14. The third was the decider. Du and Yu saved 2 match points before bowing out 19-21.

The Koreans rushed into the court to celebrate their first ever Uber Cup victory.

"This is a historic day for Korean badminton. We reached the finals five times before and we were beaten in all five by China. But today it was a different story, we were not the second fiddle.

"We've had enough of losing to the Chinese. The players were determined to break the jinx and we did it in Kuala Lumpur," said Korean manager Kim Jong-soo.

Meanwhile, Li Yongbo blamed inexperience for the defeat of his team and covered his disappointment by saying that it would be boring if China kept on winning.

"So it is good to let Korea win the Cup to give badminton some variety," he conceded.

But he also admitted that the Koreans "deserve to lift the Cup. They were the better team."

pictures and quotes from thomasuberkl2010.com

Too Powerful for Host

2010-05-14T00:32:00.019+07:00

Kuala Lumpur (5/14) - China progress into Thomas Cup Final after destroying Malaysia 3-0. The defending champion is too powerful for the home players that all of the Chinese players only need two sets to win.

2008 Olympic gold-medalist and three-time world champion Lin Dan overcame world number one Lee Chong Wei 21-17 and 21-8 to give China their first point. Lin Dan also stopped Lee Chong Wei's unbeatable run in Thomas Cup.

In the end of the match, Lin Dan took off his shirt and performed a break dance.

“Malaysia have not won the Cup for 18 years and there were great expectations on him (Chong Wei).

“There was too much pressure on him,” said Lin Dan. “It is not that Chong Wei's game was predictable but, I think, he was under pressure and could not play his game.

“I knew that I could not let Chong Wei win the first point and I played well from the start. It was an important match for China too.”

Asked whether taking off his shirt was a celebration ritual for him, Lin Dan said humorously: “The first time I took off my shirt was at the 2004 Thomas Cup Finals. I was so happy when I defeated Peter (Gade-Christensen of Denmark). I was young then.

“This time, I took off to see whether I am as muscular as before!”

Lin Dan's head-to-head against Lee Chong Wei is now 13-5. While Lin Dan was happy, Lee Chong Wei was very sad.

“I’m disappointed and sorry for the fans as I could not deliver a point.

“It suddenly felt like the court was too small and I could not see any space to hit the shuttle. I was demoralised when he retrieved all my attacking shots,” said Chong Wei.

“He took a 10-3 lead in the opening game and that rattled me. I lost my focus and found it hard to narrow the gap,” said Chong Wei

“All of a sudden I felt that my standard had dropped. Lin Dan was too good today.”

“I didn’t play well today at all. I’m not giving any excuses or say that there was added pressure on me to deliver due to the large crowd. Lin was just too good today."

More Defeat

Fans were disappointed again when another world number one Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong were defeated easily by Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng in a 36-minute match, 15-21 and 21-10.

Boon Heong admitted that “we lost to a better pair”.

“They were good in all departments today. They were fast in their attack, solid in defence and able to read our game,” said Boon Heong.

“Overall, they were more solid. Kien Keat and I tried our best but it just did not happen for us.”

“We have lost to them in team events for four times. It is not because we are not good team players. We are but they were just too good today. We will work harder to get the better of them," said Kien Keat.

Ultimately, Chen Jin of China ended Malaysia with a 21-16, 21-7 victory over Wong Choong Hann.

Chen Jin shakes hand with Choong Hann

In the other semi-final which was held earlier, Indonesia beat Japan 3-1. After Taufik Hidayat defeat Kenichi Tago and Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan defeat Kenichi Hayakawa/Kenta Kazuno in comfortable two-set matches, Japanese Sho Sasaki stunned Simon Santoso 21-19, 13-21, and 21-11.

Japan almost equalized the score 2-2 when Hiroyuki Endo and Noriyasu Hirata chased Nova Widhianto/Alvent Yulianto's points in the second set. Left 15-20, Hiroyuki/Noriyasu made it 20-20 but failed to create a good finish that the Indonesian pair won 21-14 and 22-20.

thestar 1 2

internationalbadminton

pictures by thestar and thomasuberkl2010

Uber Cup: Korea to Set Up Final Clash with Defending Champion

2010-05-13T23:34:00.012+07:00

Lee Hyo-jung and Kim Min-jung celebrates win

Kuala Lumpur (5/13) - Defeating Japan 3-1 in Stadium Putra, Korea advances to Uber Cup final to face defending champion China.

Bae Seung-hee delivered first point for Korea as she vanquished Eriko Hirose 21-12 and 21-16. Lee Hyo-jung and Kim Min-jung contributed more point for Korea with a 21-19, 21-10 victory over Japanese Satoko Suetsuna and Miyuki Maeda.

Japan gained 1 point from their second singles player, Ai Goto, who subdued Bae Yoon-joo 21-10, 22-20. Finally, Lee Kyung-won and Ha Jung-eun brought Korea to their sixth final after defeating Mizuki Fujii/Reika Kakiiwa 21-14 and 21-18.

Korean team

In the other semi-final, China was too powerful for last Uber Cup runner-up Indonesia. Wang Yihan overthrew Maria Febe in an easy 37-minute match, 21-7 and 21-12. Moreover, world number one pair Ma Jin and Wang Xiaoli prevailed over Greysia Polii/Meiliana Jauhari 21-17, 21-13 before Wang Xin (left) clinched China's winning point with a 21-17, 21-15 triumph over Indonesia's Adrianti Firdasari.

After the match, coach Li Yongbo boasted his team will beat Korea in the final. "The final will be tough but the outcome will be same...we will win again. We have beaten the Koreans in our previous five meetings in the final. Come this Saturday, we will make it six,” said Yongbo.

thomasuberkl2010

Double Repeated Matches

2010-05-12T17:43:00.010+07:00

There are two same matches in Thomas Cup quarter-final: China vs. Korea and Indonesia vs. India. China had beaten Korea in the last Group A match 4-1 and Indonesia had beat India also 4-1 in the last Group D match.

And again, China downed Korea to ease into Thomas Cup semi-final. Both China and Korea used the same formation as yesterday. Lin Dan surpassed Park Sung-hwan again and this time was easier then the previous one. He only needed two sets to give China a 1-0 lead with a 21-16, 21-15 triumph.

"I am playing better and better. My form is okay but I will not underrate any opponent,"Lin Dan uttered.

Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng outshone Jung Jae-sung and Shin Baek-cheol 21-11, 21-16, continued by Chen Jin's 21-15, 21-12 win over Shon Wan-ho to give China a semi-final ticket.

In Indonesia clash, India failed to show any battle to Indonesia except for Kashyap Parupalli's striving to defeat Taufik Hidayat in the first match. However, he still lost 21-12, 10-21, and 17-21. In the second match, Markid Kido/Hendra Setiawan defeated Sanave Thomas and Akshay Dewalkar in straight sets, 21-16 and 21-17. Simon Santoso surmounted Arvind Bhat 21-8, 21-10 without any effort for the winning point.

Commenting the twice meeting with Korea, China manager Li Yongbo said that the redraw was very funny. "We played against the same line-up from Korea, on the same court and in the same stadium and won the same matches. Our fans at home might have thought it was a replay of the previous day's match. This is really funny."

thomasuberkl2010
thestar

Japan 3-1 Germany; Malaysia 3-2 Denmark

Japanese Kenichi Tago successfully defeated Marc Zwiebler in the first men's singles match of Japan vs Germany. Zwiebler gave Kenichi a tough fight that Kenichi had struggled to win in rubber sets, 15-21, 21-18, and 21-18.

However, Michael Fuchs/Kristof Hopp stunned Hiroyuki Endo/Yoshiteru Hirobe 16-21, 21-19, and 24-22, tying 1-1. Sho Sasaki gave Japan a lead 2-1 with a 21-19, 21-17 victory until Kenichi Hayakawa and Kenta Kazuno conquered Ingo Kinderwater and Johannes Schoettler 21-16, 21-16 to book a semi-final place against Indonesia.

In other Thomas Cup match, Malaysia almost met the same fate as losing to Japan as they survived a scare to beat Denmark. It seemed clear that Malaysia would surely progress to the semi-final as Lee Chong Wei and Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong again made the lead 2-0.

Wong Choong Hann failed to score 3-0 that he went down 20-22, 21-16, and 18-21 by Jan O Jorgensen. And Zakry, now partnered with Hoon Thien How, added Denmark's joy to make the point 2-2 as the Malaysians bowed down to Lars Paaske/Jonas Rasmussen 26-24, 12-21, and 19-21.

Joachim Persson did not use the opportunity to bring his team to the semi-final after losing to Hafiz Hashim 12-21 and 10-21. Malaysia won 3-2 to meet defending champion China in the semi-final.

Uber Cup Quarter-final Results:

Indonesia 3-0 Malaysia

Adriyanti Firdasari def. Wong Mew Choo

Greysia Polii/Nitya Krishinda def. Wong Pei Tty/Chin Eei Hui

Maria Kristin def. Tee Jing Yee

Japan 3-1 Denmark

Eriko Hirose def. Camilla Sorensen

Kamilla Rytter Juhl/Christinna Pedersen def. Satoko Suetsuna/Miyuki Maeda

Ai Goto def. Karina Jorgensen

Mizuki Fujii/Reika Kakiiwa def. Lena Frier Kristiansen/Maria Ropke

China 3-0 India

Wang Yihan def. Saina Nehwal

Ma Jin/Wang Xiaoli def. Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnapa

Wang Xin def. Sayali Gokhale

Korea 3-1 Russia

Bae Sung-hee def. Ella Diehl

Lee Hyo-jung/Kim Min-jung def. Valeria Sorokina/Nina Vislova

Tatjana Bibik def. Sung Ji-hyun

Ha Jung-eun/Jang Kyung-eun def. Ksenia Polikarpova/Anastasia Russkikh

China Top Group A

2010-05-12T17:37:00.011+07:00

Kuala Lumpur (5/11) - As the defending champion, China topped both group A in Thomas and Uber Cup.

China beat last Thomas Cup runner-up Korea 4-1 to confirm their place as Thomas Cup Group A winner. Three-times world champion Lin Dan played Korean Park Sung-hwan in the first match. The match was not easy for the Chinese. He led the first set against Korean Park Sung-hwan 21-18. However, in the second set, Park forced Lin Dan to play deuce. 26-year-old Lin Dan finally conquered Park 25-23.

“I was not so focused in the second game but I was lucky at the net. I was prepared to play a rubber game at that point but it did not happen,” Lin Dan said after the match.

“I think Sung-hwan is capable of playing a much better game. He certainly did not give a 100% effort today.”

Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng played their first match in Thomas Cup, defeating Shin Baek-cheol and Jung Jae-sung 21-11 and 21-12. Finally, Chen Jin assured the winning of China by beating Shon Wan-ho 21-14 and 21-13.

China failed to win perfect 5-0 as their second men's doubles pair, Guo Zhendong/Xu Chen, bowed down in the hands of Yoo Yeon-seong/Ko Sung-hyun in a three-set match, 19-21, 21-19, and 19-21. In the last match, Bao Chunlai surmounted Lee Hyun-il 21-18 and 21-15.

In the Uber Cup, China showed their class to Malaysia as they mastered the latter 5-0. Instead of playing their best singles' player Wong Mew Choo, Malaysia place Sanatasah Saniru to meet world number one Wang Yihan. Wang beat Sanatasah in a comfortable 21-11, 21-8 win.

It seemed that Malaysia had surrendered from the first that they did not play their best doubles pair also. Goh Liu Ying and Ng Hui Lin played against Ma Jin and Wang Xiaoli. Again the Chinese pair overpowered Goh an Ng 21-18, 21-10. Wang Xin clasped the winning after subdueing Tee Jing Yi 21-12 and 21-5. Yu Yang/Du Jing and Jiang Yanjiao added China two more points.

Home Falls to Japan, Tazari Shows Bad Manner

Watched by their fans, Thomas Cup home team Malaysia was humbled surprisingly 2-3 by Japan. The deciding key to Japan's victory is Sho Sasaki's win over 33-year-old Wong Choong Hann in the second singles match. Even though Lee Chong Wei and Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong had won in the first two matches, Japan did lose their power and hope as they rose from early defeat.

Sho subjugated Choong Hann to made the point 1-2 in straight sets, 21-17, 21-18. Choong Hann, who was recalled to the national team, said, "I was hesitant and was comfortable with the way I played. I was playing against Sasaki for the first time and he did well to play a patient game.

After Choong Hann's defeat, Zakry and Fairuzizuan Tazari brought more grieves to the fans as they lost 15-21, 12-21 to Kenichi Hayakawa and Kenta Kazuno. Even Tazari could not control himself after receiving jeers from emotional fans and reacted to them. But he quickly apologized at the press conference with tears in his eyes.

Japanese Shoji Sato put Japan to the top of Group B as he won the deciding match against Hafiz Hashim in three sets, 21-10, 14-21, and 21-18.

"I am disappointed with what some of the fans did to Zakry and Fairuzizuan. Yes, maybe it was not their good day but booing and criticizing us openly is not the way to do it," commented Zakry and Tazari's compatriot Chong Wei.

"As a team captain, I feel for my teammates. No one in my team is playing to lose. They are here to give their best."

Uber Cup results:

Japan 5-0 Russia

South Korea 4-1 India

the star 1 2 3

A Boost for Korea to Face China

2010-05-10T22:19:00.004+07:00

In the second day of Thomas and Uber Cup in Stadium Putra, Kuala Lumpur, South Korea Thomas Cup Team played a good start with a 5-0 win over Peru even though their greatest player, Lee Yong-dae, were not present. 21-year-old Lee was not called to play for his country due to injury.

Their young player Shon Wan-ho played the first match and downed Andreas Corpancho 21-9 and 21-15. Yoo Yeon-seong and Cho Gun-woo gave Korea their second point with a 21-14, 21-10 triumph over Antonio de Vinatea/Martin del Valle. Hong Ji-hoon brought Korea to a winning 3-0 lead.

Korea did not play Lee's regular, senior partner, Jung Jae-sung, in their first match, but playing Shin Baek-cheol and Kim Ki-jung in the fourth match. Shin and Kim extended the lead to 4-0 before veteran Lee Hyun-il's easy 21-8, 21-5 win over Rodrigo Pacheco made Korea win 5-0.

Sony's Injury Gives India 1 Point

Indonesia Thomas Cup team was not quite lucky as their second singles player, Sony Dwi Kuncoro, suffered back injury. Sony had won 21-19 in the first set against Arvind Bhatt. However, Bhatt defeated Sony in the second set 21-9 before Sony withdrew. Sony's retirement made the point 2-1 for Indonesia after Taufik Hidayat's and Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan's earlier victories.

Nonetheless, Alvent Yulianto/Hendra Gunawan, who played the deciding match, were able to change the situation after a lose in the first round to Rupesh Kumar and Diju Viliyaveetil. The Indonesian pair won 14-21, 21-13, and 21-11. Simon Santoso completed the victory by vanquishing Anup Sridhard 21-8, 21-17.

Japanese Thomas Cup team defeated Nigeria, who lost walkover to Malaysia yesterday, 5-0. Kenichi Tago, Kenichi Hayakawa/Kenta Kazuno, and Sho Sasaki ensured Japan by their straight-set victories. In the last two matches, singles player Shoji Sato overpowered Nigerian Abah Eneojo 21-9 and 21-11 in 25 minutes, and Noriyasu Hirata/Hirokatsu Hashimoto finished the match with 21-4, 21-13 win.

The Last Consolation

2010-05-10T22:15:00.020+07:00

London - As their two greatest missiles were back to play together again, Arsenal showed their supremacy to Fulham with four goals by Andrei Arshavin, Robin van Persie, Carlos Vela, and a Fulham own goal. Goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski once again made a clean sheet. After they never won in the last four Premier League matches, this victory was like a refreshing air for the Gunners.

Arshavin, who returned after injury, scored Arsenal's first goalat the 21st minute. The Russian gets the ball to the byline, comes back to a more comfortable angle and firest into the back of the net.

Five minutes later, Theo Walcott controlled the ball on the right and pulled it back to van Persie but hit the bar. But the ball came back to him and smashes it right into the net.

And once again, Walcott crossed from the right but the ball was deflected. Fortunately, Fulham player Chris Baird turned the ball into his own net.

The score was 3-0 until half-time. At the 77th minute, Carlos Vela substituted Arshavin, and he scored Arsenal's fourth goal seven minutes later.

Arsenal finished third in the final standing of the English Premier League with 75 points. Tottenham, losing 4-2 to relegated Burnley, was behind Arsenal with 70. Chelsea won their fourth English Premier League title after finishing Wigan 8-0 with 85 points. Manchester United stayed in the second with one point behind Chelsea.

arsenal.com

Thomas Cup: Smooth Start for Seeded Teams

2010-05-09T16:55:00.017+07:00

Kuala Lumpur - In the first day of Proton-BWF Thomas and Uber Cup 2010, seeded teams did not find any trouble.

First-seeded Thomas Cup team China grabbed the victory easily 5-0 over Peru in Group A first match. 2008 Olympic gold-medalist Lin Dan opened the match by competing against Antonio de Vinatea in straight sets, 21-4 and 21-6. Chen Jin continued the lead 2-0 as he beat Andreas Corpancho. And Chen Long made sure for China's win as he beat Rodrigo Pacheco.

Two last matches which were men's doubles matches were won easily by Chinese pairs, Guo Zhendong/Xu Chen and Chai Biao/Zhang Nan.

“My opponent was not strong but I took this opportunity to play against him seriously. I tried all my strokes. Now, I have a better idea on what to expect in this stadium. It was a great warm-up session for me,” Lin Dan said after the match. The three times world champion also looked forward and prepared to meet South Korea.

"South Korea are still a strong team even without their top players, (Lee) Yong-dae. Our team have a day's rest and will be ready for the battle against the Koreans," he said.

Second-seeded Indonesia also conquered Australia 5-0. They did not play Sony Dwi Kuncoro as the second singles player, so Simon Santoso replaced Sony. And Simon did well as he made Indonesia lead 3-0 with a 21-13 and 21-4 triumph over Chad Whitehead.

Meanwhile, the home team Malaysia gained a matchless win because their opponent, the Nigerian players, did not arrive at stadium on time. Thus, it was announced that Malaysia won 5-0 with every players won 21-0, 21-0.

thestar

Thomas and Uber Cup Selected Squad

2010-05-01T20:31:00.042+07:00

Thomas Cup..........................................................Uber Cup

China (1/1)

Lin Dan..............................................................Wang Yihan
Chen Jin.............................................................Wang Xin
Bao Chunlai........................................................Wang Shixian
Chen Long..........................................................Jiang Yanjiao
Xu Chen..............................................................Ma Jin
Guo Zhendong...................................................Wang Xiaoli

Cai Yun..............................................................Yu Yang

Fu Haifeng..........................................................Du Jing

Chai Biao............................................................Tian Qing

Zhang Nan.........................................................Pan Pan

Indonesia (2/4)

Taufik Hidayat..................................................Maria Febe

Sony Dwi Kuncoro...........................................Adriyanti Firdasari

Simon Santoso.................................................Maria Kristin

Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka............................Lindaweni Fanetri

Markis Kido......................................................Greysia Polii

Hendra Setiawan.............................................Nitya Krishinda Maheswari

Alvent Yulianto................................................Shendy Puspa Irawati

Hendra Aprida Gunawan................................Meiliana Jauhari

Muhammad Ahsan..........................................Anneke Feinya Agustin

Nova Widhianto...............................................Lilyana Natsir

Malaysia (3/6)

Lee Chong Wei..................................................Wong Mew Choo

Wong Choong Hann..........................................Tee Jing Yi

Muhammad Hafiz Hashim...............................Sannatasah Saniru

Tan Chun Seang...............................................Sonya Cheah

Koo Kien Keat...................................................Chin Eei Hui

Tan Boon Heong...............................................Wong Pei Tty

M Zakry Abdul Latif.........................................Woon Khe Wei

M Fairuzizuan Tazari.......................................Vivian Hoo

Hoon Thien How..............................................Goh Liu Ying

Ong Soon Hock.................................................Ng Hui Lin

Denmark (4/5)

Peter Gade.......................................................Camilla Sorensen

Jan O Jorgensen..............................................Karina Jorgensen

Joachim Persson..............................................Line Kruse

Viktor Axelsen.................................................Mette Poulsen

Kenneth Jonassen...........................................Maria Ropke

Mathias Boe......................................................Lena Frier Kristiansen

Carsten Mogensen..........................................Kamilla Rytter Juhl

Jonas Rasmussen............................................Christinna Pedersen

Lars Paaske.....................................................Mia Schjott-Kristensen

Thomas Laybourn

Korea (5/2)

Park Sung-hwan..............................................Bae Seung-hee

Shon Wan-ho....................................................Sung Ji-hyun

Hong Ji-hoon....................................................Bae Youn-joo

Lee Hyun-il.......................................................Lee Yun-hwa

Shin Baek-cheol...............................................Jung Kyung-eun

Ko Sung-hyun...................................................Ha Jung-eun

Yoo Yeon-seong...............................................Kim Min-jung

Jung Jae-sung..................................................Jang Ye-na

Kim Ki-jung......................................................Lee Hyo-jung

Cho Gun-woo...................................................Lee Kyung-won

Japan (6/3)

Kenichi Tago.....................................................Eriko Hirose

Kazushi Yamada..............................................Ai Goto

Sho Sasaki.........................................................Sayaka Sato

Shoji Sato..........................................................Yu Hirayama

Hiroyuki Endo..................................................Mizuki Fujii

Kenta Kazuno...................................................Reika Kakiiwa

Kenichi Hayakawa...........................................Mami Naito

Hirokatsu Hashimoto......................................Shizuka Matsuo

Noriyasu Hirata.................................................Miyuki Maeda

Yoshiteru Hirobe..............................................Satoko Suetsuna

(/) means (seed in Thomas Cup/seed in Uber Cup)

Free Ticket to the Final

2010-03-20T23:17:00.011+07:00

Second-seeded Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung book Swiss Open final ticket without any match as their opponents, Robert Mateusiak/Nadiezda Kostiuczyk, withdrew. The Koreans has an opportunity to win their first title of the year.

In the final, they will meet compatriot Shin Baek-cheol/Yoo Hyun-young who defeated Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl in a marathon, 12-21, 21-15, and 24-22 in an hour and 35 minutes.

Unfortunately, Korea was unsuccessful to place a pair in women's doubles final as Ha Jung-eun and Lee Kyung-won were beaten by Japanese fifth seeds, Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna, in rubber sets, 21-13, 19-21, and 20-22.

In the men's doubles semi-final, top seeds Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong will play against fourth-seeded Carsten Mogensen and Mathias Boe while Ko Sung-hyun/Yoo Yeon-seong, who defeated second-seeded Lee Yong-dae/Jung Jae-sung in the second round, will compete against Japanese Hirokatsu Hashimoto and Noriyasu Hirata.

Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung into Last Four

2010-03-19T23:21:00.012+07:00

2008 Olympic gold medalists Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung reached their second semi-final in March as they advanced into Swiss Open semi-final. The Koreans overpowered Chinese Tao Jiaming/Zhang Yawen 21-11 and 21-16 in 45 minutes.

Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung was determined to play in their first final of the year, Last week, they lost to Indonesia's Nova Widhianto and Lilyana Natsir in All England semi-final.

In Swiss semi-final, Lee Yong-dae/Lee Hyo-jung will face Robert Mateusiak and Nadiezda Kostiuczyk of Poland. In the quarter-final, Mateusiak and Kostiuczyk defeated another Korean pair, Yoo Yeon-song and Kim Min-jung, in tough three sets, 21-16, 11-21, and 21-18.

Yong-dae's former men's doubles partner, Shin Baek-cheol, pairing with Yoo Hyun-young, also progress to the semi-final with a 21-9, 13-21, and 21-17 victory over Taiwan's Chen Hung-Ling/Cheng Wen-Hsing.

Shin's success in the mixed doubles is not followed in the men's doubles. With Cho Gun-woo, Shin was vanquished by defending champions, Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong, 17-21 and 14-21.

Dan Fails to Pass the Dane's Challenge

In the men's singles, world champion Lin Dan failed to take advantage of top seed Lee Chong Wei's absence as he bowed down to Danish veteran Peter Gade. The former world number one was defeated in straight sets, 21-16 and 21-17.

This result was quite shocking since Lin Dan often won against Gade in their previous meetings. In 2010 until now, Lin Dan has not even played in semi-final as he lost to compatriot Bao Chunlai All England quarter-final. All England was Lin Dan's first tournament in 2010.

Gade will compete against Chinese Chen Long in the semi-final. In the other half, third-seeded Chen Jin will take on unseeded Du Pengyu.

UEFA Champions League: Arsenal 5-0 Porto

2010-03-10T17:10:00.018+07:00

London (3/9) - Arsenal is through to the quarter-finals of Champions League with a 6-2 aggregate win over Portuguese side Porto.

After the 2-1 defeat in the first leg, the Gunners stung their opponents at home 5-0. They took the advantage of the returns of their primary goalkeeper Manuel Almunia and their creative playmaker Andrei Arshavin, who had been injured in the first leg.

Although captain Cesc Fabregas was absent due to hamstring injury, it did not cause the Arsenal players to diminish their attacking missiles.

Bendtner started the Arsenal domination when he scored the opening goal just 10 minutes into the match. Just about fifteen minutes later, Andrei Arshavin weaved a route past three defenders before passing the ball to the unguarded Bendtner to add a second goal.

In the 63rd minute, Abou Diaby tapped a pass to Samir Nasri on the right. The 22-year-old Frenchman was faced with three defenders; however, he found a path before planting a low drive into the net.

Three minutes later, again Arshavin won the ball at midfield, sprinted at an undermanned visiting defense, and slid it to Emmanuel Eboue, who tricked Helton and struck home a fourth goal for Arsenal.

His work done, Arshavin was replaced by Theo Walcott in the 76th minute.

In injury time, Jorge Fucile felled Eboue in the penalty area. Bendtner took the kick and completed the match with his first hat-trick of the season. He won the honors of the night by grabbing three goals to his credit.

arsenal.com

German Open Quarter-final Selected Results

2010-03-06T14:41:00.002+07:00

Men's Singles
1-Bao Chunlai (CHN) def. Tan Chun Seang (MAS) 21-13, 21-7
3-Wong Choong Hann (MAS) def. 6-Dicky Palyama (NED) 15-21, 21-13, 21-17
8-Muhammad Hafiz Hashim (MAS) def. 4-Marc Zwiebler (GER) 21-12, 21-16
2-Chen Long (CHN) def. Wong Ki Wing (HKG) 21-18. 21-15

Women's Singles
1-Wang Lin (CHN) def. Jeanine Cicognini (SUI) 21-12, 21-14

3-Juliane Schenk (GER) def. Megumi Taruo (JPN) 21-18, 21-15

2-Wang Xin (CHN) def. 6-Wong Mew Choo (MAS) 21-13, 20-22, 21-13

Malaysia Open Final Results

2010-01-24T23:33:00.004+07:00

Women's Doubles
2-Yu Yang/Du Jing (CHN) def. Ma Jin/Wang Xiaoli (CHN) 21-16, 21-12

Women's Singles
Wang Xhin (CHN) def. Bae Youn-joo (KOR) 19-21, 21-17, 14-6 retired

Men's Singles
1-Lee Chong Wei (MAS) def. Boonsak Ponsana (THA) 21-13, 21-7

Mixed Doubles
Tao Jiaming/Zhang Yawen (CHN) def. Thomas Laybourn/Kamilla Rytter Juhl (DEN) 19-21, 21-18, 21-15

Men's Doubles
1-Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong (MAS) def. 6-Guo Zhendong/Xu Chen (CHN) 21-15, 17-21, 21-16

Kien Keat and Boon Heong Play A Marathon

2010-01-22T19:55:00.009+07:00

Kuala Lumpur (1/22) -Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong survives a scare in Malaysia Open quarter-final after beating English Nathan Robertson and Anthony Clark in three sets, 21-12, 23-25, and 21-11.

Playing in the last match in Stadium Putra, the top seeds needed 55 minutes to reach the last 4. They will face Chinese Zhang Nan and Chai Biao who defeated Naoji Kawamae and Shoji Sato of Japan 21-11, 21-16.

"It was good to win but I am still not at my best. I really hope to be in better form," said Boon Heong.

"On paper, we have advantage. We have beaten them twice but it is not our style to take anyone lightly," said Kien Keat, who had won Malaysia Open 2005-2006 with Chan Chong Ming.

"What is important is for us to play our game. Hopefully, we will get through. "

The other semifinal will be between Guo Zhendong/Xu Chen and fourth seeds Hendra Gunawan/Alvent Yulianto. Previously Hendra and Alvent defeated Tony Gunawan and Howard Bach 21-15, 21-18 while Guo/Xu overcame Kenichi Hayakawa/Kenta Kazuno 21-17, 23-21.

In the women's singles, Japanese Eriko Hirose reaches the semis after stunning second-seeded Wang Lin 21-19, 15-21, and 21-19.

"I had long rallies with Wang Lin today and tried to keep pace so I could force errors out of her," said Hirose who will meet Wang Xin in the semis.

Top seed Wang Yihan and Bae Youn-joo also advance to the semi-final. Youn-joo ousted compatriot Sung Ji-hyun 21-13, 21-19, whereas Wang Yihan defeated fifth seed Jiang Yanjiao 21-13, 21-17.

Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana successfully progresses to the men's singles semi-final after an easy 21-14, 21-9 win over Malaysia's Chong Wei Feng. He will face second seed Peter Gade.

thestar
badzine

Two Andys into Third Round

2010-01-22T18:40:00.009+07:00

Melbourne - American Andy Roddick and Feliciano Lopez played first men's singles match in the Rod Laver Arena. The seventh seed won over the Spaniard 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4, and 7-6 (3) to meet Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in the fourth round.

In the Hisense Arena, fifth-seeded Andy Murray will face American John Isner after prevailing over Florent Sera of France with a 7-5, 6-1, and 6-4 victory.

Contrary to Murray's easy win, world number two Rafael Nadal and 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro needed four sets to book the 4rd round tickets. Del Potro struggled to beat Florian Meyer 6-3, 0-6, 6-4, and 7-5 while Nadal defeated Phillip Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-2, 2-6, and 5-7.

Petrova Stops Clijsters

Kim Clijsters shakes hand with Nadia Petrova

In the women's draw, nineteenth-seeded Nadia Petrova ended Kim Clijsters' hunt in Australian Open. The Russian broke Clijsters five times to a 6-1, 6-0 triumph. Petrova had lost all four of her previous meetings with the Belgian, but she made improvement that she hit 21 winners to meet

Second seed Dinara Safina, Maria Kirilenko, and Alona Bondarenko (31) also progress to the fourth round. Second seed Safina made an easy 6-2, 6-1 win over British Elana Beltacha. Unseeded Kirilenko, who had stunned Maria Sharapova in the first round, continued her win as she defeated Roberta Vinci 7-5 and 7-6 (4). Meanwhile, Bondarenko surprised former world number one Jelena Jankovic of Serbia by downing her 6-2, 6-3.

picture by reuters
espnstar.com

Federer Cruises into Australian Open Third Round

2010-01-21T17:47:00.009+07:00

Melbourne - World number one Roger Federer breezes into third round after rolling Victor Hanescu out of Australian Open. The Swiss star won 6-2, 6-3, and 6-2 in an hour and 39 minutes.

Federer hit 52 winners and was not broken his Romanian opponent.

Federer had already raced into a 3-0 lead in the third set when Prince William arrived, to the applause of the near-capacity 14,000 crowd.

Federer could have broken Hanescu's serve to lead 5-0, but he failed to take the point everytime he was given advantage. Hanescu won the fifth game of the third set and he made it 2-5.

However, as Federer served for the match, he claimed the win 6-2.

"I knew the danger of Victor. He is a good player although maybe he is more accustomed to clay. I am just thrilled to be through," Federer said in an interview with Jim Courier after the match.

He also talked about his marrying Mirka, having twin daughters, even changing their diapers.

Federer next will play Spain's Albert Montanes, who he has beaten in both previous meetings. If he beat Montanes, he will face the winner of Lleyton Hewitt vs. Marcos Baghdatis match.

In the women's second round, top seed Serena Williams defeated Petra Kvitova of Czech in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. The American will take on Carla Suarez Navarro in the third round.

Gisela Dulko of Argentina shocked 20th-seeded Ana Ivanovic, who is a former world number one, with a 6-7 (8), 7-5, and 6-3 triumph. Next unseeded Dulko will face ninth-seeded Vera Zvonareva.

bbc.co.uk

Federer Passes a First-Round Test

2010-01-19T19:50:00.012+07:00

Roger Federer and Serena Williams in an exhibition for raising funds for Haiti quake

Melbourne - Three times Australian Open champion Roger Federer survived a scare against big server Igor Andreev in Rod Laver Arena, coming back from a set down to beat the Russian 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (2), and 6-0 in 2 hours and 44 minutes.

The Swiss world number one saved three set points to close out the third set and break Andreev's spirit, before breezing through the fourth in 28 minutes to seal the win.

Federer jumps in a match against Andreev

"I just hoped that I was going to hang in there ... He was a wonderful player and it was tough," said Federer (28) in a court-side interview with Jim Courier.

"It was a fortunate third set for me today, but all in all I'm very happy with my performance."

Federer, who has never been eliminated in the first round in 11 appearances at Melbourne Park, will play Victor Hanescu of Romania who defeated Argentinian Juan Ignacio Chela 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (2).

In the women's singles, top seed Serena Williams advances to the second round after an easy 6-2, 6-1 win over Urszula Radwanska. She will meet Petra Kvitova of Czech in the second round.

Today's First Round selected results:

Men's Singles

22-Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) def. Ricardo Hocevar (BRA) 6-1, 6-2, 6-3

21-Tomas Berdych (CZE) def. Robin Haase (NED), 6-0, 6-3, 6-3

reuters.com

Yong-dae and Jae-sung Claim Korea Open Trophy

2010-01-17T22:02:00.008+07:00

Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung

Seoul - Korean Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung grabbed their first title of 2010 after overpowering 2009 world champions of China, Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng, 21-11, 14- 21, and 21-18 in an hour and 8 minutes.

Playing at home, Yong-dae and Jae-sung satisfied the crowds by giving a long, thrilling match.

In the third set, an error of the Chinese pair put the Koreans up 16-14 in the third. They managed to catch up the points 18-18 but could not take the lead in the deciding game.

Yong-dae and Jae-sung finally won the match 21-18, falling down to the floor in jubilance.

“I think I was even more nervous today playing at home than we were when we played this pair in China last year,” said Jae-sung at the post-match press conference.

“So many people were cheering us on to win and I really wanted to win this one in memory of my mother.”

On the contrary, Yong-dae stated that he was more excited than nervous.

“Our styles are so similar that whenever we play Fu Haifeng and Cai Yun, it is always a fun match to play. We had a great match with them at the Sudirman Cup in Guangzhou, too, but this time, since we were at home, the crowd was so excited and it just made me so excited, too.

“In the past, Jae Sung was having to be ready to run the whole court to cover for me so I thought that if I could concentrate on preparing better on defense and creating chances for him, we could achieve some better results.”

Other Final Results:

Women's Singles
6-Wang Shixian (CHN) def. Sung Ji-hyun (KOR) 21-10, 25-23

Women's Doubles
1-Cheng Shu/Zhao Yunlei (CHN) def. 2-Mizuki Fujii/Reika Kakiiwa (JPN) 21-16, 21-15

Mixed Doubles
3-He Hanbin/Yu Yang (CHN) def. Tao Jiaming/Zhang Yawen (CHN) 21-15, 21-16

Men's Singles
1-Lee Chong Wei (MAS) def. 2-Peter Gade (DEN) 21-12, 21-11

badzine.info

Lee and Jung to Meet Cai and Fu

2010-01-16T12:44:00.009+07:00

Local favorites Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung progress to Korea Open final after vanquishing China's Zhang Nan and Chai Biao in a 5o-minute match, 21-16 and 22-20.

The Chinese led 5-3 and 14-11 in the first set, but top seeds Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung equalized the score to 14-14. After that, they left Zhang Nan and Chai Biao 18-14 and won the first set 21-16.

In the second set, Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung always led the score after 2-2. However, as they reached the match point, their opponents chased them and made the score 20-20.

But Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung could maintain their performance and gained the 22-20 victory.

In the final, Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung will compete against Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng of China to obtain the first crown of 2010.

Sunday (1/17) Final Fixtures

Men's Singles

1-Lee Chong Wei (MAS) vs 2-Peter Gade (DEN)

Women's Singles

Sung Ji-hyun (KOR) vs. Wang Shixian (CHN)

Women's Doubles

Cheng Shu/Zhao Yunlei (CHN) vs. Mizuki Fujii/Reika Kakiiwa (JPN)

Mixed Doubles

He Hanbin/Yu Yang (CHN) vs. Tao Jiaming/Zhang Yawen (CHN)

Three Korean Pairs in Men's Doubles Quarter-final

2010-01-14T22:17:00.005+07:00

Korea successfully place their three men's doubles pairs in the upper half of Korea Open Super Series. They are world number two Lee Yong-dae/Jung Jae-sung, Kim Ki-Jung/Shin Baek-cheol, and Ko Sung-hyun/Yoo Yeon-seong.

Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung prevailed over compatriots, Jin Yong-hoon and Kim Dae-sun, in an easy 21-13 and 21-9 win. The former world number one will face another Koreans, Kim Ki-jun and Shin Baek-cheol in the semi-final. Shin Baek-cheol is Lee Yong-dae's former partner when Jung was in the army.

Shin Baek-cheol and Kim Ki-jun shocked sixth-seeded Guo Zhendong/Xu Chen of China 12-21, 22-20, and 21-19 in the second round.

Meanwhile, Ko Sung-hyun and Yoo Yeon-seong subjugated Japanese Hirokatsu Hashimoto and Noriyasu Hirata 21-15 and 21-13. They will take on Chai Biao and Zhang Nan of China.

Serena Rolls into Sydney Semi-final

2010-01-14T21:06:00.011+07:00

Sydney (1/14) - Serena Williams survived a thriller to win a 3-6, 7-5, and 6-4 victory over tough Aravane Rezai in Medibank International. The world number one will face Russian Elena Dementieva in the final.

While Serena played a hard match, defending champion Dementieva dominantly beat Victoria Azarenka in easy straight sets, 6-3 and 6-1.

Rezai led 4-1 in the second set, but the Frenchwoman was nervous when serving for the match at 5-3. She created a double fault at 30-30, giving Serena her first break-point opportunity that became Serena's turning point.

"I was lucky to get through today, for sure," said Serena.

"I was trying to play my game and do the best that I could but I didn't do so well. I hit I don't know how many errors today, but I finally made a couple of shots."

In the men's singles, local favorite Lleyton Hewitt was mastered by 2006 Australian Open finalist, Marcos Baghdatis, 6-4, 2-6, and 3-6. Baghdatis will compete against American Mardy Fish who shattered Peter Luczak's dream of reaching semi-final. The Australian lost 6-7 (5) and 2-6.

In the other semi-final fixture, French Richard Gasquet will take on compatriot Julien Benneteau. Gasquet humbled Potito Starace 6-3, 7-6 (7) while Benneteau fought hard to conquer qualifier Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 6-7 (5), and 6-0.

picture by reuters

espnstar

Seeded Opponents in the Quarter-Final

2010-01-11T17:17:00.003+07:00

Local favorites Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung will face Chinese mixed doubles pair Tao Jiaming and Zhang Yawen in the first round of Korea Open Super Series that will start tomorrow.

If the world number one can defeat Tao and Zhang, they will not find hard opponents until they reach the quarter-final. Seventh-seeded Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark will probably challenge Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung.

And perhaps fourth-seeded Songpol Anukritayawan and Kuchala Worawichitchaikul or fifth-seeded Robert Mateusiak and Nadiezka Kostiuczyk will play against Lee and Lee in the semi-final. If Lee and Lee can beat them, they may face the second seeds of Denmark, Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen.

In the men's doubles, top seeds Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung receive a bye in the first round. They will compete against China's six seeds Guo Zhendong/Xu Chen in the quarter-final.

Also in their upper half are fourth-seeded Lars Paaske/Jonas Rasmussen and 2005 world champions Howard Bach and Tony Gunawan.

First Tennis News of 2010

2010-01-10T19:34:00.010+07:00

Brisbane International

Top-seeded Andy Roddick clinched men's singles Brisbane International title. He won over defending champion Radek Stepanek of Czech in Brisbane International final in straight sets, 7-6 (2) and 7-6 (7) in two hours and five minutes.

Roddick's serve was his key of the victory as he won 77% of first serves and created seven aces.

"I certainly don't know if I expected to come and win my first tournament after a pretty extended lay-off," said Roddick who had an injury after last year Wimbledon final.

In the women's singles final on Saturday (1/9), Belgian Kim Clijsters prevailed over her countrywomen Justine Henin.

Federer Withdraws from Kooyong

Roger Federer has decided not to participate in next week's Kooyong Classic. It is the second time the world number one has missed Australian Open warm-up in the past seven years. The other time he did not play was in 2008.

In Qatar Open semi-final, the Swiss maestro was subjugated by Nikolay Davydenko who grabbed the title after subduing Rafael Nadal 0-6, 7-6 (8), and 6-4.

Murray Leads Great Britain to 1-2 Defeat

In the Hopman Cup final, Great Britain's Laura Robson shocked Anabel Media Garrigues with a 6-1, 7-6 (6) victory in the opening match. Robson hit 28 winners while Martinez Sanchez created 36 unforced errors.

It was 15-year-old Robson's first singles win during the tournament.

“I was pretty nervous in the end but I just tried to keep going for my shots. It was pretty convenient that the only match I won was in the Final so I’m happy,” the junior Wimbledon champion said.

The second match was Andy Murray against Tommy Robredo of Spain. The world number four, who had not lost a match in the group stages, made the Great Britain's chance to win Hopman Cup, vanish. He was surprisingly defeated by Robredo 1-6, 6-4, and 6-3.

Murray lost again in the mixed doubles match. He and Robson were downed by Robredo and Garrigues 6-7 (6) and 5-7.

Spain's win is the third after the victory Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and her brother Emilio Sanchez in 1990 and then with Robredo in 2002.

espnstar

bbc.co.uk

3 Successive Wins in the Last Days of 2009

2009-12-31T15:17:00.072+07:00

No. 1: Conquering the Hull

London (12/19) - First it was at home against Hull City. Denilson, Eduardo, and Abou Diaby each contributed a goal to secure three points. It was a very essential victory to maintain Arsenal's chance of winning the Premier League, after being held by promoted club Burnley only in the previous match.

When Andrei Arshavin was fouled, the Gunners were awarded a free-kick. However, Samir Nasri was involved in an emotional as well as physical battle with the Hull players. Even Manuel Almunia had to help his teammates cool down. Nasri took the free-kick, but he failed to score.

Denilson brought the matter into his own hands when only a few moments later Arsenal was given another free-kick. He thrashed the net and gave Arsenal a 1-0 lead before half-time.

In the 56th minute, Mikael Silvestre's tug on Fagan's shirt granted a penalty kick for Hull but Almunia managed to save it. And three minutes later, it was again Arsenal who doubled the lead, Eduardo finishing Diaby's crossing with an accurate tap.

In the 80th minute, Arshavin, who had been kept quiet by the Hull players, gave his assist to Diaby, who then made it 3-0 for Arsenal.

Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey, who came for Eduardo and Nasri respectively, had chances in the last minutes but Arsenal secured the win 3-0.

arsenal.com

No. 2: A Tale of Cesc's Carol

London (12/27) - To triumph over Aston Villa, who aimed to enter the Big Four, the Gunners even practiced in Christmas morning, being allowed to celebrate the holiday with their families in the evening. However, their sacrifice was not in vain.

Two days after Christmas, Cesc Fabregas gave his best to his team, even if it meant setting him back to another three-week absence due to an injury rearousal. He scored two goals in his just 27-minute appearance, bringing Arsenal to a 3-0 victory over Aston Villa.

Though definitely the better team, Arsenal was stagnant throughout the first half. The players had a number of chances but they could not produce even a single goal.

Then, seeing that his team desperately need a new spirit, Arsene Wenger risked the health of the still-recovering captain by pulling out Denilson in the 56th minute.

Wenger's strategy proved right. Only 9 minutes later, Fabregas ended the goalless state when his free-kick netted his eighth goal in the Premier League this season, making him Arsenal's top scorer, over Robin van Persie's 7 goals.

In the 81th minute, Armand Traore passed the ball to Theo Walcott, who in turn slid into the path of Fabregas. The Spaniard then charged past Brad Friedel to be Arsenal's top scorer with 12 goals in all competition, as well as Arsenal's top assist.

But in the middle of the crowd's joy, there was concern. Fabregas was hobbling as he celebrated, and he was almost immediately replaced by Aaron Ramsey, with the crowd giving him a deserved applause.

In the 81st minute, Abou Diaby came through the middle and added a third goal.

arsenal.com

No. 3: In the Bottommost Land of Premier League

Portsmouth (12/30) - On Wednesday evening, the Gunners visited Fratton Park without Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, and Nicklas Bendtner.

Arsenal seemed to have no difficulty in earning the third consecutive win with a three-goal margin over the team at the bottom of the Premier League standings. But this time, the score was 4-1.

Eduardo struck the opening goal in the 27th minute. And Samir Nasri added a second in the 41st minute.

Three goals were created from the 68th minute to the 81th minute. Aaron Ramsey gave his team a 3-0 lead, but then Nadir Belhadj of Portsmouth gave a consolation finish 5 minutes later.

Alex Song, who will be out to defend Cameroon in African Cup, added a fourth in the 81st minute.

Now Arsenal is still four points behind leader Chelsea and two points behind Manchester United, but with a game on hand.

The Gunners can comfort themselves as the top scorer team in the Premier League with 51 goals and 30 goal differences, though.

arsenal.com

all pictures from arsenal.com

Indonesia Dominates Badminton Final

2009-12-18T14:53:00.003+07:00

Vientiane (12/17) - Indonesia won three badminton gold medals in 2009 Laos SEA Games. The three medals are from men's singles, men's doubles, and mixed doubles.

Indonesian mixed doubles pair, Nova Widhianto and Lilyana Natsir, contributed the first badminton individual gold medal after conquering Thailand's tenacious Songpol Anukritayawan/Kuchala Worawichitchaikul in three sets, 21-10, 20-22, and 21-9.

Simon Santoso added to Indonesia's gold medal tally and gained his first SEA Games gold with a 21-16 and 21-12 triumph over teammate Sony Dwi Kuncoro in 45 minute.

Finally, Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan confirmed Indonesia as the chief collector of badminton gold medals by winning their revenge on Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong. Markis/Hendra, who were beaten by Koo/Tan in the team event, successfully prevailed over the Malaysians in straight sets, 21-17 and 21-17.

Indonesia did not place any player in women's event. Thailand won gold and silver medals in women's singles. Salakjit Ponsana battled her compatriot Ratchanok Intanon in a 50-minute match to a 21-14, 18-21, and 21-10 victory.

In the women's doubles, Wong Pei Tty and Chin Eei Hui of Malaysia outshone Singaporean Shinta Mulya Sari and Yao Lei 21-12 and 21-11 to obtain their second SEA Games gold medal.

Four to Final

2009-12-16T23:33:00.007+07:00

Indonesia puts four contenders into 2009 Laos Sea Games finals. The most successful is men's singles with Sony Dwi Kuncoro facing compatriot Simon Santoso in the final. This is a repetition of 2005 Philippines Sea Games final in which Sony won.

Simon won an easy 21-7, 21-14 victory over Vietnamese Nguyen Hoang Hai whereas Sony strived to a 21-10, 18-21, and 21-17 win over Thailand's tough Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk.

In the women's singles, Thailand makes sure of a gold medal as Salakjit Ponsana and Ratchanok Intanon progress to the final, both defeating Malaysian players. Salakjit subdued Wong Mew Choo 21-18 and 21-14 while Ratchanok humbled Lydia Cheah, 21-15 and 23-21, leaving Malaysia two bronze medals. Wong's achievement in SEA Games dropped from gold in Vietnam and silver in the Philippines to bronze.

Malaysia must be satisfied with another two bronze medals from mixed doubles when 2005 bronze medalists, Koo Kien Keat and Wong Pei Tty, crashed out 15-21, 15-21 to 2005 gold winners of Indonesia, Nova Widhianto and Lilyana Natsir.

Nova/Lilyana will compete against Songpol Anukritayawan and Kuchala Worawichitchaikul of Thailand who subjugated Koo/Wong's teammates, Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying, 21-18, 21-13.

In the men's doubles, Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia will face Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong again in the final. Markis/Hendra struggled to beat Malay Zakry/Tazari 27-25, 15-21, and 21-16. Meanwhile, Koo/Tan defeated Markis' brother Bona Septano and his partner Ahsan in straight sets, 21-16 and 21-10.

Laos SEA Games Semi-final Fixtures

2009-12-16T00:24:00.006+07:00

Men's Singles

Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA) vs. Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (THA)

Simon Santoso (INA) vs. Nguyen Hoang Hai (VIE)

Women's Singles

Salakjit Ponsana (THA) vs. Wong Mew Choo (MAS)

Ratchanok Intanon (THA) vs. Lydia Cheah (MAS)

Men's Doubles

Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan (INA) vs. M Zakry Abdul Latif/M Fairuzizuan Tazari (MAS)

Bona Septano/M Ahsan (INA) vs. Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong (MAS)

Women's Doubles

Savitree Amitrapai/Vacharaporn Munkit (THA) vs. Shinta Mulya Sari/Yao Lei (SIN)

Shendy Irawati /Meiliana Jauhari (INA) vs. Wong Pei Tty/Chin Eei Hui (MAS)

Mixed Doubles

Nova Widhianto/Lilyana Natsir (INA) vs. Koo Kien Keat/Wong Pei Tty (MAS)

Songpol Anukritayawan/Kuchala Worawichitchaikul (THA) vs. Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying (MAS)

Theo Praises Andrei

2009-12-15T16:29:00.009+07:00

yahoosports

Theo Walcott has hailed the ever-reliable Andrei Arshavin after the Russian struck a superb match-winning goal at Anfield on Sunday.

Arshavin fired home his eighth goal of the season to see Arsenal to a 2-1 victory over Liverpool on a weekend after Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham, and Manchester City all dropped points.

arsenal.com

After the match, Walcott praised his fellow forward's contribution to Arsenal's attacking threat.

"If you put him in those positions, he is always going to put it away," said the 20-year-old.

"He has got plenty of pace as well. We can frighten the defenders at times but also you have to defend well and not always break forward.

"We have got so many attacking players and Andrei has done it yet again.

"He just seems to be relaxed. There is always a smile on his face when he is playing and to get a goal was very well deserved.

"You could put any goalkeeper in that position and he is never going to make the save.

"It was a fantastic finish."

arsenal.com

Arshavin Astonishes Anfield

2009-12-14T01:33:00.011+07:00

Liverpool (12/13) - The Big "RED" Match on Sunday at Anfield was a very crucial one.

Arsenal needed the win to stay on course of Premier League hunt, while Liverpool had to improve their performance to reach the big four.

Both teams played with full team. Arsenal put Andrei Arshavin and Cesc Fabregas in their starting line-up, and Liverpool had their depended-upon Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.

In the first half, the Gunners had some opportunities, including two corner-kicks and two free-kicks. Similarly, the Reds gained the same amount of corner-kicks and three free-kicks. But none of these resulted in a goal.

Instead, it was Dirk Kuyt who brought Liverpool to a 1-0 lead in the 41st minute.

In the changing room, Arsene Wenger thundered at his team's incapability of using good chances to score. And his indignation served as a whiplash for his players.

Five minutes into the second half, Samir Nasri put a pressure on Glen Johnson, forcing the Liverpool player to net an own goal.

In the 58th minute, only 8 minutes later, Andrei Arshavin once again became the hero of Arsenal fans as well as a threat for the Liverpool fans when he struck the ball with a slightly injured foot into Jose Reina's net.

After that, Arsenal and Liverpool gained a few more chances to score but did not produce more goals. It was a 2-1 win for Arsenal.

arsenal.com

One Gold Medal Only for Each Finalist

2009-12-14T01:30:00.007+07:00

Both Indonesia and Malaysia won a gold and silver medal in Laos SEA Games in badminton team event. In the men's event, Indonesia beat Malaysia 3-1. Sony Dwi Kuncoro made Indonesia lead 1-0 as he defeated Muhammad Hafiz Hashim 22-20, 14-21, and 21-12.

However, Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong of Malaysia equalized the score 1-1 with a 19-21, 22-20, and 21-10 victory of Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan.

Simon Santoso's 21-18, 21-13 triumph over Kuan Beng Hong made the score 2-1 for Indonesia. Ultimately, newly-made pair Nova Widhianto and Mohammad Ahsan secured the win after shocking old pair of Malaysia Zakry Abdul Latif/Fairuzizuan Tazari in straight sets, 21-18 and 21-17.

Nevertheless, Indonesia failed to clinch the women's gold, losing 1-3 to the same opponent. Malaysia's Wong Mew Choo subjugated Adrianti Firdasari 21-18 and 21-17. Wong Pei Tty/Chin Eei Hui added more point for Malaysia as they beat Shendy Irawati/Meiliana Jauhari 21-17 and 21-13.

Maria Kristin gave one point for Indonesia as she overpowered Lydia Cheah 21-8, 21-9 in just half an hour. But Lilyana Natsir and Greysia Polii could not equalize the score and gave up 21-19, 12-21, and 18-21 to Woon Khe Wei/Ng Hui Lin.

To summarize, Indonesia won 1 gold medal from men's team and 1 silver from women's team. Malaysia gained the same result as Indonesia, but the gold medal is from women's team and the silver medal is from men's team. Thailand and Singapore each obtained 2 bronze medals.

Double Battles

2009-12-12T22:23:00.013+07:00

In 25th SEA Games in Laos, Indonesia will face Malaysia in badminton women's and men's final. Malaysia's women's singles team played Thailand in the first match of the day. They won 3-o. Wong Mew Choo gave the first point for her team by overcoming Salakjit Ponsana 21-15 and 21-17. It was the only two-set match in the Malaysia-Thailand match.

Wong Pei Tty/Chin Eei Hui added Malaysia's lead as they beat Duanganong Aroonkesorn/Kuchala Worawichitchaikul 19-21, 21-14, and 21-14. Lydia Cheah completed the match with a 19-21, 21-18, and 21-19 win over 18-year-old Porntip Buranaprasertsuk.

In the other semi-final, defending champion Indonesia beat Singapore 3-0 too. Indonesia's Adrianti Firdasari played the first match against Zhang Beiwen and won 21-14, 21-13.

Greysia Polii/Nitya Krishinda gave further lead as they beat Vanessa Neo/Shinta Sari in tough rubber sets, 23-21, 18-21, 21-10 in 42 minutes.

Finally, 2008 Olympic Games bronze-medalist Maria Kristin booked final ticket for Indonesia by vanquishing Xing Aiying in straight sets, 21-19 and 21-15.

Thailand's Fight

In the men's event, Indonesia proved they were better Thailand. They edge Thailand with a perfect score 3-0 to breeze to the final. However, Thailand was able to give great fight in the two men's singles as Boonsak Ponsana and Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk insisted Indonesian singles players to play in three sets.

2004 Olympic Games bronze-medalist, Sony Dwi Kuncoro, struggled hard to beat 2004 Olympic semi-finalist, Boonsak. Sony needed an hour to make Indonesia lead 1-0 with a 21-6, 11-21, and 21-14 victory.

2007 men's doubles champions, Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan, increased the point for Indonesia by downing Nutthapon Narkthong and Patiphat Chalardchalaem in easy 22-minute match, 21-12 and 21-12.

Simon Santoso conquered Tanongsak in rubber sets, 10-21, 21-15, 21-17, to bring Indonesia to the final. Next, Indonesia will take on Malaysia who defeat Singapore 3-0.

Muhammad Hafiz Hashim created a 1-0 lead as he defeated Derek Wong 21-15, 21-15. This is the first time Hafiz play as first singles because Malaysia's top men's singles player, Lee Chong Wei, withdrew due to injury.

Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong only played a 20-minute match to win over Hendri Saputra/Hendra Wijaya 21-19 and 1-0. The Singaporeans retired in the second set.

Kuan Beng Hong's 21-17, 21-17 victoy over Ashton Chen made Malaysia progress to the final.

By this result, Thailand and Singapore gained two bronze medals from badminton while Indonesia and Malaysia fight for gold medals tomorrow.

Experience for the Young Gunners

2009-12-10T21:58:00.012+07:00

Athens (12/9) - Win or loss, Arsenal has already qualified for Champions League's last 16 as the winner of Group H with 6 points lead over second-place Olympiakos.

As it is, Arsene Wenger decided to give his young players a Champions League experience by starting 3 reserve players - Kerrea Gilbert, Kyle Bartley, and Thomas Cruise - as well as the well-known Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, and Carlos Vela.

In fact, the only player who is in his 30s is Mikael Silvestre, and he was appointed captain that night. The average age was 21, the youngest Champions League team ever.

Experience was costly, and that night the "baby" Gunners had to pay the price. They were defeated that night 1-0 by Leonardo's goal in the 47th minute. But they succeeded to impress the spectators.

source and picture by arsenal.com

Three Titles in A Row

2009-12-06T15:29:00.018+07:00

Johor Bahru - Perhaps Lee Yong-dae/Jung Jae-sung can be said as the most successful men's doubles pair in the last three tournaments. They won Super Series Finals title, following titles from Hong Kong and China last month, with a 21-15, 21-15 triumph over Carsten Mogensen and Mathias Boe of Denmark in 46 minutes.

Playing in the third match of the day, Yong-dae/Jae-sung played against Boe/Mogensen whom they defeated in China Open semi-final. In the first set, they chased each other's points as finally Yong-dae and Jae-sung left the Danish 15-12 and then took the first set 21-15.

In the second set, the world number three was 1-5 but they could equalize 8 all and left Boe/Mogensen 13-7 to win the second set 21-15 again.

Bright Yong-dae

Lee Yong-dae returns a shot

Lee Yong-dae, who shines in the last three tournaments with 3 men's doubles titles and one mixed doubles title, said, “I’m no superman. I’m very grateful that both my doubles partners (Jung Jae Sung in men’s and Lee Hyo Jung in mixed) are great partners.

“They have been great support and offered plenty of encouragement to me over these 2 years that has helped me to juggle playing in both doubles.”

Yong-dae did not play in mixed doubles because his partner Hyo-jung was injured. They were world number one mixed doubles pair.

Mew Choo Is Back

After two-year title drought, Malaysia's best women's singles player, Wong Mew Choo, conquered Juliane Schenk in easy two sets, 21-15 and 21-7, after fighting with injuries. She won 42 rallies and 10 smash winners to Schenk's 22 and 3.

“I am going to treat my teammates and coaches as they have been instrumental in helping my career,” said Mew Choo.

“Without their help, I will not be here today as they were pillars of support to me even when I was injured.”

Top Seeds' Victories

Top-seeded Joachim Fischer Nielsen/Christinna Pedersen of Denmark was crowned as mixed doubles winner as they humbled Indian Diju V and Jwala Gutta 21-14, 21-18 to receive $42,000 prize money.

“We will be playing at the Copenhagen Masters at the end of the month but winning the Masters Finals is a great way to end the season,” said Fischer Nielsen.

“It is a pity that some of the top pairs are not here but in today’s mixed doubles, there are seven to eight pairs who can win the title.

“I rate the Koreans (Lee Yong Dae-Lee Hyo Jung) as the best mixed doubles pair in the world right now and that is our aim – to beat them.”

World number five Wong Pei Tty/Chin Eei Hui maintained their women's doubles title as they prevailed over Danish Kamilla Rytter Juhl/Lena Frier Kristiansen 21-17, 21-14.

In the men's singles, top seed Lee Chong Wei, who plays in too many tournaments this year, beat Park Sung-hwan of Korea 21-17, 21-17. After the Super Series Finals, he will play in SEA Games.

No wonder he said, “But next year, I plan to be more selective in choosing the tournaments I want to compete in order to focus on major events.”

The defending champion also said: “After the Olympic Games in Beijing (2008), my form took a dip but I am very happy with the way the year has progressed.

“I’ve won six titles and now the Masters Finals title as well. As such, I am pleased with my performance.”

internationalbadminton.org
badzine.info

pictures by internationalbadminton.org and badzine.info

Arsenal Returns to Winning Ways

2009-12-06T15:24:00.027+07:00

London (12/5) - After 1-0 and 0-3 defeats to Sunderland and Chelsea respectively in the Premier League, as well as an English League Cup loss by Manchester City, Arsenal needed a victory very badly to restore the players' confidence.

And they had the opportunity to win an easy match against Stoke City, at Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners attacked from the first minute. Andrei Arshavin was tripped inside the penalty area, but Cesc Fabregas was assigned to take the penalty-kick.

Unfortunately Thomas Sorensen saved it.

But it did not matter much because only five minutes later, Arshavin continued Fabregas' assist and struck straight into the net.

In the 54th minute, Emmanuel Eboue added to Arsenal's injury list and had to be replaced by Aaron Ramsey.

Just about 10 minutes before the final whistle, the 18-year-old Welsh fired his third Arsenal goal for this season and doubled the lead 2-0.

Arshavin could have made it 3-0, but Stoke's Andy Wilkinson prevented it.

This cheerful result put Arsenal back in winning ways, especially after Chelsea lost to Man City 1-2 on Sunday.

pictures by arsenal.com and premierleague.com

Unbeatable Winners into Final

2009-12-05T19:04:00.012+07:00

Lee Yong-dae celebrates semi-final win with his partner Jung Jae-sung

2008 Super Series Finals men's doubles finalists, Lee Yong-dae and Jung jae-sung, reaches the final of Super Series Finals as they shattered the dream of local favorites, Zakry Abdul Latif/Fairuzizuan Tazari, in just two sets, 21-18 and 21-11.

The former world number one will face Denmark's Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen whom they beat in China Open final last month. Boe/Mogensen vanquished Group A winner Guo Zhendong/Xu Chen of China 21-19, 21-17.

Lee Yong-dae/Jung Jae-sung hopes to win their first Super Series Finals title with assuring results in Group B. They topped Group B by winning all matches without even losing a set. Boe/Mogensen were in the second position of Group B. Thus, no Group A contenders play in the final.

This final will be easier for Lee/Jung since the defending champions Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong were on the third position in Group A.

In women's singles, Wong Mew Choo achieves her first final in her Super Series Finals debute with a 21-10, 21-10 win over Yao Jie in the semi-final. Mew Choo only won a super series title, China Open 2007. Even though she was not ranked in top 8, she could play in Super Series Finals because many great players did not play.

Mew Choo will compete against unseeded Juliane Schenk in the final. In the semi-final, Schenk ousted top seed Sania Nehwal of India with a 21-18, 21-18 victory.

Local favorite Lee Chong Wei progresses to men's singles final after beating last year finalist Peter Gade in just straight sets, 21-17 and 21-16. He will play Korean Park Sung-hwan who surprisingly eliminated Bao Chunlai of China 21-14, 21-14.

Other semi-final results:

Women's Doubles
Kamila Rytter Juhl (DEN) def. 2-Cheng Wen-Hsing/Chien Yu-Chin (TPE) 21-17, 10-21, 21-16
1-Wong Pei Tty/Chin Eei Hui (MAS) def. Duanganong Aroonkesorn/Kuchala Worawichitchaikul (THA) 21-15, 21-18

Mixed Doubles
Diju V/Jwala Gutta (IND) def. Robert Mateusiak/Nadiezka Kostiuczyk (POL) 21-19, 21-11
Joachim Fischer Nielsen/Christinna Pedersen (DEN) def. Anthony Clark/Donna Kellogg (ENG) 21-13, 21-17

picture by internationalbadminton.org

Lost But Advance to Semi-finals

2009-11-28T16:44:00.014+07:00

Roger Federer wipes sweat when he plays against Juan Martin del Potro

Both Roger Federer and Robin Soderling lost in their last match of their group but they progress to the semi-final of ATP World Tour Finals. Both topped the group with 2 points. Federer failed to revenge his loss to Juan Martin del Potro in US Open 2009 final as he was conquered 2-6, 7-6 (5), and 6-3, while Soderling was defeated by Nikolay Davydenko 6-7 (4), 6-4, and 3-6.

Del Potro's Win Knocks Murray Out

In the group A, following Andy Murray's 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3) victory over Fernando Verdasco this afternoon, the only scenario that could see Murray miss out was a del Potro win in three sets.

That would then see the three players tied on match wins and sets won and lost, with the semi-finalists decided on percentage of games won.

And it all came down to one game, with Federer winning the group and del Potro pipping Murray courtesy of his 45 games won to 43 lost, while the Scot's record read 44-43.

"I knew if I won the match then there was only one way I couldn't go through, and that was del Potro winning in three sets and then I think it would go down to the games won," Murray said after the match.

"I just had to focus on winning and then there's a very slim chance of me going out."

Unfortunately for Murray, that slim chance proved to be the reality as Del Potro won the final set with the only score that would put Murray out - 6-3.

Federer said: "There are certain rules and these are the rules. Sometimes unfortunate, sometimes fortunate.

"This time they're very hard for Murray, who didn't get through, but he got so close. How can we imagine that we all play three sets and it comes down to a couple of games?"

World Number Two in the Bottom of Group B

In the Group B, world number two Rafael Nadal as he went down 6-7 (5), 3-6 to Novak Djokovic. Nadal, suffered back injury in the second set, exits the tournament without having won even one set.

Meanwhile, Djokovic, who was successful in Paris Masters and Basel by beating Nadal and Federer in the finals, did not qualify to the semi-final. The Serb's game percent was worse than Soderling's and Davydenko's.

Federer vs. Davydenko and Soderling vs. del Potro in Semi-finals

Davydenko will set up a semi-final clash with the four-times Tennis Masters Cup champion Federer today. He is hopeful to beat Federer. But his head-to-head against Federer is bad. He never won a match against the world number one for their 12 meetings. Moreover, Federer has won 14 straight sets against Davydenko.

In the night session, Group B winner Soderling will take on del Potro. Soderling, who play in the ATP World Tour Finals because he replaces world number six Andy Roddick who withdrew, tied 1-1 with del Potro in their winning record.

Group A Final Standings

1. (1)Roger Federer 2-1
2. (5)Juan Martin del Potro 2-1
3. (4)Andy Murray 2-1
4. (7)Fernando Verdasco 0-3

Group B Final Standings

1. (8)Robin Soderling 2-1
2. (6)Nikolay Davydenko 2-1
3. (3)Novak Djokovic 2-1
4. (2)Rafael Nadal 0-3

* () = seed

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bbc

picture by reuters

Federer Masters Murray

2009-11-25T13:43:00.012+07:00

Murray congratulates Federer

London (11/24) - Roger Federer will end this year as world number one as he outclassed British Andy Murray 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the ATP World Tour Finals second round robin match.

The O2 Arena, with hardly an empty seat, gave both players a rapturous welcome and they were immediately rewarded with a fabulous opening point, an epic baseline rally eventually won by Federer when Murray mis-hti a forehand so badly it hit the scoreboard.

The Swiss was broken twice as Murray, who also hit six aces, wrapped up the first set. But Federer upped his game in the second set and made a decisive break in game six to level the match at 1-1.

Murray's serve, which had been so dominant early on, faltered as Federer broke threee times to wrap up the win.

"I played a great match and him as well. I'm glad it lived up to the expectation. Andy was playing well and I couldn't get a proper read on hsi first serve. He's also one of the best returners in the game and when you're behind against the top guys it's not easy. But's it's a huge improvement and gives me confidence," said Federer, the 15-time Grand Slam champion.

Juan Martin del Potro beat Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 3-6. 7-6 (1) in the earlier match.

The result leaves Federer top of Group A with two wins while Murray is in second place with one win and one defeat.

Neither man is guaranteed a place in the semi-finals but his victory guarantees Federer will end the year as world number one.

Group B Monday (11/23) results:

Robin Soderling def. Rafael Nadal 6-4. 6-4
Novak Djokovic def. Nikolay Davydenko 3-6, 6-4, 7-5

Federer drinks water during a match against Murray

bbc
pictures by reuters

Arsenal 2-0 Standard Liege

2009-11-25T13:40:00.015+07:00

Arsenal won Champions League Group H with something to spare after dismissing Standard Liege 2-0 at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night.

After taking 10 points from their opening four games, Arsenal were virtually through before kick-off anyway. This result just rubber-stamped their passports for the Knockout Stages.

Arsenal were pressing after the kick-off. A goal seemed likely. It should have arrived five times in the 15th minute.

It all started when Fabregas took a corner, and Arshavin's point-blank shot was saved. Then Vela's collected the rebound and planted the ball against the post. Then Gallas had two efforts blocked by the keeper. And finally Vermaelen's vicious shot beat everyone, hit Arshavin on the line and flew wide.

On the half-hour, Gallas nudged a header over the bar from a Fabregas cross. The Frenchman clashed heads with Arshavin in executing the chance. Both players needed lengthy treatment. The Russian had gash on the top of his head and Gallas had swollen eye worthy of a heavyweight boxer.

The home side had not yet returned to 11 men when they took the lead. Given the bizarre events so far, it was relatively mundane. Vermaelen punted the ball forward towards Nasri and Landry Mulemo, the covering defender, slipped as he tried to intercept. The Frenchman pounced then lifted his shot over the keeper and into the far corner of the net at the 35th minute.

It was so nearly 2-0 a couple of minutes later. Nasri slipped a clever ball to Arshavin who drove a low shot inches past the keeper's left-hand post.

Fabregas nearly rubbed salt in the wound seconds later when he whistled a low drive across goal and beyond the far post.

On the whistle, Gibbs tapped the ball to Denilson 25 yards out. He took a touch, looked up and thumped it. Keeper Sinan Bolat, so brilliant early on, could only parry the ball into his own net. Nevertheless it was an excellent strike.

Denilson celebrates his goal

In the second half, Arsenal makes two substitutions: Gallas to Mikhail Silvestre and Nasri to Theo Walcott. However, no goals were created. At the 87th minute, Standard played with 10 men after Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez was given a red card. He had been going head to head with Fabregas.

But Fabregas was also handed a yellow card for that action.

Finally, Arsenal qualified to the next stage after winning in the first half and keeping Standard under control.

That was the only concern on a crushingly comfortable night at Emirates Stadium.

arsenal.com
pictures by arsenal.com

Defending Champions Reign in Shanghai

2009-11-22T16:10:00.027+07:00

Lee Yong-dae and his partner Jung Jae-sung celebrate win

Shanghai - Defending champions dominate China Open final as they won four events. Last year winners are Lee Yong-dae/Lee Hyo-jung, Yong-dae/Jung Jae-sung, Lin Dan, Jiang Yanjiao, and Zhao Tingting/Zhang Yawen. This time, only women's doubles winner is different - Tian Qing partnering with Zhang.

Great Lee Yong-dae

Lee Hyo-jung and Lee Yong-dae reacts during a match against Zheng Bo and Ma Jin

It was a perfect fairy-tale ending for Yong-dae in China, earning two titles from mixed doubles and men's doubles. Yong-dae, pairing with Hyo-jung, prevailed over local favorite Zheng Bo/Ma Jin who beat the Koreans four times this year.

The world number one pair claim their first title after 2-months absence with a 21-18, 15-21, 21-15 win in 1 hour 16 minutes. They always led the match in the final set as Zheng/Ma only equalized one times 14-14.

Two hours later, Yong-dae was back on court to play his second final of the day. With Jae-sung, he challenged world number one Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong.

The Koreans and Malaysians each gave their best to win the match, which featured rallies lasting even longer than the women’s doubles. Kien Keat and Boon Heong returned smash after punishing smash from the second seeds as Yong-dae/Jae-sung finally outshone the Malaysians 21-13, 19-21, 21-18 and win their second title in a row. That proves the number twos are better than Kien Keat/Boon Heong.

"Today I'm very happy that I had a great match today. It can be considered a world class game. I'm very happy of our performance even if we lost," said Kien Keat at the press conference.

Yong-dae said that the match was fun: "Koo and Tan's defense is very good and that really got the fans going. It was very tiring and if we hadlost, we would have really regretted it. Overall, it was really a fun match to play."

Yong-dae has collected 4 China Open titles.

Too Good for Jorgensen

Lin Dan poses with Jan O Jorgensen

China's best men's singles player Lin Dan was too strong for unexperienced Jan O Jorgensen. Lin Dan triumphed over the Danish in an easy 38-minute two sets, 21-12, 21-12.

"I feel that this year, compared to other men's singles players on BW circuit, my results were not the best," said Lin Dan.

'This is mainly because Bao Chunlai won four competitions and I also won four and same for Lee Chong Wei. Everything was quite balanced. But for me, in 2009, I am very happy that I had a smooth sailing year."

However, what Lin Dan said is not quite right since his teammate Bao Chunlai only won 3 titles this year.

"Winning a home is always a great feelinga nd I am glad I did as I had some injuries before the tournament. It's the end of the year and I am quite satisfied with my performance after the Olympics.

"I've grown to be a better player from 2004 to 2008, and now, I am also seking to be even better. I feel like I still have a lot in me and I would like to prepare the best I can for London Olympics," stated Lin Dan.

All-Chinese Women's Finals

Hong Kong Open finalist, Jiang Yanjiao, ends her title drough in 2009 as she gains women's singles title. She repeated her last-year success in China with a victory 21-19, 22-20 over unseeded Wang Xin.

Zhang Yawen/Tian Qing humbled 2008 Olympic gold medalists, Yu Yang/Du Jing, 21-14, 21-14. This win may delay Zhang's retirement as she has planned a retirement because of several injuries.

badzine
internationalbadminton

pictures by badzine.info and internationalbadminton

Satisfactory Saturday

2009-11-21T15:11:00.020+07:00

Shanghai - Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung produce a satisfying result in China Open semi-final as they reached their first final after two-month absence. Nevertheless, the top seeds had to strove hard to shatter the dream of Thailand's last and only hopes, Songpol Anukritayawan and Kuchala Worawichitchaikul.

Yong-dae (21) and Hyo-jung (28) beat Songpol/Kuchala 21-13, 20-22, and 21-15 to oppose. In fact, the Olympic gold medalists had led 20-19 in the second set, but seventh-seeded Songpol and Kuchala chased the points and won the second set 22-20. In the third set, Yong-dae/Hyo-jung controlled the match since they left Songpol/Kuchala 5-2.

Next Yong-dae/Hyo-jung will have a final showdown with world number three who are seeded second, Zheng Bo/Ma Jin.

Yong-dae Mighty Is He Lee Yong-dae

Once again, Lee Yong-dae showed how mighty he is as he and Jung Jae-sung join in the men's doubles final. Yong-dae played six sets and two deuces in a day: three sets and a deuce in mixed doubles as well as in men's doubles.

Next the world number two will give a real test for Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong whether Kien Keat/Boon Heong deserve world number one title or not.

Yong-dae/Jae-sung, two-time world championship finalists, outstripped fourth-seeded Carsten Mogensen and Mathias Boe with a tough 21-16, 19-21, 23-21 triumph in an hour 19 minutes.

The Korean pair was left behind 3-10 in the final set and trailed behind, equalizing 13-13 and 16-16 before they began to chase point after point to 23-21 win.

Contrary to 2008 All England champions' difficult victory, 2007 All England winners -Kien Keat/Boon Heong easily advance to the final after 21-15, 21-13 win over unseeded Chen Hong-Ling/Lin Yu-Lang in just 26 minutes.

“We do not have a good record against them. The last time we played against them was in the Malaysian Open this year and we were beaten in the semi-finals," Boon Heong commented about the final against the Koreans, quoted from thestar.

Seeded vs. Unseeded

Home player, second-seeded Lin Dan, will have a duel with unseeded Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark in the men's singles final. Lin Dan, who has a group of prestigious title such as Olympic gold medal, world champion for three times in a row, and four-times All England champion, mastered Korean Park Sung-hwan 21-10, 21-11.

Meanwhile, O Jorgensen, who never win even one first-rate title, made a big effort to hinder all-Chinese final as he brought disappointment to Lin Dan's countryman Chen Jin 11-21, 21-18, and 22-20.

Saturday (11/22) Semi-final Results:

Women's singles

6-Jiang Yanjiao (CHN) def. Wang Shixian (CHN) 21-17, 21-14

Wang Xin (CHN) def. Li Xuerui (CHN) 21-19. 21-19

Women's doubles

6-Tian Qing/Zhang Yawen (CHN) def. 3-Wong Pei Tty/Chin Eei Hui (MAS) 21-17, 21-8

2-Yu Yang/Du Jing (CHN) def. 4-Ma Jin/Wang Xiaoli (CHN) 22-20, 21-18

Songpol/Kuchala Challenges Top Seeds

2009-11-20T20:11:00.010+07:00

Thailand's Japan Open winners, Songpol Anukritayawan/Kuchala Worawichitchaikul, will challenge Korea's world number one pair of Korea, Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung, after subduing Chen Hong-Ling/Chou Chia-Chi in tough three sets, 11-21, 21-17. and 21-16.

Yong-dae and Hyo-jung cruise to the semi-final with a straight-set 21-18, 21-15 win over China's Tao Jiaming/Tian Qing in 41 minutes. 2008 Olympic gold medalists are looking for their third title of this year.

Local players Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei and world number three Zheng Bo/Ma Jin also progress to the semi-final. Zhang/Zhao beat Indonesian tough new pair Lilyana Natsir/Devin Lahardi 21-14, 14-21, and 21-14 while Zheng/Ma defeated Taiwan's Lee Sheng-Mu/Chien Yu-Chin 21-12, 21-16. Lilyana used to be Nova Widhianto's partner and Devin was Lita Nurlita's.

Yong-dae Fabulous He Lee Yong-dae

As usual, 21-year-old Lee Yong-dae has a good stamina and wonderful performance that he is able to reach two semi-finals. In the men's doubles, Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung (27) overpowered home players, Guo Zhendong/Xu Chen 21-14 and 21- to compete against fourth seeds, Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen.

However, Yong-dae/Jae-sung's success is not followed by countrymen Shin Baek-cheol/Cho Gun-woo. Baek-cheol and Gun-woo, both of whom had been Yong-dae's partners, bowed down to Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong after giving a tough fight. Kien Keat and Boon Heong struggled hard before winning the match 15-21, 21-18, 21-18.

Singles' Semi-final-Ticket Bookers

In the men's singles another Korean player, Park Sung-hwan, has the opportunity to meet one of the world's best badminton players, Lin Dan. Sixth-seeded Park needed to pay the semi-final ticket with a marathon match against China's Du Pengyu, 23-21, 18-21, and 21-14, in an hour and 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, world champion Lin Dan just needed 37 minute to humble Indonesian Simon Santoso in a comfortable 21-12, 21-12 win. In the top half, Lin Dan's teammate Chen Jin defeated Simon's teammate, Sony Dwi Kuncoro, 21-16, 15-21, and 21-12, to take on Danish Jan O Jorgensen.

O Jorgensen, who shocked top seed Lee Chong Wei by giving Lee a first round exit, continued his success to the last four after prevailing over Thailand's number one Boonsak Ponsana 21-11, 21-19.

In the women's singles, Wong Mew Choo failed to prevent all-Chinese semi-final by surrendering to China's Wang Shixian 10-21, 22-24. Mew Choo, the China Open 2007 winner, led 11-7 in the second set and left Wang 20-19 and 22-21. Nonetheless, she could not maintain her position and let Wang equalized the score 22 all and then won 24-22.

Wang will play the only seeded player, Jiang Yanjiao, in the semi-final. In the bottom half, qualifier Li Xuerui stunned world champion Lu Lan in only two sets, 21-17, 21-19, to face Wang Xin in the semi-final.

ATP World Tour Final Opening Match

2009-11-20T19:57:00.008+07:00

Roger Federer poses with car prize in Shanghai after winning Tennis Masters Cup 2007 against David Ferrer

British Andy Murray will open the first day of ATP World Tour Final with a match against 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in the afternoon round robin match on Sunday (11/22). The following match will be world number one and four-time Tenis Masters cup champion, Roger Federer, facing Fernando Verdasco in the evening session.

Federer, Murray, Del Potro, and Verdasco are in a Group A.

Spanish world number two Rafael Nadal will play Swede Robin Soderling in a Group B match on Monday as defending champion Novak Djokovic will meet last year finalist Nikolay Davydenko during Monday's evening session.

Shining in Shanghai

2009-11-19T20:33:00.057+07:00

Shanghai - Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung, who completed their revenge to Fran Kurniawan and Pia Zebadiah 21-11 and 21-14 in the first round, successfully passed the second-round test from Flandy Limpele and Cheng Wen-Hsing with a 18-21, 21-17, and 21-7 triumph. In the quarter-final, the world number one will confront Tao Jiaming and Tian Qing of China.

Lee Yong-dae also shines in the men's doubles. He and Jung Jae-sung also progress to the quarter-final following a 22-20 and 21-13 victory over Tao and Sun Junjie in just 31 minutes.

Another Chinese pair who stand in their way are Guo Zhendong and Xu Chen, who sank Indonesia's Rian Sukmawan and Yonathan Suryatama Dasuki 21-17 and 21-19.

Astonishingly, former world number one Hendra Setiawan and Markis Kido crashed out to Fang Chieh-Min and Lee Sheng-Mu 19-21, 21-11, and 21-15. The Taiwanese pair will meet fellow countrymen, Chen Hung-Ling and Lin Yu-Lang.

Another teammate clash happens in other quarter-final match. Last week Hong Kong finalists Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen will face Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen.

Meanwhile, at the top of the draw, Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong are challenged by Korea's young Shin Baek-cheol and Cho Gun-woo.

Local Favorite Lin Dan Marches On

Defending champion Lin Dan moves to the quarter-final of China Open Super Series after defeating his junior Chen Long 21-12 and 21-15 in 38 minutes. Next, he will play Indonesia's Simon Santoso.

Also through to the quarter-finals are two other local players, Chen Jin and Du Pengyu. Fourth seed Chen will meet another Indonesian, Sony Dwi Kuncoro, while Du will face the tough Korean Park Sung-hwan, who beat Wong Choong Hann 21-15, 21-16 previously.

In the topmost half, Jan O Jorgensen, who surpassed Lee Chong Wei in the first round, will play against Thailand's number one Boonsak Ponsana.

Wong Mew Choo among 7 Chinese

After an unsatisfactory run in Hong Kong, Wong Mew Choo surprisingly stunned the world number one from China, Wang Yihan, in an only straight-set match, 21-18 and 21-17. However, she is surrounded by other seven quarter-finalists, who have the advantage of playing in their own homeland. Wong will take on China Masters winner, Wang Shixian, who defeated Maria Kristin of Indonesia.

Besides Lu Lan, Wang Xin, and sixth-seeded Jiang Yanjiao, three qualifiers made it to the quarters as well. Unexpected Xia Jingyun ousted seventh seed Saina Nehwal; Wang Xin downed second-seeded Tine Rasmussen, and Lu Lan eliminated her higher-ranked junior, Wang Lin.

Four of eight quarter-final berths for the women's doubles have been captured by local players: Cheng Shu/Zhao Yunlei (seeded 1), Yu Yang/Du Jing (2), Ma Jin/Wang Xiaoli (4), and Tian Qing/Zhang Yawen (6).

The rest are taken by Ha Jung-eun/Lee Kyung-won, Duanganong Aroonkesorn/Kuchala Worawichitchaikul, Wong Pei Tty/Chin Eei Hui, and Wang Pei-Rong/Chien Yu-Chin.

pictures by koreabadminton.org and internationalbadminton.org