ALL ENGLAND 2009 - Fond Memories

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The All England is more than just a tournament. There is a mystique that surrounds the event that draws the best players from all over the world. You can rest assured that if a player misses the All England its down to one of two reasons, that player is either injured or secondly their home federation forgot to enter them. This is the tournament everyone wants to participate in and ultimately win. 2009 was a bumper year for the tournament as all the top players and partnerships attended and with the Chinese making a welcomed return to competitive action after their three-month hiatus, all eyes were firmly fixed on the NIA, Birmingham, England.

By Mark Phelan (main photo)

I made the short hop on ‘Ruinair’ flight FR 'whatever' on Tuesday morning last in what has become my annual pilgrimage to the All England. I was please to see that ‘Ruinair’ were continuing to serve chicken and chicken sandwiches, which I first encountered a few weeks ago when I travelled to the European Championships in Liverpool with my good friend Scott Evans. But I suppose I can't complain. The flight was practically free even if I could not bring my laptop bag or many of the items I needed to stay somewhat clean for the duration of my stay.

Qualification and me: I don’t know what it is but qualification day holds an animal type magnetism over me and it is probably the part of the tournament I enjoy most. Some of it has to do with the number of courts

and top class badminton on view and more of it has to do with the fact than some of the players on view have become my friends over the past few years.

My friend and fellow chicken and chicken sandwich eater, Scott Evans (photo right), took to the court early on Tuesday morning against English national champ Rajiv Ouseph in what was a repeat of the Irish International final from December, 2008. I suppose that it is an instant measurement of how big this All England was as a first round qualification match was a repeat of a EBU International Challenge final only a few months previous.

I was anxious for Scott as I knew this would be a benchmark to measure his current development. Ouseph won the Irish International in two sets and this time it was Scott’s turn. He won in three sets and on this occasion displayed a maturity and calmness that I had net seen from Scott before. This was a proud moment for me as I know the work and effort Scott puts into his game. The last time I walked around with a smile on my face that big and a fullness in my heart was way way back in the eighties when an Irishman took silver in the marathon at the L.A. Olympics. Don’t laugh!! We don’t get much to cheer about very often in Ireland.

Unfortunately Scott lost out to Anand Pawar of India in three sets in the final qualification match, which was a big disappointment and without going into detail I'm sure Scott knows in his heart that he beat himself that day and Pawar didn’t beat him. But knowing Scott, he will work to overcome those issues and his day will come.

There was one more personal disappointment for me that qualification day as another badminton friend fell at the first hurdle. HK Vittinghus (photo left) was defeated by Kestitus Navickas in three sets but he was narrowly

beaten playing as badly as I have seen HK play in a long while. I am a firm believer that the glass is always half full so it's strangely comforting to me that he was beaten so narrowly playing so poorly. HK is a guy who pushes himself hard and in a year has once again pushed up the world rankings after a serious knee injury. I feel comfortable in saying that his day will come and what matters even more is that he knows his day will come.

On a positive qualification note, another player whom I feel a close infinity to, Nanna Brosolat Jensen, won both her qualification matches to advance to the main draw. Little did we know at that point that Nanna would be the centre of All England attention for many days to come.

As we entered the main draw, English hopes were promptly dashed as Nathan Robertson was forced to retire due to a bout of the flu. His withdrawal effectively ruined any slim English hopes of a medal as with it went their chances in the mixed doubles and the men’s doubles with partner Anthony Clark.

Danish Delight: Round one drew a few surprises as Zhu Lin and Przemyslaw Wacha bit the dust early but out of the corner of our collective media eyes we were noticing that the practically unknown Nanna Brosolat (photo right) had beaten Scottish stalwart and world number 26 Susan Hughes. The win was duly no

ted and filed away.

It was in round two that the action really kicked into gear. It was the young Dane's turn again to catch the eyes of the world’s media as, in the biggest win of her career to date, she beat number 4 seed from France, Pi Hongyan. Many more experienced badminton minds than mine commentated that Pi suffered an ‘off day’ that day but I have seen Nanna play many times over the past year and take it from me that she went and won that game. I remember her face after that match and she actually didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, celebrate or stay calm. I remember in a short conversation with Nanna the week prior to the All England and after her first round defeat in Germany, saying to her that one day it would all come together, that one day she would wake up and it would all click and she would beat a player inside the world's top ten. Little did I know that it would happen just a week later.

I remember about this time last year being in Copenhagen and visiting the national training centre in Bronby. I walked in and there was Nanna Brosolat on her own practising with dozens of shuttles scattered around her. At that point I knew I knew it would be only a matter of time before she broke through. If you work that hard, the rewards are sure to follow at some point. Since then I have interviewed and profiled her for Badzine and have followed her career both at the club and international level. She is everything I admire in a player. She works as if her life depends on it, her honesty and integrity are second to none and her dedication to her profession amazes me to the point where I stand in awe of her. This was a massive breakthrough for Nanna and I hope she now goes on to show the world the qualities she has both as a player and a person. The world of badminton needs personalities like this. It was also a pleasure for me to hand Nanna a nice 10x8 photo of the moment she won the match against PI Hongyan and I hope she keeps that photo as a memento of the occasion. Hopefully, every now and again she will pull that photo out to remind herself of the biggest win of her career to date.

Cross Border Co-operation: Quarter-finals days was upon us and we could hardly believe the feast of badminton that was laid on for us. Taufik vs. Gade stood out on paper as the tie of the round but for me it was the match in the mixed doubles draw between Flandy Limpele/ Anastasia Russkikh (photo left) and world number 1 Nova Widianto / Liliyana Natsir. This was a big day for the Indonesian/Russian pair and even a bigger day for me as along with my friend and colleague Raphael we put this pair together. Back at the French Super Series in October 2008 we knew that both players were looking for partners. I have always admired Flandy as a gentleman and a player and Anastasia, in my opinion, is one of the best exponents of female mixed play in the world. This combination worked in my head so we decided to introduce them. After an early exit in the Korean Super Series, the pair managed a decent semi-final finish at the German Open just prior to the All England. I knew it was a just a matter of time before they would claim a major scalp. And pretty much like Nanna did against Pi Hongyan before them they went out and beat the world number one pairing to book their place in the All England semi-final. Again I was overjoyed but not nearly as overjoyed as Anastasia when I met her in the warm down area after. Flandy was just Flandy: cool calm and collected. He has been there and done all this before and his calming influence is a great match for the Russian's more bubbly temperament. We knew at that point we had created a dream pairing who are not only excellent players but also very marketable.

We lost many seeded entries on quarter-finals day including Xie Xingfang and Lu Lan in the women’s singles and Taufik sent Gade home to avenge his defeat in the French Super Series. The Olympic mixed doubles champions too were defeated but it was no surprise that it came at the hands of Chinese pair Zheng Bo and Ma Jin. As the seeds were falling, it was Nanna Brosolat who yet again was causing an NIA stir as she pulled off yet another giant killing exercise. The Dane was in seventh heaven as she beat Malaysian Julia Pei Xian Wong in a comfortable two sets to book and most unlikely semi-final spot. The talk was now all about whether we could possibly see an all-Danish Final as Tine Rasmussen had just beaten Yip Pui Yin to book her semi-final place and the most popular question around the media centre was ‘has a qualifier ever won an All England title’?

Drama.... but of course: Semi-finals day was upon us and all morning I wondered if semis day could provide as much drama as the previous day. The answer was YES, it surely could! All the drama from the previous day was today condensed into one truly magnificent game between Tine Rasmussen (photo right taken from actual game) and Jiang Yanjiao in the women’s singles semi-final. The Chinese shuttler stormed into a seemingly unassailable lead. She was up 1 game and 17-9 in the second and all looked lost for the defending champion. Was all hope lost for Rasmussen? Would she surrender her title this easily? The clear answer to these questions was a resounding NO. I count myself fortunate to have witnessed one of the greatest comebacks in All England history as the tall Dane reeled in her opponent and even at match point down managed to take the second game 25-23 to send the NIA crowd absolutely wild. Not only was I watching the match but it was light-heartedly funny to watch my Danish colleagues punch the air as if they had just won that game point. We badminton reporters we are certainly passionate about our sport! Tine went on to take the deciding game as her Chinese opponent looked out on her feet both mentally and physically. Another final for Rasmussen and the possibility of three Super Series wins in a row was now in the cards.

My dreams of an all-Danish final were dashed as Nanna finally succumbed to the skill of eventual winner Wang Yihan of China at the semi-final stage. But the whole of Europe can be proud of her achievements and I’m sure it lifted some of the weight off the shoulders of Tine Rasmussen too.

Back to the action on court and the eagerly anticipated replay of last year's final between Lin Dan and Chen Jin was on everybody’s lips. Lin Dan took the opening set in easy fashion and when Chen Jin retired midway through the second set it was apparent that the Chinese defending champion was in payback mode after his compatriot helped him to achieve qualification for last year's Olympics, well that’s the cynic's view anyway. If Chen Jin has a back problem I certainly wish him a very speedy recovery.

Finally on semi-finals day I was like a teacher watching his pupils take an exam as Flandy and Anastasia took to the court in an attempt to get to the All England final. This was not to be their day as they went down in straight sets 21-12, 21-14 to eventual winners He Hanbin and Yu Yang from China. While I was disappointed they lost I was equally amazed at the power of He Hanbin. This guy has a smash to die for and he can pull them off one after another. Anastasia and Flandy just did not have any answers to his power on this day.

Beijing Revisited: As we entered finals day, the only thing on everyone’s lips was the rematch from the Beijing Olympic men’s singles final between Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei (photo left). The game offered everything but it was once again Lin Dan’s day. Both players gave a mesmerising master class of badminton but the Malaysian was once again beaten by probably the greatest men’s singles player in the history of the game. Am I being a bit presumptuous in saying that? I don’t think so as I believe he is just that. He has won everything worth winning and he is now going for second helpings! The game needs Lin Dan so long may he continue! At his press conference afterward, we noticed a much more relaxed Lin Dan compared to last year. He was in good mood and very engaging to all journalists. He laughed and joked as he asked everyone to make it as quick as they could as he needed to go shopping. He reiterated that he wants to remain in the game and be as good as an ambassador for the sport as he possible can. It is my opinion that he can do no more than keep playing the way he is playing and that alone he does more for the sport than any multi-million-pound marketing campaign.

Tine failed in her attempt to win back-to-back All England titles as fatigue set in and she had no real answers to the power and control of Wang Yihan. In the men’s doubles, Cai and Fu (photo right) popped in to say hello after a long absence and walked away with the title yet again. What an explosive pair they are and an absolute joy to watch!

5 titles and History: It was to be a bumper day for China as for the first time in modern All England history, one nation took a clean sweep of all 5 titles. It's hard to actually comprehend this achievement as all the best players in the world were in Birmingham this week. When I sit back and think about it, I come to the conclusion that quite simply China has become untouchable in the sport of badminton. But I’m sure that only acts as a catalyst for the rest of the world to try and catch up.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my colleagues in the media centre who make life so much easier in sometimes trying conditions ( I still prefer wired internet, guys). A big thanks to William Kings and his staff for all their efforts and to my colleagues at Badminton Photo and Badzine. What a bunch we are! Next year I hope that the NIA manages to sort out that dodgy lift as I would hate to have to see Crystal eat pot noodles while camped out in that lift overnight (private joke).

Highlights for me were certainly Nanna’s run to the semi-final after playing 6 games in 5 days and of course the coming of age of the fledgling partnership of Flandy and Anastasia. To end, I will just say to all who read this…. We all have a list of things to do before we plop our clogs on this earth… If I were you I would add a trip to the All England to that list. You will not regret it.

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