CHINA MASTERS SF - Checkmate for Chen Again in Changzhou

Boonsak Ponsana (pictured) became the lone holdout to Chinese monopolization Sunday's finals at the 2009 Li Ning China Masters Super Series. Boonsak edged his way past Chen Jin but the mighty Lin Dan will try to ensure that the men's singles title stays home with the other four, which are already booked for China.

By Don Hearn, Badzine Correspondent. Photos: BadmintonPhoto (archives)

It was déjà vu for Chen Jin as once again he fell at home to Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana. It was just over two years ago that Jin was one of three Chens to fall in the first round of the China Masters. Things looked to be different this time around as the 2009 edition began with the perpetrator of one of those three upsets, Wong Choong Hann, being beaten in Round 1 by a new Chinese start of the same family name, Philippine Open champion Chen Long. The home nation, meanwhile, was on its way to setting up five all-Chinese finals for Sunday.

Things started to look dim in the first game, though, as Boonsak Ponsana was in control from the very start and raced to a 20-11 lead. Chen looked menacing as he erased the first five game points but Boonsak finally got the attacking opportunity he needed and took the one-game lead.

The Thai then gave away the second game, allowing Chen to score the last nine points in a row to win it 21-4. Boonsak was back with a vengeance in the decider, jumping out to a 7-1 lead, but Chen was not going to go quietly and kept plugging away, weathering a close line call against him, until he'd turned the tides to lead 14-13. Boonsak got back in the driver's seat right away, making minimal errors with his precision net play and astounding defense, but could not put any real distance between himself and the World Championship runner-up. Still, the Thai put together a few lightning-quick net rushes and earned himself two match points, winning on the second of these to book a spot in his second Super Series final of the year, where he awaits the winner of the Olympic final rematch.

The rest of the day was all China. The home team had already corralled the twelve semi-final berths available in mixed doubles and both women’s events but, while the day began with an outside chance that China would be absent from both men’s finals, only the most diehard Korean and Malaysian fans dared hope for as much.

Soon after Boonsak won his ticket, Korea’s Yoo Yeon Seong / Cho Gun Woo took a shot at repeat World Champions Cai Yun / Fu Haifeng. The Chinese pair stepped onto the court having trounced Korea’s #3 pair the previous day and in fact, since the wave of post-Athens retirements, Cai/Fu had never been beaten by any Korean pair that didn’t include Jung Jae Sung. Still, the young Koreans made the most of their second-ever Super Series semi-final and smashed their way to a first-game victory. The second and third games went more as expected, however, and the Chinese led from start to finish, keeping the Koreans under too much pressure, despite flashes of brilliance from the underdogs. Cho/Yoo continued to fight to the bitter end but the 2007 champions came out on top of the 16-21, 21-16, 21-15 contest.

Third-seeded Choong Tan Fook / Lee Wan Wah of Malaysia went relatively tamely. They didn’t have the polish they needed on their shots or their court movement in the first game and although they kept things closer in the second, they still came out on the losing end of Xu/Guo’s 21-12, 21-19 win.

Malaysia’s luck could not change with world #1 Lee Chong Wei, either. After a neck-and-neck first game, which Lin Dan finally snatched 22-20, the next two were simply one-sided. If Lee did not allow Lin to lead in the second game, though, the Olympic Champion was absolutely dominant in the decider, scoring a preposterous 11 straight to finish the match.

The veterans may have had their day in Hyderabad last month, but it was time for youth to take over in Changzhou. First, it was twenty-year-old Wang Lin (pictured above) stopping 23-year-old Xin short of her first ever Super Series final with a 21-13, 14-21, 21-12 win. Then came the even more impressive upset of brand new World Champion Lu Lan by 19-year-old Wang Shixian. The Malaysia GP Gold champion thus earned her spot in her second final of the year but it will be an even more formidable Wang in her path this time.

Women’s doubles went just as expected and there were two minor upsets in the mixed events. All England champions He/Yu tried desperately to push their semi-final to a third game but Xie Zhongbo / Zhang Yawen (pictured) finally capped it off 21-13, 26-24.

The ubiquitous red flags on the starting draws for this year’s China Masters suggested this even before the tournament began but Boonsak Ponsana will be the only evidence on Sunday that the Chinese Nationals did not simply start early. Still, while international drama may be lacking, no one can deny that finals day will showcase the finest quality badminton.

For complete results from the 2009 Li Ning China Masters Super Series semi-finals, please CLICK HERE

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