YONEX SUNRISE SS MASTERS FINALS Preview

YONEX SUNRISE SS MASTERS FINALS Preview - $500,000: Who Wants it?

Malaysian hospitality is rolled out for the second year running at badminton's Yonex Sunrise Super Series Masters Finals, which kick off on December 2nd in Johor Bahru, at the southern tip of West Malaysia. For half a week, this city will transform into one of the more exciting places on earth and be known for other than Singaporeans flocking across the border for a banquet on a budget.

By Aaron Wong, Badzine Correspondent. Photos: BadmintonPhoto

This event is being greeted with ostensible apathy from some quarters and struggles to solidify its identity. Each discipline tells a different story.

Overall, there hasn’t been an electric tension in the air regarding qualification. No huge anticipation matched to grand ambitions; no anxious countdown towards the date nor year-long preparations. No player has made bold pronouncements of their supreme desire to win it unlike in the lead-up to an Olympics or World Championships or the All England.

These finals offer zero ranking points. Isn't that a flaw in the plan?

Would Say No

Actions speak louder than words. Badminton superpowers China and Indonesia have, respectively, made the following week's East Asian and Southeast Asian Games their priority and the impact of this decision is felt particularly in the women’s categories. Overnight, this year’s World Champion Lu Lan withdrew thus leaving the entire competition devoid again of Chinese female participation. Malaysia’s Wong Mew Choo (pictured) now fills the gap in the women’s singles list.

China may require the services of their singles stars Wang Yihan, Wang Lin, Jiang Yanjiao and Lu Lan a week later in Hong Kong but that hardly explains why they their other Super Series winner Wang Shixian or two-time finalist Wang Xin were not released to do battle.

Last year’s winner Zhou Mi and runner-up Wang Chen, both of Hong Kong, are also not attending. This is interesting because Zhou is an independent player and since this tournament has the biggest prize purse of all and all the players that can potentially trouble her are missing so she would have had a better than even chance of earning a pretty packet again. Yao Jie of the Netherlands, who has suffered from national funding cutbacks of late, has a favourable draw through to the semi-finals if she can maintain her stamina.

How unfortunate that this tournament launches with more hype about who is not attending! It is noteworthy because these countries choose not to attend when they are clearly the best in the world.

Women's Doubles: Four World #1's Missing

China unquestionably boasts the top women’s doubles combinations and there is even a class divide amongst them. Cheng Shu / Zhao Yunlei rose to prominence and world #1 after the Olympics and have been able to sweep aside most others but go down in straight games to their compatriots - World Junior Champions turned dominant seniors Wang Xiaoli / Ma Jin and Olympic gold medallists Du Jing / Yu Yang, and a level above them seems to be veteran Zhang Yawen, who won this year’s All England and World Championships with Zhao Tingting and then the recent China Open with her fourth new partner (in less than 18 months) Qing Tian.

The Super Series Finals still feature defending champions Chin Ee Hui / Wong Pei Tty of Malaysia and Taiwan’s Cheng Wen Hsing / Chien Yu Chin, both pairs having touched world #1 in 2009. This further contrasts with the quality of the rest of the pack in contention in Johor Bahru now. How significant is a final without any of the 4 Chinese pairs? And how much quality is on display in the rest, who have never made it even into the world's top 5?

We are also deprived of watching the best women’s pair who, were good enough but, never to have made it to world #1. Korea’s Olympic silver medallists at Beijing and 2008 All England champions Lee Hyo Jung / Lee Kyung Won withdrew due to injury sustained by Hyo Jung at the weekend's Hwasun tournament. Previously, it was injury disappointment to Kyung Won that kept them showing their best at the last Olympics.

Asked whether she regretted being unable to play with her erstwhile women’s doubles partner, Lee Hyo Jung reminisced: “Of course, since it was to be the last time, we would have been delighted to play together again but it couldn’t be helped. In my career, I’ve had some great results in women’s doubles so I’m not so sorry to give it up to concentrate on mixed.”

Benefitting from all these absences is independent player and occasional badminton commentator Charmaine Reid of Canada (shown above with 2008 champions Chin/Wong) who, along with partner Nicole Grether of Germany, finds herself in the unique position of qualifying for both women’s singles and doubles.

To have Korea and China completely missing from a women’s doubles and singles fields is a terrible loss for players and fans.

Wouldn't Say No: Men's Singles

Twenty-one-year-old world #10 singles specialist Jan Jorgensen of Denmark agrees, “It is sad for the sport that almost all the best women’s singles players are from China and they don’t care at all about the Finals.”

It is the opposite in the men’s categories. Even discounting China’s participation, five of the eight men’s singles participants have featured in SS finals this year with two of them eventual winners.

"Men’s singles is pretty tough. A few players are not participating, Sony (Dwi Kuncoro), Simon (Santoso), Lin Dan, Chen Jin, but it’s still strong," says Jorgensen. Still on a youthful high from beating world #1 Lee Chong Wei and former world #1 Chen Jin in the last month, Jan rates himself as having good odds: “I know if I play my best I have a chance beating all the guys here. That’s a good feeling but I’m also aware that I need to play my best.”

Provided he does not mentally put the cart before the horse, Jorgensen’s wish is very possible as his round-robin campaign begins in Group B with Gade (DEN), Ponsana (THA), Park (KOR), all of whom he has beaten this year. Meanwhile, Group A promises to be even more competitive, with world #3 Taufik Hidayat (pictured) up against world #1 and local lad Lee Chong Wei and China's most credible threat in Johor Bahru, Bao Chunlai.

No Easy Matches: Men's Doubles

One half of the best Danish men’s doubles outfit at the moment, 2nd-seeded Mathias Boe (pictured), feels, “It’s a strong field in men’s doubles, so there will be no easy matches. We have being playing well lately, and are not afraid of anybody.

“We haven’t had the best trip until now. We did not know when we were going to Malaysia. Carsten and I requested to leave from Denmark on Saturday, but we didn’t receive any tickets by that morning and later found out we’d be leaving Sunday. It's not very professional.”

The Danes have the tougher pool, which includes World Championship silver medallists Jung Jae Sung / Lee Yong Dae of Korea. #1 seeds and defending champions Tan Boon Heong / Koo Kien Keat of Malaysia are the most experienced and talented pair in their pool, Group A. That said, the Malaysians’ obvious hurdle is Guo/Xu of China simply due to the mental strength of the Chinese while that is a quality the Malaysians do not possess in spades.

Near Perfect Multi-national Cast: Mixed Doubles

Since the passing of the Ra Kyung Min and Gao Ling eras, mixed doubles has become an open affair. Could the outcome be the white flag with the red cross, or the red flag with the white cross, or the red with white at the bottom, or the white with red at the bottom? Thailand, Korea, and India round off proceedings.

It is the last chance to see 2007 World Championship silver medallists Donna Kellogg and Anthony Clark play together before Kellog retires. Vita Marissa of Indonesia, showing she’s a force to be reckoned with, qualifies this time with Hendra Aprida Gunawan (pictured) as her partner instead of Flandy Limpele. The Indonesians were a strong last-minute addition to fill the space left when world #1 Lee/Lee withdrew.

Thailand is the only nation with two shots at winning with veterans Prapakamol/Thoungthongkam in one pool and newcomers Songphon Anugritayawon / Kunchala Voravichitchaikul (pictured top) in the next. Voravichitchaikul has the distinction of qualifying in two events last year and again this year.

The Best of the B The Best of Whoever's not Busy

Without a doubt, the Super Series Masters Finals is an opportunity to earn a living that cannot be passed up for independent players, and they are a growing bunch, notably Taufik Hidayat. Meanwhile, the state-sponsored players of China, Korea, and Indonesia can always afford not to go. It costs them nothing in ranking, nor are they ever expected to explain their absence from high-profile events.

When this tournament is over, it needs to be considered whether it is necessary. In the first year of the Super Series concept, the Masters Finals did not eventuate and in the two years since, it has barely registered a tremor on the badminton richter scale to fans or to players in a year already crammed with 12 major ranking events on top of special ones like the Olympics, the World Championships, or the Thomas/Uber Cups.

These finals need to be taken seriously to succeed. The question that remains is: is this tournament going to start mattering enough to players and those who control the players that it can actually live up to its name?

For complete draws and results for the 2009 Yonex Sunrise Super Series Masters Finals, CLICK HERE

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