Boonsak Ponsana (photo above) who had lost to Park Sung Hwan on Wednesday, must register a win on Friday to stay on course for a semi-final berth. Though Boonsak is still recovering from his tiredness due to the tough match with Park at a score of 26-28, 18-21, he played well Thursday against Jan Jorgensen, especially in his first game trouncing of the Dane by 21-9.  Boonsak wrapped up the match labouriously and victoriously 21-18 in the second game. Being in the same boat as her elder brother, also needing to cruise to the semis, Salakjit (right) also played well against Germany's Nicole Grether winning with a score of 21-17, 21-7.

The second day of competition saw a very early 9AM start, something that brought complaints from many players because of the long break from about 12pm to 5pm without competition.  This timing issue aside, as far as the action is concerned, there is definitely no lack of it and there are no complaints whatsoever from the local fans. Besides watching the Ponsana siblings enjoying victorious outings in their singles matches, most of the local fans were there just to watch local heroes Datuk Lee Chong Wei and Ms Wong Mew Choo, hoping to see them make it to the semi-finals and then the final and ultimately capturing the gold medals for men’s and women’s singles respectively.

Wong Mew Choo (photo below), the “golden girl” of Malaysia was first to got the vociferous crowd shouting and cheering for her in the evening match. It was an easy match for her as she finished off Porntip Buranaprasertusuk in just 27 minutes with a score of 21-9, 21-7. That is really unfortunate for Porntip to lose so badly, earning only single digits. In fact, Mew Choo was the first player in this competition to beat an opponent in two straight single digit games.  Before the match, outside the competition arena, Mew Choo look so relaxed and smiley while doing her warm-up. Mew Choo is too mature and experienced for Porntip to take on. At 18 years old, Porntip is the youngest player in these Masters Finals. After her victorious match, Mew Choo attended the  post match media interview. Mew Choo actually is a last minute inclusion after China’s Lu Lan had withdraw from the tournament.

“I am not prepared for this tournament. But I will just enjoy playing. No pressure on me,” she said. When asked if she were confident of winning the women’s singles title since the Chinese players are not around, she further added  “I will just take one match at a time.”

Depending on the outcome of Friday's matches to complete round-robin fixture, there is a possibility of Mew Choo meeting Yao Jie in the semi-final.

In the men’s singles match of the day, also played in the evening, the “golden boy” of Malaysia, Lee Chong Wei, had an easy time demolishing the off-form former world champion Taufik Hidayat 21-6, 21-13 in an an unexpected short time of 27 minutes.

“Today was a very important match as this means I have qualified for the semi-finals. There is no pressure on me tomorrow but I still want to finish as group champion,” said Chong Wei at the post-match media interview.  “It does not matter who I have to play in the semi-final, I am ready.”  He will next attempt to beat Bao Chunlai in order to take the top position in his group. Chong Wei has a psychological advantage as he beat Bao in the recent Hong Kong Open.

“Although we are used to competing in big numbers, it does not affect my focus in this tournament,” said Bao.  “There is no pressure and I take each match as it comes.”

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