VICTOR KOREA OPEN QF - New Decade, New Dreams

Last year's men’s singles finalists Lee Chong Wei and Peter Gade inched toward the podium once again on Day 4 of the 2010 Victor Korea Open Super Series, even as China dreamed of sealing two all-Chinese finals. But in women’s singles, Korea’s weakest discipline in the decade just ended, the home nation produced a surprise domination, against which Wang Shixian stands alone.

By Don Hearn, Badzine Correspondent, live in Seoul. Photos: Yves Lacroix, BadmintonPhoto (live)

Quarter-finals day began with the mixed doubles, where China placed pairs in both semi-finals. He Hanbin and Yu Yang (pictured below) ended Korea’s hopes in the discipline by fending off a late challenge from Ko/Ha.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yawen / Tao Jiaming added the World Champions to their list of victims in Seoul as Laybourn/Rytter Juhl were unable to gain the upper hand over the new Chinese pairing.

After the match, Kamilla Rytter Juhl denied that she and Laybourn were moreso targets now than before their world championship performance: “It is always like this. There are so many good pairs in mixed that you never really feel safe.

“It is especially hard to play against a good, young pair after a long injury. We haven’t really practised much since the Worlds so we’re still having trouble finding each other on court. If we had played today like we played at the Worlds, we would have a good chance but of course they are a good pair.”

Kamilla, who resorted to jump smashing in the first game when she was caught at the back, laughed when asked whether this were a new strategy: “That was not intentional, I assure you. It is tough to get the shuttles down in this arena because it is very big.

“We got a very bad draw for next week,” added Kamilla, who will most likely face Zheng Bo / Ma Jin in the Malaysia Open second round. “It will be tough against the Chinese because they will be in good shape as are the other three pairs we’ve seen this week.”

Thailand lost both their pairs in the mixed. 2009 runners-up Songphon Anugritayawan / Kunchala Voravichitchaikul lost to Flandy Limpele / Cheng Wen Hsing and Japan’s Noriyasu Hirata / Miyuki Maeda continued their excellent run with a two-game win over Prapakamol/Thoungthongkam.

For the first time in five years, there will be a Korean competitor in the women’s singles final. Sung Ji Hyun continued her great run at home, beating Yao Jie of the Netherlands handily. Again, she faced a flurry of media attention, including a televised interview with her mother, former All England champion Kim Yun Ja (pictured top with daughter Sung).

When the towering Yao and Sung were finishing up on the centre court, two more diminutive contenders were still battling it out a few metres away as Korea’s Bae Seung Hee, took her rematch with Yip Pui Yin. Bae was just as dominant playing at home as Yip had been at the Hong Kong East Asian Games. In the first game, Yip’s smashes kept Bae under pressure but the underdog had the speed and precision she needed to stage a five point run to grab the late 19-18 advantage After taking the first, she kept the momentum and finished the match 21-19, 21-10.

Later, Kim Moon Hi became the third Korean woman to earn her first ever semi-final ticket in a Super Series tournament. The world #29 may have had the luck of facing lower-ranked opponents in all of her first three matches but her task on Saturday will not be the object of anyone’s envy. She must face China Masters champion Wang Shixian, who actually spent more of her Friday afternoon on court than Kim did before Zhou Mi (pictured) was forced to cede the match to her due to a lower back injury.

China has perhaps a better chance of dominating a final in the 2010 Korea Open, if not in mixed doubles, then in men’s singles. Chen Long benefited from the withdrawal of Bao Chunlai, who needed medical attention during his match on Thursday. Meanwhile, Chen Jin (pictured) had to see his way past the dangerous Nguyen Tien Minh.

Chen dominated the first game and in the second, Nguyen continued to trail but midway through, he began putting Chen Jin’s ample fitness to the test alternately clearing to Chen’s backhand corner and dropping to his forehand and this strategy produced the desired errors from the Chinese star and allowed Nguyen to draw close at 13-14. Chen never allowed Nguyen to catch him, though, and he finished the match 21-7, 21-19.

The main event for men’s singles, of course, was Peter Gade (pictured below), in the hunt for a fifth Korean title vs. Park Sung Hwan, who is still looking for his first finals appearance in his home event. After dropping the first game, Gade kept Park at arm’s length in the second.

The third game featured a promising comeback for Park on a five-point run that put him up 16-13 but at 18-all, Gade made the last of several loud protests on a line call and this one brought a correction from the umpire. Park managed to claw back from 18-20 down to send the game in to extra points but Gade held on to win the match 17-21, 21-16, 22-20.

“You know I have won here four times and I have never had trouble,” said Gade afterward, “but there were three or four calls that that were a good 5cm out and were called in and they all seemed to be at very important points. The umpire was fantastic, though, maybe the best I’ve had in Asia. Sometimes we get someone in the chair who isn’t clear on the rules.

“The match itself was a great match. I am feeling the best I have in a while. I had been sick toward the tournament and I got better just in time but today I knew I needed to be healthy and to play my best. He managed to break my rhythm at the end but I tried to be patient to control it so that he uses the energy.

Of his impending inaugural match against Chen Long, Gade said, “I think he’s an all-around player, not particularly strong with the attack or especially defensive. He may be a patient player so to have the opportunity to control, I must be patient, too.”

For complete quarter-final results from the 2010 Victor Korea Open Super Series, CLICK HERE

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