Welcome everyone to our first ever Skype video show. At this point we have no name for the show but leave a comment if you have any suggestions for a name, or if you have anything to add to our analysis.
We apologize for being a little late to do this as both these events have come and gone a while ago. In the future we plan to do this after every major event.
In this edition of the unnamed show we discuss Lee Chong Wei’s incredible performances at the first two Super Series events, Joachim Persson’s struggles to regain his form, and even a brief discussion of upcoming star Viktor Axelsen.
Lee Chong Wei (1) v Chen Jin (3)
There was the potential for an upset, but it never happened. Lee Chong Wei coasted into the final with a routine 2 game victory over Chen Jin 21-11, 21-13. The bigger surprise was to have this game played on the outside court so that the other semi final could go on the TV court.
Chen Long (7) v Peter Gade (2)
The second semi final looked to be going the same way as the first, with Gade taking the opening game 21-13, but a fightback was on as Chen Long took the second game impressively by the score of 21-10. The 2nd seed was not to be denied and begun his own fightback in the third game and took the match 21-17 in the deciding game to book his place in tomorrow’s final.
The locals were guaranteed at least one Korean in the final, with the possibility of a second in the other semi final. Sung Ji Hyun played Bae Sueng Hee in the first of the semi finals, with the pair sharing the opening two games, but Hyun dominated the final game and won the match 21-18, 17-21, 21-9.
Wang Shixian stood in the way of an all-Korean final, Hi Kim Moon was looking to book her place in tomorrow’s final at the expense of the 6th seed. However, Wang Shixian had other ideas and won the opening game 21-17. The second game was a close affair but the 6th seed won the second game and the match 21-17, 22-20.
The men’s doubles final will be a rematch of the sensational 2009 World Championship final between Lee and Jung of Korea, seeded 1 and Cai and Fu of China, seeded 5. Both partnerships coming through their semi finals in two games.
The top two seeds in the women’s doubles will meet in tomorrow’s final, with Cheng and Zhao winning their semi final 21-5, 21-14 against Lee and Ha of Korea. Fujii and Kakiiwa defeated Jung and Yoo in three games, 14-21, 21-17, 21-14 in the longest match of the day.
In the mixed doubles final, unseeded Chinese pairing of Tao and Zhang who defeated Lee and Lee in the first round have made it all the way to the final without dropping a game on route, as well as defeated the 1 and 7 seeds. They play He and Yu in an all-Chinese final, with the 3rd seeded He and Yu only dropping one game on route to the final also.
Boonsak Ponsana began the men’s singles play for the day against Korean Hong Ji Hoon, the eighth seed spent 45 minutes disposing of his tricky opponent but completed the task 21-18, 21-16. Lee Chong Wei and Chen Jin took to the court within 10 minutes of each other in the next men’s singles matches, both against tricky European opponents.
Lee Chong Wei played Marc Zweibler whilst Chen Jin played Dicky Palyama. Both seeded players came through their matches in two games, with Lee Chong Wei winning 21-18, 21-8 and Chen Jin winning 21-14, 21-17. Lee Chong Wei would play Boonsak Ponsana in the quarterfinals.
Tien Minh Nguyen survived an epic 82-minute test against Du Pengyu of China to progress to the quarter finals, his 25-23, 15-21, 21-19 win was the longest match of the day by far, he plays Chen Jin in the last 8 tomorrow.
The bottom half of the draw had China’s Bao Chunlai and Chen Long in action at the same time to book their places in the last 8. Kazushi Yamada proved little opposition to Chen Long, as the 7th seed from China won 21-17, 21-12. Bao Chunlai faced a stiffer test from England’s Carl Baxter, but the 4th seeded progressed in two games, 21-17, 21-18.
The final two seeds on court were Peter Gade and local favourite Park Sung Hwan. The 2nd seed Gade had Rajiv Ouseph of England, whilst Kuan Beng Hong would play the 5th seeded Korean. Both matches were completed in two games, with both seeds progressing to tomorrow’s quarterfinal stage. Gade winning 23-21, 22-20 against Ouseph and Park Sung Hwan won 21-15, 21-14 to set up a clash between the two tomorrow.
Seeds Remaining: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.
Sung Ji Hyun pulled off the shock of day 2 with her sensational win over top seed Tine Rasmussen in two games, the unseeded Korean winning 21-15, 21-16 to book her place in the last 8. She will play Yao Jie in the quarterfinal after the 7th seed from Netherlands won a tight three game match against Yu Hirayama 21-16, 20-22, 21-19, a match that lasted 65 minutes.
Zhou Mi is now the top seed remaining in the draw, after fighting back from losing the opening game to defeat Tai Tzu Ying 21-23, 21-16, 21-10. It was another unlikely Korean victory in the match featuring 5th seeded Wang Xin of China, with Bae Seung Hee winning 21-12, 21-14.
Two unseeded players were guaranteed to progress from the next two matches, with Chan Tsz Ka defeating Petya Nedelcheva 21-9, 13-21, 21-19. She will play Hi Kim Moon, the winner of the all-Korean match against Kang Hae Won 21-15, 21-17.
The final two matches featured 4th seeded Juliane Schenk and Wang Shixian, the 6th seed from China. Juliane Schenk looked to be coasting into the quarters after winning her opening game 21-4, only to sensationally collapse and lose the next two games against Yip Pui Yin to lose the match 4-21, 21-16, 21-18. Wang Shixian had little problem defeating Finland’s Any Nieminen 21-14, 21-10.
Seeds remaining: 2, 6 and 7.
Lee Yong Dae bounced back from his mixed doubles exit to progress into the quarter finals of the men’s doubles with partner Jung Jae Sung, defeating Jin and Kim in an all-Korean affair 21-13, 21-9. Petya Nedelcheva’s bad day continued, as she and Anastasia Russkikh, seeded 5th in the women’s doubles crashed out to Matsuo and Naito of Japan today.
Cai and Fu are at their ominous best, defeating Faust Henriksen and Kristiansen of Denmark, 21-10, 21-7 in just 23 minutes. 4th seeded Danish pair Paaske and Rasmussen were also defeated by Chai and Zhang to further compound a bad day in the Danish camp.
Play begins tomorrow at 3pm, with the 4 mixed doubles quarter finals.
The first round of the Korean Super Series provided it’s fair share of shocks, but the big news was the defeat of local superstars Lee and Lee in the mixed doubles to Zhang and Tao in two games, 21-13 and 21-16. They weren’t the only seed to crash out in the mixed doubles, with 5th seeded Mateusiak and Kostiuczyk losing in three games.
Lee Chong Wei breezed into round 2 with a clinical 21-4, 21-14 win over England’s Andrew Smith, Peter Gade is also into round 2 with a two game win over Chong Wei Feng of Malaysia 21-19, 21-17. There were wins for Chen Jin, Chen Long and Park Sung Hwan to delight the local crowd.
Tine Rasmussen is through to round 2 of the women’s singles, the Danish top seed defeated Sayaka Sato of Japan 21-14, 21-16 to secure her place in the last 16. Second seeded Zhou Mi survived losing the first game to defeat Wong Mew Choo to book her place in round 2. There were also wins for 4th seeded Juliane Schenk and 7th seeded Yai Jie to ensure some competitive European interest going into the later half of the week. Only 8th seeded Salakjit Ponsana failed to progress into round 2 of the seeds.
Lee Yong Dae will look to put today’s defeat behind him as himself and Jung Jae Sung are top seeds in the men’s doubles and an all-Korean clash in round 2 will be one of the highlights of tomorrow’s play for the local crowd.
The first Super Series of 2010 begins later this month in Korea, with last years Men’s Singles Super Series Finals Champion, Lee Chong Wei taking the top seeding in the singles event. There is no Lin Dan at this year’s event, as well as another few Chinese stars that would have been favourites for their respective events.
Lee Chong Wei starts with first round match against Englishman Andrew Smith, with 2nd seed Peter Gade playing Chong Wei Feng of Malaysia. Tine Rasmussen is top seed in the Women’s Singles after a length lay off in 2009, but the absence of Wang Yihan is a real disappointment.
2009 World Champion Lu Lan is seeded 3 for the event, Mi Zhou is the second seed and will be the main rivals to Rasmussen. In the Men’s Doubles event, 2009 World Champs Cai and Fu are seeded fifth, while their opponents in the final of the World Championships, Lee and Jung have been seeded 1.
The two Danish pairs (Boe and Mogensen, seeded 2) and (Paaske and Rasmussen, seeded 4) will be the main contenders for the title also. 2005 World Champions Bach and Gunawan are also seeded 7th.
The first day of play is January 12, 2010.
Click the link below to view the full draws:
Korea Super Series 2010 Draws