Asian Badminton Championships to begin from Sept 6

Sunday, August 28, 2005 (Hyderabad):

It will be a new role for former All England Champion Pullela Gopichand who dons the mantle of Tournament Director for the Asian Badminton Championships 2005 beginning next month.

It has been almost an year since Gopichand competed in a professional singles event, and although he has yet to officially announce his retirement, his new avatar is a pointer to the direction he might be taking soon.

"I will be involved in promoting the game and in organisational matters," Gopichand told reporters today at the Gachibowli Stadium, the venue of the ,000 (approx Rs. 53.75 lakh) prize money event from September 6 to 11.

Top players

It must be a big disappointment for the local crowd that Gopichand did not qualify for an event happening is his own backyard.

In fact, Gopichand has in recent times been spending more time in setting up an academy at Gachibwoli than honing his skills on the court.

Prominent among the top players to take part in the event are former All England champion Hashim Muhdii of Malyasia, twice Asian champion Sony Dwi Kuncora of Indonesia and Athens Olympics semi-finalist Boonsak Pnsana besides Lee Hyin Il of Korea and Ng Wei of Hong Kong, president of AP Badminton Association K Durga Prasad said.

The Chinese team is yet to be confirmed and the event begins after formal inauguration the previous day.
source-PTI

Among the Indians taking part the prominent are-Abhinn Shyam Gupta,Arvind bhat,Chetan Anand -all MS and Aparna Popat,Trupti Murgunde-WS.

Among India's doubles hopes are Sanave Thomas and Rupesh kumar who stetched the WC runners-up Candra-Wijaya 15-11,15-11 in the WC


Youngsters[Prodigies!] to watch out for are Saina Nehwal and P.Kashyap.Saina has made it a habit to do well even in the senior circuit[she' s just around 16,took part in the Indian team for Uber Cup last year].P.Kashyap on the other hand[18 yrs or so]has a senior title to boast about which he won only 3 weeks ago beating none other than the likes of Chetan Anand,Abhinn Shyam gupta etc.on the way.[Both trainees of the new Pullela Gopichand academy-and results are aldready obvious]

Hope Indians do well on their homeground.

Asian Badminton Confederation (ABC) has appointed IEC in Sports to exclusively handle the international television distribution for the 2005 Asian Badminton Championships. These take place in Hydrabad, India from Sept 6-11 2005. IEC has already confirmed live broadcast of the two days of semi-finals and finals across much of Asia and are now finalising broadcast deals into Europe and USA.



"The Asian Championships is our flagship event. It represents the pinnacle of the sport in the region. We look to IEC to grow awareness of the sport that has millions of participants in Asia." announced Karen Koh, ABC's Chief Operating Officer (left).

"IEC has been enhancing the television visibility of badminton on a global basis since 1994. We see great potential for this event to grow further" said Anders Bjorkman, Director of Television Properties for IEC in Sports

Well they will be airing the semis and finals atleast...i will be watching live baddy after a long long time.
interestingly the article also mentions possible telecast in USA

The event will now start from 7th-

Refer the other thread about this.

All set for Asian badminton meet Hyderabad, PTI:
A galaxy of stars from across the continent will be seen in action at the Gachibowli indoor stadium here where the Asian Badminton Championship unfolds on Wednesday with Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia trying to assert their might in the game.

Ng Wei of Hong Kong gets the top billing followed by Hong Kuan Beng of Malaysia and Boonsak Posana of Thailand while the Indian challenge will be led by Chetan Anand, Arvind Bhat and Sagar Chopda in the men's section.

Chen Wang of Hong Kong is the top seed in the women's section ahead of Hirose Eriko (Japan). Aparna Popat and B R Meenakshi be the Indian challengers.

Jwala Gutta and Shruthi Kurien will be the pair taking on the challenge of mighty Koreans in the women's doubles which has Lee Kyung Won and Lee Hyo Jung as the top seed followed by Saralee Thoungthogkam and Satinee Jankrajanwong (Thailand).

Jaseel Ismail and V Diju are India's hope in men's doubles in which Korean pair Lee Jae Jin and Jung Jae Sung are given the top ranking ahead of Markia Kido and Hendra Setiawan (Indonesia).

This is only the second time India is hosting the event. The first was in 1984 at Kolkata.

Andhra Pradesh Sports Minister M Satyanarayana Rao formally inaugurated the event on Tuesday while the main matches will start from Wednesday. Chetan Anand will play Puntsag Batbyar of Mangolia while Arvind Bhat will take on KJidko Igor of Kyrgisztan in the first round.

Aparna, Meenakshi and Aditi Mutatkar have got first round byes while Trupti Murgunde plays Puja Shrestha of Nepal and Sania Nehwal takes on Sahar Zamanian (Iran) in the first round. </FONT>

Not much hope for the Indian squad



V.V. Subrahmanyam







HYDERABAD: : The main draw of the Indian Oil senior Asian badminton championship for men and women commencing at the Gachibowli indoor stadium here on Wednesday wears a depleted look as most of the Asian giants have preferred to send the second string players.

The most notable absentee is reigning World and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat.

The fact that even in this weak field there are only two Indians who have been seeded — Arvind Bhat and Abhinn Shyam Gupta — in men's section and Aparna Popat in women's category — may well be an indication of where the Indian shuttlers stand in the international circuit.

Hyderabad's Chetan Anand, fresh from his Sri Lanka Satellite championship victory, and Abhinn Shyam Gupta continue to be the main hopes.

The focus will certainly be on the young Indian talent like Saina Nehawal, Krishna Deka Raja, Aparna Balan, Trupti Murgunde in girls' section and Sagar Chopra, Aditi Pawar, in boys' category.

Aparna cautious



Aparna Popat, the world No.34, sounded cautious saying her first target was to improve her previous best pre-quarterfinal appearance in the last ABC championship.

"I am confident. The draw looks pretty okay. Let us see how things shape up," she said.

Vimal Kumar, the Indian coach feels that Thai Boonsak Ponsana, Athens Olympics silver medallist, could well be the dark horse given his rich repertoire of strokes and great retrieving ability. The championship with a prize money of $1,25,000 includes singles and doubles in men's and women's section besides mixed doubles.

The seedings (world rankings in brackets):

Men: 1. Ng Wei (Hong Kong, No. 9), 2. Kuan Beng Hong (Malaysia, No. 11), 3.Lee Hyun II (Korea, No.12), 4. Boonsak Ponsana (Thai, No.14) and Ayob Sairul Amar (Malaysia, No.16). Women: 1.Wang Chen (Hong Kong, No.4), 2. Hirose Eriko (Japan, No.8), 3. Mori Kaori (Japan, No.9), 4. Yonekura Kanako (Japan, No.10), 5.Salakjit Ponsana (Thailand, No.13).

taufik resting again

I wonder why?

anyway atleast Sony is coming.

Is the draw published online?

How come Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas don't seem to be playing?
I saw their match against Candra and Sigit at the World Championships. They were very impressive -- Candra and Sigit won in 2 straight, but they had to work for it, and the play was amazingly entertaining. Hadi Sugiyanto's coaching seems to have really helped.

Is the draw published online?

How come Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas don't seem to be playing?
I saw their match against Candra and Sigit at the World Championships. They were very impressive -- Candra and Sigit won in 2 straight, but they had to work for it, and the play was amazingly entertaining. Hadi Sugiyanto's coaching seems to have really helped.
Actually they are playing in this Championships.I have seen them play before and you are right they have a nice style of playing...credit to Hadi Sugiyanto and themselves... ..but they are yet to win tourneys

The draws can be found on the Asian badminton Confederation website.refer to the links[draws in excel]at the bottom of this page-

http://www.asianbadminton.org.my/viewarticle.jsp?artid=592005-665

I wonder why?

anyway atleast Sony is coming.

Taufik and the other top players are rested for the upcoming Indonesian Open 2005. Sony will the the only player competing after Simon also was withdrawn (injured). Sony is expected to play Boonsak in the quarter-final, which is an interesting matchup.

Markis/Hendra are second-seeded. I hope they can go all the way to the final as expected. The only tough match will come in the semi from the young Malaysians Tan/Ong. Hendra/Joko are eight-seeded and will play Njoto/Liu (which they have beaten) in the quarter-final.

Ah, Lee Hyun Il is facing Poompat Sapkulchananart in the first round! Poompat pushed Lin Dan to 3 games in their 3rd round match at WC05.

All fans of Cheng Shiao-Chieh, note: she is seeded 5/8 and is due to play B.R.Meenakshi first up.

And I wonder -- is Hendra Gunawan related to Tony? Or is that a common surname?

The XD field seems more heavily depleted than the others.

Badminton: China pulls out of Asian Badminton Championship
http://www.ndtv.com/images/sports/misc/divline.gif Wednesday, September 7, 2005 (Hyderabad):

The Asian Badminton championship was robbed of its sheen after powerhouse China pulled out of the event as its team could not board the flight on time.

"The 17-member Chinese team expressed its inability to participate in the event as it could not board the flight at Beijing on time," Asian Badminton Confederation general secretary B K Varma told reporters.

Varma was speaking on the sidelines of the event at the Gachibowli indoor stadium, where the event began in a depleted strength with majority of the nations sending second rung teams.

When asked what action would be taken against China, Varma cautiously replied "we will study the detailed letter the Chinese team will be sending us with full explanation and take a decision based on the reasons mentioned in the letter".

The tournament, which was scheduled to start yesterday, was postponed by a day on the request of China and Malaysia as they have to return from the satellite championship.

I dont really know what's going on....but it must be said that India has been very very unlucky.The sponsors[IndianOil]are not going to appreciate this.

Dont know what happens now ...if it's a re-draw or not.the event should have aldready started yet there is no website[ABC's official website or Badminton Association of India's Homeage]mentioning the results.they did update the results [BAI website]on time last year even for a satellite tournament .....hope nothing's wrong,wont know till morning though.

Abhin loses in first round

September 07, 2005 21:33 IST



Hosts India suffered a setback on the opening day, with Abhin Shyam Gupta crashing out in the men's singles first round of the Asian Badminton Championships at the Gachibowli stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

Other Indians, Chetan Anand, P Kasyap and Arvind Bhat entered the second round by virtue of walk-overs, as their respective opponents did not show up in the much-touted event, which turned out to be a lacklustre affair with China pulling out at the last moment and other nations sending second string teams.

Gupta lost to Chen Shih Hao of Chinese Taipei, who came from behind to romp home with a determined pace and grit at 15-11, 9-15, 8-15.

The Indian clinched a hard-fought first game but his play receded and the quality came down in the subsequent games and the visitor had little difficulty in winning the match.

It was a different tale in the women's section, Trupti Murgunde and Saina Nehwal entering the second round with easy wins.

Trupti smashed Puja Shrestha 11-3, 11-0 as the Nepali girl could not withstand her aggression. Saina also did likewise against Sahar Zamanian of Iran, winning 11-1, 11-0.

Top seed Ng Wei (Hong Kong) had a walk-over while second seed Kuan Beng Hong (Malaysia) defeated Balram Thapa 15-6, 15-9 in the first round.

Go Abhinn,Go!

LOSER!:mad:

Anywhere to get full results? The ABC site doesn't seem to be responding to my computer. Thanks

Pakistan’s Wajid Ali advances as Omer and Waqas lose: Kuan and Lee in 2nd round of Asian Badminton C’ship

HYDERABAD (India): Second-seeded Kuan Beng Hong of Malaysia breezed past Nepal’s Balram Thapa 15-6, 15-9 and third-ranked South Korean Lee Hyun-il defeated Thai player Poompat Sapkulchananart 15-13, 15-6 on Wednesday in the men’s singles opening round of the Asian Badminton Championship.

Top-seeded Wei Ng of Hong Kong was not required to step on to the court as his Afghan opponent, Arash Gherman, failed to turn up. Wei’s match was among several walkovers on the opening day as four nations China, Afghanistan, Mongolia and Iraq dropped out of the championship.

China, one of Asia’s top badminton-playing nations, withdrew from the event due to travel problems, organizers said. Punch Gunalan, general-secretary of the Asian Badminton Confederation, said the Chinese team was due to arrive on Tuesday, but the players didn’t board the Singapore-bound flight from Beijing. The key players are now from Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand.

Fourth-seeded Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand also received a walkover, while fifth-seeded Malaysian Sairul Amar Ayub defeated Pakistan’s Omer Zeeshan, Pakistan, 15-6, 15-3 and sixth-seeded Shoji Sato from Japan scored a runaway 15-1, 15-4 win against Waqas Ahmed of Pakistan. Indonesia’s seventh-seeded Sony Dwi Kuncoro smashed out Shiri Nikzad of Iran 15-4, 15-5, while ninth-ranked Roslin Hashim from Malaysia prevailed 15-3, 15-6 against Bangladesh’s Enayetullah Khan.

Results:

Men’s singles (first round):

Kuan Beng Hong (Malaysia) beat Balram Thapa (Nepal) 15-6, 15-9

Lee Hyun-il (South Korea) beat Poompat Sapkulchananart (Thailand) 15-13, 15-6

Ahn Hyun-suk (South Korea) beat Diluka Karunarantne (Sri Lanka) 15-5, 15-8

Sairul Amar Ayub (Malaysia) beat Omer Zeeshan (Pakistan) 15-6, 15-3

Wei Ng (Hong Kong) beat Arash Gherman (Afghanistan) walkover

Shoji Sato (Japan) beat Waqas Ahmed (Pakistan) 15-1, 15-4

Sony Dwi Kuncoro (Indonesia) beat Shiri Nikzad (Iran) 15-4, 15-5

Roslin Hashim (Malaysia) beat Enayetullah Khan (Bangladesh) 15-3, 15-6

Lee Tsuen Seng (Malaysia) beat Chin Sheng-Ming (Taiwan) 15-10, 15-7

Boonsak Ponsana (Thailand) beat Hilou Ramazan (Kyrgyzstan) walkover

Chen Chih Hao (Taiwan) beat Abhin Shyam Gupta (India) 11-15, 15-9, 15-8

Pashupati Paneru (Nepal) beat Mohammed Mubarak (Bahrain) 15-3, 15-2

Niluka Karunaratne (Sri Lanka) beat Krishnan Yogendran (Malaysia) 15-3, 17-15

Naserzadeh Foad (Iran) beat Ahsan Habib Parash (Bangladesh) 15-12, 17-14

Wajid Ali (Pakistan) beat Asad Ebrahim (Bahrain) 15-0, 15-1

Jung Hoon-min (South Korea) beat Hameed Ebrahim (Bahrain) 15-0, 15-3

Lee Chen Yen (Taiwan) beat Shahoseini Ali (Iran) 15-11, 15-7

Yohan Hadikusumo Wiratama (Hong Kong) beat Bagheri Gholamreza (Iran) 15-3, 15-8

Jaffar Ebraham (Bahrain) beat Dashdavaa Bat-Ireedui (Mongolia) walkover

Yeoh Kay Bin (Malaysia) beat Abdul Hussein Kousay (Iraq) walkover

Yulchi Ikeda (Japan) beat Zauman Maksim (Kyrgyzstan) walkover

Parupalli Kasyap (India) beat Li Yu (China) walkover

Anand Pawar (India) beat Ahsan Qamar (Pakistan) walkover

Arvind Bhatt (India) beat Jidko Igor (Kyrgyzstan) walkover

Sagar Chopra (India) beat Sameer Abdul Hussein (Iraq) walkover

Lee Cheol-ho (South Korea) beat Abdul Jalil Waiz Syed (Afghanistan) walkover

Hisham Al Khan (Bahrain) beat Zauman Arkady (Kyrgyzstan) walkover

Hsieh Yu Shing (Taiwan) beat Simon Santoso (Indonesia) walkover

Women’s singles (first round):

Murugunde Trupti (India) beat Puja Srestha (Nepal) 11-3, 11-0

Soltani Nakisa (Iran) beat Sumina Shrestha (Nepal) 11-6, 4-11, 11-3

Renu de Silva (Sri Lanka) beat Amirpour Negin (Iran) 11-2, 11-3

Sara Devi Tamang (Nepal) beat Temiralieva Aigul (Kyrgyzstan) walkover

Nehwal Saina (India) beat Zamanian Sahar (Iran) 11-1, 11-0

Prizamanbin Behnaz (Iran) beat Dulali Hulder (Bangladesh) 11-3, 11-2. ap

Second seed Beng Hong storms into third round of Asian Championships



HYDERABAD (India): Malaysia's second seed Kuan Beng Hong stormed into the last 16 in the Asian Championships with a 15-4, 15-5 win over Yohan Hadikusumo of Hong Kong in their second round match yesterday.

Beng Hong had earlier beaten Nepal’s Balram Thapa 15-6, 15-9 in the first round.

The Malaysian challlenge is looking strong, with four others joining Beng Hong in the third round.

Lee Tsuen Seng beat Taiwanese Chin Shengming 15-10, 15-7 and Ali Wajid of Pakistan 15-9, 15-3 in the first and second round respectively.

Mohd Roslin Hashim overcame Bangladesh player Enyet Ullah Khan 15-3, 15-6 and went on to beat Pawar Anand of India 15-9, 15-2 next.

Yeoh Kay Bin, who had a walkover in the first round, chalked up an upset 15-7, 15-5 win over seeded South Korean Ahn Hyun-suk. Former national player Sairol Amar Ayub, who had a first round bye, also went through after beating Lee Chen Yen of Taiwan 15-2, 15-7.

Women’s singles player Wong Mew Choo also made it through to the third round. She beat Sania Nehwal of India 6-11, 13-10, 11-7.

I told you watch out for Saina.She almost ousted Wong Mew Choo inspite of her inexperience.Of course she had home advantage yet she's someone to look out for.


One Really bad news though..Yesterday and Today due to a national festival the newspaper agency are off on these days:crying: .However TV Channels will be covering the event and i will keep posting whenever i find news.

And i cant find the results anywhere yet:crying:

Report from The Asian Age:

Indians crash out of Asian Championships (http://www.asianage.com/main.asp?layout=2&cat1=8&cat2=84&newsid=179210)
- By K. Santosh Reddy


Hyderabad, Sept. 7: India’s experienced campaigner Abinnshyam Gupta let slip the first-set advantage to go down to Chinese Taipei’s No. 5 ranked player Chen Chih Hao 11-15, 15-9, 15-8 in the first round of the Asian Badminton Championships at Gachibowli Stadium on Wednesday. The match lasted 75 minutes.

Gupta, with his unorthodox defensive style of play, rarely seen in this era, wore down his opponent 15-11 in the first set. The Indian, seeded 16th in this championship slowed down the pace of his aggressive rival and forced him to commit too many mistakes, though Chen caught up with Gupta at 9-all and 10-all.

With Chen adopting Gupta’s style of play in the second set, the Indian got a taste of his own medicine. Soon Chen established an 8-4 lead and punished even the slightest of the errors made by World No. 64. Chen continued his good work in the decider and established a decisive 6-0 lead. Abinn fought back to narrow the lead at 7-8, but his resurgence didn’t last long as he committed unforced errors.

A disappointed Abinn said the first set win made him relax. "Chen played tactically. He also attacked well. The shuttle was drifting too much and it only added to my problems," the Allahabad lad said while admitting that he played under pressure of expectations.

P. Kashyap was the other Indian to bow out, albeit in the second round. The Andhra Pradesh lad, who got a walkover from Li Yun of China, lost to the tournament 10th seed, Yuichi Ikeda of Japan, ranked 39th in the world. The Japanese dictated the trend to the Indian though the latter caught up at 6-6. But Ikeda raised his game by a few notches to take the first game 15-6.

Kashyap was a transformed player in the second. He played a more sensible but attacking game to bring his rival into submission at 15-7. Kashyap jumped into a to 2-0 lead but an improved display by the Japanese saw him surge ahead.

how about Indonesian girl? Indonesia have fransisca an firdasari for woman single. do they continu to next round?

how can I get latest full results ?
Indians crash out of Asian Championships (http://www.asianage.com/main.asp?layout=2&cat1=8&cat2=84&newsid=179210)
- By K. Santosh Reddy


Hyderabad, Sept. 7: India’s experienced campaigner Abinnshyam Gupta let slip the first-set advantage to go down to Chinese Taipei’s No. 5 ranked player Chen Chih Hao 11-15, 15-9, 15-8 in the first round of the Asian Badminton Championships at Gachibowli Stadium on Wednesday. The match lasted 75 minutes.

Gupta, with his unorthodox defensive style of play, rarely seen in this era, wore down his opponent 15-11 in the first set. The Indian, seeded 16th in this championship slowed down the pace of his aggressive rival and forced him to commit too many mistakes, though Chen caught up with Gupta at 9-all and 10-all.

With Chen adopting Gupta’s style of play in the second set, the Indian got a taste of his own medicine. Soon Chen established an 8-4 lead and punished even the slightest of the errors made by World No. 64. Chen continued his good work in the decider and established a decisive 6-0 lead. Abinn fought back to narrow the lead at 7-8, but his resurgence didn’t last long as he committed unforced errors.

A disappointed Abinn said the first set win made him relax. "Chen played tactically. He also attacked well. The shuttle was drifting too much and it only added to my problems," the Allahabad lad said while admitting that he played under pressure of expectations.

P. Kashyap was the other Indian to bow out, albeit in the second round. The Andhra Pradesh lad, who got a walkover from Li Yun of China, lost to the tournament 10th seed, Yuichi Ikeda of Japan, ranked 39th in the world. The Japanese dictated the trend to the Indian though the latter caught up at 6-6. But Ikeda raised his game by a few notches to take the first game 15-6.

Kashyap was a transformed player in the second. He played a more sensible but attacking game to bring his rival into submission at 15-7. Kashyap jumped into a to 2-0 lead but an improved display by the Japanese saw him surge ahead.

[/QUOTE]

Dev S Sukumar/ badmintonmania.com

Hyderabad, 7 September 2005: India's Aparna Popat suffered a crushing second-round loss in the Asian Badminton Confederation championships at Hyderabad. Indonesia's Adrianti Firdasri handed Aparna a pasting in the third game, winning at love.

There were other promising Indian performances, however. Young Sagar Chopra took the first game off Lee Hyun Il, before the Korean recovered to win in three. Anand Pawar, son of former international Uday, stretched Roslin Hashim in the first game before the experienced Malaysian pulled away comfortably in the second. Junior champion Saina Nehwal had a match point against Wong Mew Chew before the Malaysian staged a great escape -- coming back from 7-10 in the second game. P Kashyap, who along with Saina Nehwal, is training at Gopichand's academy, threatened to pull off a win against Ikeda Yuichi of Japan but lost his way in the third.

The favourites, however, cruised along. Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Boonsak Ponsana had little trouble against their second round opponents.

Boonsak Ponsana beat Jung Hoon Min of Korea 15-11, 15-2. Jung troubled Boonsak in the early part of the first game with his big jump smashes, pulling up close at 11-12. Boonsak looked distracted, getting caught at the net a number of times as his opponent lifted over his head, and even misjudged a few tosses at the baseline. After a tense rally at 11-13 Boonsak raised his level in time and clinched the game with a smash.

In the second it was almost a no-contest as he seemed to have found his rhythm. He parried all of Jung's big smashes with ease -- his backhand defence was almost impenetrable on the day. A 4-0 lead became 6-2. Jung rallied back to 5-6 thanks to three successive errors from the Thai, but Boonsak then closed it out at 15-2.

Saina Nehwal almost pulled off an upset over Wong Mew Chew. Blessed with tremendous speed and power, this Hyderabadi is the next big thing in Indian badminton. She left her Malaysian opponent dazed with her speedy, attacking style of play, winning the first game and having a 10-7 lead in the second. An elementary error cost her the game and match. Presented with an easy kill at the net, Saina tried a deceptive drop -- only to see the shutle miss the sideline by an inch. Her game crumbled from then on.

Meanwhile, another woman casualty on the day was Salakjit Ponsana. The 5th seed was dumped by Hataya Yoshimi of Japan.

Top seed Wang Chen had no problem in her opening match against Faezi Gulnaz of Iran. The Iranian, who like her women compatriots, is playing her first international outside her country, lost 1 and 1. The Iranian women are playing in a specially designed outfit which covers their head and body, and have received permission from the ABC to play in it. Wang Chen will play promising Indian junior Aditi Mutatkar in the next round.

Other Indians to progress were Arvind Bhat and Chetan Anand. In the absence of the Chinese, they have a good draw and can perhaps go all the way to the semis.

Dev S Sukumar/ badmintonmania.com

Hyderabad, 9 September 2005:
Olympic bronze medallist Sony Dwi Kuncoro won his first big battle of the ABC championships after a bruising, 80 minute encounter with Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana in the quarterfinal on Friday. Others to reach the men's semifinals were Ng Wei, Lee Hyun Il and Kuan Beng Hong.

Women's world no.17 Cheng Shao Chieh created the biggest upset in the singles, beating Kanako Yonekura of Japan after a tense three-game struggle. There were no other upsets in the women's singles, with top seed Wang Chen, Kaori Mori and Eriko Hirose all booking their places in the last four.

Meanwhile, Indonesia had further cause to rejoice, with two of their women's doubles pairs making it to the semis. Jo Novita and Greysia Poli played wonderful badminton to upset world no.6 pair Saralee Thoungthongkam and Satinee Jankrajangwong in straight games. After that smart achievement, they sat by the court checking messages on their mobile phones, seeming almost oblivious to the magnitude of their achievement. "We formed this partnership just three tournaments ago, and our best showing was a semifinal place at the Indonesian Open," said Poli. Indonesian coach Atik Jauhari was delighted with his young team's performance.

Their compatriots Lita Nurlita and Natalia Poluakan came through after a tough three-game win over Matsuda Tomomi and Akao Aki of Japan.


Sony was erratic and brilliant by turns. Boonsak dominated the net early in the match, catching Sony time and again with his tight dribbles. The Indonesian countered Boonsak's languid style with a blistering attack, but some spectacular winners were negated by terrible errors. The serve changed ends several times at 11-all, until Boonsak went ahead when Sony smashed into the net.

The Thai earned game point after winning a net exchange, and clinched the game with a drive to a Sony smash.

The momentum completely swung the Indonesian's way after the break, thanks perhaps to coach Joko Suprianto. His smashes more accurate, his leaping interceptions breaking the elegant Thai's rhythm, Sony raced to a 7-3 lead with some big jump smashes that punched holes in Boonsak's backhand court, Boonsak could manage only one more point as the Indonesian easily took the second game at 15-4.

It was clear by the final game that both men were exhausted. Sony seemed to have recovered his touch at the net, and despite wayward smashes, went up 9-3. It looked like Boonsak had given up, but the Thai staged a comeback thanks to three consecutive errors by the Indonesian. Sony broke with a beautiful piece of deception -- he faked a smash and dropped it in front of the net, leaving Boonsak flat-footed in the middle.

Still, the Thai egged himself on, and levelled at 9. Sony edged ahead 11-9, serve changed ends a few times, and then the Indonesian got the critical point when Boonsak netted a return. Sony went ahead at 13-10, Boonsak narrowed the deficit by one point, but again the Indonesian found his big smashes on target and fittingly closed with a jump smash.

Results:
MS: Ng Wei bt Sairul Amar 15-10, 15-5; Sony Kuncoro bt Boonsak Ponsana 11-15, 15-4, 15-11; Lee Hyun Il bt Arvind Bhat 17-16, 15-5; Kuan Beng Hong bt Chetan Anand 10-15, 15-7, 15-2.

WS: Wang Chen bt Hirayama 11-7, 11-3; Cheng Shao Chieh bt Yonekura 1-11, 11-8, 11-6; Kaori Mori bt Adriyanti Firdasari 11-3, 7-11, 11-4; Eriko Hirose bt Wong Mew Choo 11-8, 11-6.

Dev S Sukumar/ badmintonmania.com

Hyderabad, 9 September 2005:
Olympic bronze medallist Sony Dwi Kuncoro won his first big battle of the ABC championships after a bruising, 80 minute encounter with Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana in the quarterfinal on Friday. Others to reach the men's semifinals were Ng Wei, Lee Hyun Il and Kuan Beng Hong.

Women's world no.17 Cheng Shao Chieh created the biggest upset in the singles, beating Kanako Yonekura of Japan after a tense three-game struggle. There were no other upsets in the women's singles, with top seed Wang Chen, Kaori Mori and Eriko Hirose all booking their places in the last four.

Meanwhile, Indonesia had further cause to rejoice, with two of their women's doubles pairs making it to the semis. Jo Novita and Greysia Poli played wonderful badminton to upset world no.6 pair Saralee Thoungthongkam and Satinee Jankrajangwong in straight games. After that smart achievement, they sat by the court checking messages on their mobile phones, seeming almost oblivious to the magnitude of their achievement. "We formed this partnership just three tournaments ago, and our best showing was a semifinal place at the Indonesian Open," said Poli. Indonesian coach Atik Jauhari was delighted with his young team's performance.

Their compatriots Lita Nurlita and Natalia Poluakan came through after a tough three-game win over Matsuda Tomomi and Akao Aki of Japan.


Sony was erratic and brilliant by turns. Boonsak dominated the net early in the match, catching Sony time and again with his tight dribbles. The Indonesian countered Boonsak's languid style with a blistering attack, but some spectacular winners were negated by terrible errors. The serve changed ends several times at 11-all, until Boonsak went ahead when Sony smashed into the net.

The Thai earned game point after winning a net exchange, and clinched the game with a drive to a Sony smash.

The momentum completely swung the Indonesian's way after the break, thanks perhaps to coach Joko Suprianto. His smashes more accurate, his leaping interceptions breaking the elegant Thai's rhythm, Sony raced to a 7-3 lead with some big jump smashes that punched holes in Boonsak's backhand court, Boonsak could manage only one more point as the Indonesian easily took the second game at 15-4.

It was clear by the final game that both men were exhausted. Sony seemed to have recovered his touch at the net, and despite wayward smashes, went up 9-3. It looked like Boonsak had given up, but the Thai staged a comeback thanks to three consecutive errors by the Indonesian. Sony broke with a beautiful piece of deception -- he faked a smash and dropped it in front of the net, leaving Boonsak flat-footed in the middle.

Still, the Thai egged himself on, and levelled at 9. Sony edged ahead 11-9, serve changed ends a few times, and then the Indonesian got the critical point when Boonsak netted a return. Sony went ahead at 13-10, Boonsak narrowed the deficit by one point, but again the Indonesian found his big smashes on target and fittingly closed with a jump smash.

Results:
MS: Ng Wei bt Sairul Amar 15-10, 15-5; Sony Kuncoro bt Boonsak Ponsana 11-15, 15-4, 15-11; Lee Hyun Il bt Arvind Bhat 17-16, 15-5; Kuan Beng Hong bt Chetan Anand 10-15, 15-7, 15-2.

WS: Wang Chen bt Hirayama 11-7, 11-3; Cheng Shao Chieh bt Yonekura 1-11, 11-8, 11-6; Kaori Mori bt Adriyanti Firdasari 11-3, 7-11, 11-4; Eriko Hirose bt Wong Mew Choo 11-8, 11-6.

Thanks for the report, Dev.

I notice that Arvind Bhat went to 17-16 against Lee Hyun Il, only to lose it at 5-15 in the second game. Similarly with Chetan Anand, who won the first game, but seems to have collapsed in the next two. Too bad.

Cheng Shao-Chieh beating Kanako Yonekura should not come as a surprise. She took world champion Xie Xingfang to 3 games in the WC05 semis.

Hi Kanive,
Glad to receive your note. Yes, Arvind was tired by the end of the first. Chetan was simply too erratic. He could've won yesterday -- Hong didn't have a clue in the first...
Whoever faces Cheng will have plenty to think about. That girl retreives just about everything.
-Dev


Thanks for the report, Dev.

I notice that Arvind Bhat went to 17-16 against Lee Hyun Il, only to lose it at 5-15 in the second game. Similarly with Chetan Anand, who won the first game, but seems to have collapsed in the next two. Too bad.

Cheng Shao-Chieh beating Kanako Yonekura should not come as a surprise. She took world champion Xie Xingfang to 3 games in the WC05 semis.

Hey guys ... can anyone tell me is gopichand's badminton academy has a website? or even a email id? My son is 11 and is in the top 6 of maharashtra (U/13), i'd like to know how the coaching works at the Gopichand Academy and what is the admission procedure?