Late as in Day 1 and I again only saw half the matches but nevertheless here is a review of Day 2's Action.


Mens Singles:

Taufik Vs Smith Smith started much better in this game ( IMO because he knew this was his only chance) but TH is to good for him. TH plays a much more conservative style since I last saw him here much more patient and with the pazazz of previous years and virtually none on the smashing. A good game but result not in doubt.

All the other games were one sided with no surprises to me.

Womens Singles:

Julia Vs Xu Julia was the agressor (obviously) in this bout. Xu had the running but not the never say die attitude of previous years. Perhaps she knew she cou;dnt win and her mind was already retired... Three games but Julia on top throughout....

Wang Yihan Vs Zhou Mi Eagerly anticipated by me as I haven't seen ZM since her return and not see WYH in action before. ZM is out of condition from her CHN days predictably ad has a wider shot selection, but Wang Yihan did very well to contain her experienced opponent in the first two games and despite her apparent spiral towards defeat in the third she came back well and found the strength to create the upset.

Yip Pui Yin Vs Wang Lin To me Wang Lin may be talented but Singles is about Graft as well as strokes. She is too lightweight currently to be a world beater. Players can suceed when small but still need physical strength to cover the court and hang in rallies. Yip out did her on this point....


Mens Doubles:

JR/LP Vs Ikeda/Sakamoto Rolling back the years for JR/LP they totally destroyed the normally resistive JPN pair. The score doesn't give them justice it was worthy of a single figure score in each set. A textbook game of MD from DEN

Ahsan/Septano Vs DEN The INA pair were strong after a difficult first game. They are fast and agressive typical of INA MD pairs... Ahsan is particularly good at the net.....Septano got injured in the second but they still managed to win the two games required..

Womens Doubles:

No matches of Note.......

Mixed Doubles:

LYD/LHJ Vs Gutta/Valiyateevil Get this straight the IND pair were good. This certianly wasn't KOR being very bad. They were toothless, but it was not a horrible display. IND pair just played good badminton (and Gutta must be one a the few Forehand serving doubles players around at the moment) They were agressive and fast...KOR scraped through...

Limpele/Rissikikh Vs Blair/Bankier. The ENG/SCO pair were better, up in both games they threw them away. Russikikh defence kept them in the game no doubt she soaked everything up....Just poor finishing really.

..thanks for the recap..:cool:
If Russkikh was soaking up all the shots, i'm sure you were also soaking up all of the actions..;)
- Yeah, Gutta, never afraid to do her forehand short serves--some touch, eh?? I wonder though if she is doing that on purpose so the game will be more challenging to her?? Or she simply can't or refuse to do her backhand short serve?
- Btw, did you watch the PiHY vs. Nanna Jenssen's match??..Pi lost to her on the 2nd day?? Any review??..

Ahsan/Septano Vs DEN The INA pair were strong after a difficult first game. They are fast and agressive typical of INA MD pairs... Ahsan is particularly good at the net.....Septano got injured in the second but they still managed to win the two games required..


I would like to see Bona Septano/Mohd Ahsan maturing this year and there's some signs of that with them reaching the QF of the AE in their first year of participation in the main draw (they got eliminated in the qualifying last year). They should also climb to the top 8 of the rankings table by the end of Swiss SS next week.

Bona/Ahsan will face sterner tests this week, possibly Guo Zhendong/Xu Chen in R32, followed by Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen or the AE runer-up Hwang Ji Man/Han Sang Hoon in R16. Progressing to QF again will be considered a bonus for them and a real progress at least in terms of beating top rising pairs.

I would like to see Bona Septano/Mohd Ahsan maturing this year and there's some signs of that with them reaching the QF of the AE in their first year of participation in the main draw (they got eliminated in the qualifying last year). They should also climb to the top 8 of the rankings table by the end of Swiss SS next week.

Bona/Ahsan will face sterner tests this week, possibly Guo Zhendong/Xu Chen in R32, followed by Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen or the AE runer-up Hwang Ji Man/Han Sang Hoon in R16. Progressing to QF again will be considered a bonus for them and a real progress at least in terms of beating top rising pairs.

I know they beat Fuzzy pair sometime last year, but have they beat other top pairs so far?
Same thing with Rian/Yoke....they need to start beating other top pairs to be considered a bonafide pair.

wow, james..u really do have a great memory!:eek:
how many brain cells have you killed?:confused::D

..thanks for the recap..:cool:
If Russkikh was soaking up all the shots, i'm sure you were also soaking up all of the actions..;)
- Yeah, Gutta, never afraid to do her forehand short serves--some touch, eh?? I wonder though if she is doing that on purpose so the game will be more challenging to her?? Or she simply can't or refuse to do her backhand short serve?
- Btw, did you watch the PiHY vs. Nanna Jenssen's match??..Pi lost to her on the 2nd day?? Any review??..

Missed the PHY match as it was in the morning....