Dutch Open

[Cheung]

Nice thing about the Dutch Open is that we can see a few different countries on the seeding list. I see Italy, Spain and Poland.

Can only be good for our sport.

[Mag]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the Dutch Open also has the best web solution of all tournaments...

[Cheung]

Does anybody have the link to Dutch Open website?

Or have I just missed it somewhere?

[wl2172]

I agree with you Mag, the websie is absolutely brilliant.

[Eva]

Why can I see a.. Hendrawan AND Taufik Hidayat in the Qualificationtournament???

Are they just name-look-a-likes or were they late with application or something like that???

[modious]

Originally posted by Cheung
Does anybody have the link to Dutch Open website?

Or have I just missed it somewhere?

http://www.dutch-open.nl/

[Yong]

And for live-scoring :

http://www.toernooi.nl/sport/livescore.asp?id=3025

Eva, i was surprised as well about the participation of both players.
It seems they are really playing.
Maybe Hedrawan without the proper worldranking was late with the application and Taufik decided to join him on the trip ?

[Yong]

Eva, good luck with your woman's doubles and mixed doubles matches tomorrow !!

[Cheung]

Originally posted by Eva
Why can I see a.. Hendrawan AND Taufik Hidayat in the Qualificationtournament???



HIDAYAT Taufiq Akbar

Might have got the name wrong.

Hendrawan was ranked somewhere around 60 at the moment

The 2nd Taufiq is ranked much lower. Proabably got the spelling wrong.

[Yong]

A club member who is also one of the officials at the tournament confirmed to me that it is indeed not THE Taufik Hidayat

[kwun]

Originally posted by Yong
Eva, good luck with your woman's doubles and mixed doubles matches tomorrow !!

yeah. go Eva!

[Winex West Can]

Does anyone know why Camilla Martin didn't play in this tournament considering that it's pretty close to home?

I know that she's in for the upcoming Denmark Open right after this tourney.

[kwun]

without the help from the linesmen, Lee HI lost to Yong Hock Kin. in 3 sets. (oh. that was mean.....)

intereting line up for the quarter final.

two danes, one german, two malaysians, one indian, one japanese and one dutch.

and no indonesians!

[Winex West Can]

MS
The #1 seed Ong lost in three sets to German Bjorn Joppien and similarily for #2 seed.

Looking at the Qtr-finals, it might be possible for Malaysia to obtain an all Malaysian final but who knows.

I wondered if Hendrawan will retire as he hasn't been doing too well lately.

WS
Looks like Mia Audina might be able to retain her title again.

MD
No big surprises in this event

WD
Wonder how Audina/Jonathans will do against the #1 seed as Audina is a singles specialist but has shown that she can play doubles as well (evident from her performance at the Uber Cup)

XD
Again no surprises here as most of the seeded teams are through.


BTW, Kwun, wondered if Lee HI is going to wonder if he can ever win on his own without help from the line judges :D :D (okay, okay, that's really mean).

[whizkelv]

It's indeed a poor result for Malaysia especially since they stand a very good chance of having a least 4 quarter-finalists, but ended up with only 2.
Ok, Yong Hock Kin's loss may be acceptable as he's no longer a full time player...

But Ong Ewe Hock's exit is an embarassing one, especially since he bow out to an unknown German.

Lee Tsuen Seng does not appear to be in good form as he struggle to book his last 8 ticket.

The best hope that all Malaysians can rely on is Wong Choong Hann.

[Cheung]

Lee TS might have a few problems against Joppien. Joppien has quite a crafty game taking all the pace off the shuttle and is quite tall as well.

I'd give it 50-50 to either. Basically because Lee has to be well in form to win.

Mxd - Hmm, I think Jonas and Rikke are going to win. (Hope that doesn't put any pressure on them!)

[wl2172]

I am prepared to give more confidence to Lee TS than just 50-50. Ong Ewe Hock can be a clown sometimes and that should not be used as a yardstick to determine Lee's chances. Anyhow, all the best to Lee, I am sure he will prevail if he play to his standard.

[Yong]

Results QF MS:

Dicky Paluama - Kasper Oedum : 15-3 13-15 17-15
Anders Boesen - Abhinn Shyam Gupta 15-1 6-15 15-1
Lee Tsuen Seng - Bjorn Joppien 15-5 15-13
Wong Choonn Hann - Hidetaka Yamada 15-3 15-2

[wl2172]

Both Lee and Wong chalked up impressive performances. If they continue to play up to mark, it should be an all Malaysian final for MS. However, Anders and Dicky both played remarkably well, especially Dicky, and they should not be underestimated.
Chan/Chew is a tremendous let down...again.

[Yong]

Yesterday i visited the Dutch open, watched matches from 10am till 10pm.
I know, i should have watched all games till 1.30 am or so, but i was tired and had to drive back 130 km :(

I watched a lot of matches, here is an impression on oly a few of them (otherwise i am all day busy writing)

As mentioned, Lee TS looking not too fit.
As in third round, also in second round Lee TS didn't look like as if he was amused playing against Sergio Llopis. In the first game, Llopis took a 6-2 advance and Lee had a hard time to make thing turn his way.

Lee Hyun II against Yong Hock Kin... THAT was a long match. Most of the rallies lasted longer than 20 hits. Relax play of both players, with sometimes a burst of energie with fast smashes, followed by good defence from the other and ….continue the rally... awesome to see.
Suddenly in second set, after another long rally, Yong Hock thought a clear from Lee Hyun would go wide... but... it landed ? well, couldn't see from my position, but the linesman called it inside and Yong was not amused.. he yelled, talked to the umpire, but after continue of play, Lee serverd in the net ! Looking at his face i think Lee was not very happy with that, but Yong considered this as a sportive gesture from Lee and... he approached him to shake hands ! Don't know if this is the 'help' of linesman Kwun is talking about, because I believe there was another incident. At that moment, my eye was on another court.
After his victory, Yong not only did shake hands with the 2 umpires, but also with that one linesman!

Same round in MS, Taufik Hidayat Akbar, who got himself through qualification AND first round of the main tournament, played a nice match against Anupap Thiraratsakul from Thailand. Taufik showed nice defence from all the attacks from his Thai opponent, but often ending in a jump on the ground for an ultimate safe. The umpire seemed not very happy that the sweeper guy had to wipe the sweat of the court every two rallies.
Taufik lost, but we probably see a lot more in the future of this young promising player.

I also enjoyed the matches of the Indian Abhinn Shyam Gupta. First he won from Nabil Lasmari, later that day he played against Yong Hock Kin. Well, that match was almost like the previous match of Yong : Very long rallies, rallies, rallies. At a score of 5-5, the other MS matches were in the middle of second set already. Gupta showed very consistent play, almost no errors.

MXD : Chris Bruil and Lotte Jonathans, seeded second, almost got out the tournament in their first match against Thomas Laybour and Lene Mork. In third set, 10-8 behind, they survived 2 match points !
Their second MXD was also exciting against Dennis Lens and Johanna Persson (11-8, 11-9)

Also a nice game with Dutch players was Tijs Creemers and Lonneke Janssen beating Jose Antonio Crespo and Dolores Marco.
Their next match was against …yes…Jonas Rasmussen and Rikke Olsen.
Nice to be able to see two matches of Jonas yesterday ! Good fast play from Jonas and Rikke, never been in danger, like in their first match in the morning, that one was over very quick.
And of course Eva Krab and Joeli Residay beating their Dutch colleagues Donovan Cuntapay and Maartje Verheul. Second mixed doubles match from Eva and Joeli was tough and ended in a loss against the Thai couple Khunakorn Sudhisodhi and Saralee Thungthongkam. But from the smile on your face after the match Eva, I think you enjoyed the match. I enjoyed watching.

[Cheung]

A mouth watering match in prospect.
This should really be the final.

I favour JR and Rikke to pull out the win.

[modious]

I beg to differ Cheung. :)

I think Kim DM / Lee KM will prevail.

And as usual, Chew/Chan are disappointing again. Nothing really surprising though.

I wonder why Korean's Lee/Yoo aren't taking part in this tournament....

[Cheung]

Aww, got it wrong. Kim /Lee went through. I thought Rikke would have the edge on net play and dominating that area over Lee. Hence the thinking the Danes would have it.

[Cheung]

And who are these Koreans who've knocked out two seeded pairs in the men's doubles? Perhaps the future Korean doubles.

[Winex West Can]

MS
All Malaysian final

WS
Mia is in the final and will play against Marina

MD
Close match going on between Eriksen/Lungaard and Sogaard/Laugesen in the semi's

WD
It's #1 seed Thoughtongkam/Jankrajangwong vs Oslen/Jorgensen

XD
All Korean final. Jonas and Rikke lost their match :(

[whizkelv]

Wong Choong Hann finally ended his 5 year title drought beating compatriot Lee Tsuen Seng convincingly.

Both players will likely cross-sword again next week in the 3rd round of Danish Open.

[wl2172]

Congratulations to Wong CH, a lot of players would have given up - getting to six major finals and holding the world number 1 status for few times without winning anything for 4 years is a lot to go through. I hope he has found some new purpose now for the remaining half of his badminton career.

[Eva]

Thanx for all your support guys!

I really had a good time at the tournament..
Wednesday I lost my doubles in the qualification.. I dont want to talk about that match anymore.. were were behind 9-5 in the tird, came back to 10-9..had a matchpoint and still didn't win the match.. grrrrrrrrr..

My mixed was better.. we got in the headtournament.. but against our training-buddys.. I was very nervous to play against them because I really wanted to win.. We did but not after using 6 matchpoints to finish it...:S

The next match against the Thai-couple I was just a bit tense because I wanted to play better than the previous match but I could play freely because we had nothing to lose... We played quite a good match but we have to become physicly stronger and a bit more experienced to be a real treat to couples like that..

And indeed there was a smile on my face after the match!!! I played a good game! :)

[Winex West Can]

Great job, Eva!

Did noticed that you weren't able to get through qualifications in the doubles but was happy that you did in the mixed.

Winex Holland and Taiwan was very happy with Mia's retention of her title (this is three years in a row) and also with her progress in the doubles.

Will you be playing in the Danish Open?

[Eva]

No I won't be playing the Danish... I would have like to.., but I haven't been selected.:(. And maybe a 5*grandprix is a bit too tough for me.. I will be playing the German next week :)so I hope I will play there better than in Eindhoven..
I might be because I had to drive 2 hours every time to get there and get home - as I am not a member of the Olympic team- and thats not that good for your game.. It was kinda strange, I played on wednesday and thursday and on friday I had to do a presentation at school..It's like two different worlds..

[Cheung]

Originally posted by Eva
I might be because I had to drive 2 hours every time to get there and get home - as I am not a member of the Olympic team- and thats not that good for your game.. It was kinda strange, I played on wednesday and thursday and on friday I had to do a presentation at school..It's like two different worlds..

2 hours driving tires anybody out.
That's really funny about two different worlds. But it stops you from stagnating.
Do you think you were trying too hard since it was your 'home' tournament?

All the best for the German Open.

[Winex West Can]

Yeah, Eva. All the best with the German Open.

Will try and post the results as they happens.