..appreciate the infos.. Btw, the U.S. Open is not a PSS or SS level yet. It's still a GP/GP Gold level.. Also, i don't think these 2 or even Misaki are ready for 2012 OG. Realistic chance is 2016 OG in Brasil...if they can continue their progress that far..
I talked to my friend, the one who umpired Marc Zwiebler vs. Datt, it seemed that Marc got a yellow card for taunting.
If I'm not mistaken, they have been together since high school, not junior high school. Misaki completed her study at junior high school in Tokushima-ken while Ayaka spent her junior high school and high school time in St Ursula. Misaki went to St Ursula after completed her study at junior high school. They get a chance to pair with each other after Misaki enrolled into St Ursula. And in 2008, they succeed in their pairing. They won the WD title in the National High School Sports Competition (Badminton) by defeating players from Shitennoji. At that time, Ayaka was a 3rd year high school student whilst Misaki was still a 2nd year student. I think their international pairing started in 2008 as well because I remember I saw Ayaka and Misaki played in Japan Open 2008.
Sayaka Sato really has strong stamina...After she played more than 1 hour against Cheng Shao Chieh yesterday, today she overcome Ratchanok in long duration match too, 21-14 / 13-21 / 21-15.
i think the most exciting match last night was the WD semi between KOR and JPN!!! it was the last match of the day after the MD and many people left already. the ones who stayed was rewarded with an nail biting 2nd game where most of the arena was rooting for the JPN to come back. they managed to get as close as 19-20 but eventually lost. the loudest cheering was from AlanK, KevinY and me. we sat in the JPN team and yelled as loud as we can. even Kanako Yonekura turned around and took a picture of us. the atmosphere was incredible!!! oh. and an amazing point at around 13-14. i think Ha hits net shot, the birdie net corded and rolled over. Satoko dove in and the shuttle flew up veritcally up 4-5 meters and then went to the other side of the net. at that moment, Ha thought she won the rally and turned around to celebrate, everyone, including the umpire did not see the shuttle went over the other side of the net. luckily the service judge did and told the umpire. never give up.
Wow. Must be quite embarassing for Korean pair. Yeah, never give up and never think you have won until the shuttle hits the ground
Excellent!! WD is never dull if you see it up close. Reminds me of the classic 3 game battle between JPN (Matsuo/Naito) and CHN (Zhao Yunleo/Tian Qing) during the All-England quarterfinals (also last match of the nite). Lots of bent backs and extreme dives all all angles.
yah, thanks for refreshing my memory about CSC's injury; i knew i had missed something.. I don't recall when she suffered a "serious" injury (i believe her knee) but as far as i know, based on the database, she's participated in tourneys every yr since her 2005 WC perfomance. I know in her thread, Hau-ge mentioned that she doesn't train hard..i also don't know whether she's also studying full-time or not from 2005 til now..
Day 5 (Semifinals) recap.. ..all great matches.. 1. XD - Hung Ling Chen & Wen Hsing Cheng vs. Shoji Sato & Shizuka Matsuo - Shoji did all he could but Cheng Wen Hsing was the difference. 2. MS - Sho Sasaki vs. Hsuan Yi Hsueh - Sho really controlled the match despite Hsueh HY making a great effort in the 2nd game to force a rubber game. Sho looks really good to win the MS title. 3. WS - Tzu Ying Tai vs. Eriko Hirose - What can i say about Tai TY. It's redemption. A year later after suffering a defeat in last yr's U.S. QF Rd., she's back and reaches the Final. She definitely carried the momentum from her win against Lu Lan into this match. With eyes focused like a laser, she never let Eriko got on track with her game. OTOH, Eriko was just on the defensive all night long despite her effort to make it a game in the 2nd game...can Tai TY finally win her 1st ever GP/GP Gold level title??.. 4. WD - Kyung Eun Jung & Ha Na Kim vs. Wen Hsing Cheng & Yu Chin Chien - Both pairs equally as strong. The 3rd game turned out to be something to watch for as the CHN TPE pair rallied for 7 consecutive pts to make it a game. Near the end, after a few tense plays, Chien YC's net shot hit the net which sends the KOR pair into the Final. (will have a video clip of that end as well). 5. MD - Sung Hyun Ko & Yong Dae Lee vs. Naoki Kawamae & Shoji Sato - It was literally no contest and almost as if it's 1 against 2 out there (LYD vs. the 2 JPN players). 6. XD - Yong Dae Lee & Jung Eun Ha vs. Shintaro Ikeda & Reiko Shiota - Simply, the KOR pair was just better. Ha JE really controlled the forecourt area...Lee Yong Dae will look to win 2 titles here, can he do it?.. 7. WS - Sayaka Sato vs. Inthanon Ratchanok - Best WS match of the day. 1st game, it was Sayaka controlling the pace as RI seemed to be making a few mistakes. 2nd game, RI turned it on, forcing a lot of plays into Sayaka Sato's backhand side which forced Sayaka to make a few errors. 3rd game arrived, and this is where i thought "does Sayaka still have enough gas?". And she proved me that she did. She got her bounce back and got into rhythm while RI seemed to lose focus and started making errors. At the end of the match i thought Sayaka looked invigorated...good luck to her vs. limsy's Tai TY.. 8. MS - Tien Minh Nguyen vs. Marc Zwiebler - It was arguably the best match of the day, imo. What a match of endurance as both players really played their hearts out, esp. one for Marc who has a possible knee injury (had tape protections around the right knee) yet he was still going all out there. All match long, Marc simply pushed the shuttle to NTM's rear court forehand side. And at one point Nguyen TM almost stopped playing as he was literally standing right in the middle of the court as he couldn't run anymore. At the end, with both players drenched in perspirations, the crowd gave their appreciation for both players. 9. MD - Howard Bach & Tony Gunawan vs. Hirokatsu Hashimoto & Noriyasu Hirata - Tony and Howie are back in the Finals! After faltering in last yr's U.S. Open, the veterans seem more focused this yr. Once again, after losing of the 1st game, the U.S. pair staged their comeback toward the end of the 2nd game, led by none other than.....Howard Bach (yes, he was sharp in this match); Tony was the one who seems to be making the errors. In the 3rd game, the veterans continued their attacks and secured another trip to the Finals...can they beat LYD and bring back the U.S. Open MD title again?.. 10. WD - Jung Eun Ha & Min Jung Kim vs. Miyuki Maeda & Satoko Suetsuna - As described earlier by kwun, it was a fun 2 game match. Definitely a lot of rallies for 2 games. No matter what the JPN pair threw at them, the KOR pair just seem to have a better defense and placement as they caught the JPN pair in no-man's land a few times. And despite the loud chants of "Nippon! Nippon!", it wasn't enough as the KORs were able to hold their own behind their own supporting chants....and sets up a battle of the KOR ladies in the Finals!
