Badminton/China Masters: Choong Hann makes final as Chong Wei exits fighting By : K.M. Boopathy NST Online Wong Choong Hann beat Przemyslaw Wacha of Poland 17-21, 21-13, 21-13 to make the final of the China Masters in Chengdu yesterday. WONG Choong Hann advanced to the final as expected but the fighting display from Lee Chong Wei in his loss to World No 1 Lin Dan in the China Masters in Chengdu yesterday put the Malaysian in good stead ahead of next month’s World Championships. The unseeded Choong Hann was made to struggle by another surprise semi-finalist, Przemyslaw Wacha of Poland before securing a 17-21, 21-13, 21-13 win in 42 minutes to reach his first major final since the 2003 World Championships. The odds were stacked against Chong Wei, the World No 3, but he forced Lin Dan to dig deep into his reserves before the Chinese ace clinched a 15-21, 21-14, 21-15 win in an exciting 52-minute battle. Chong Wei started the first game so brightly that he looked capable of snatching back-to-back victories over his fierce rival, after having beaten Lin Dan in the Sudirman Cup in Glasgow last month. Chong Wei mixed court craft with aggression to outplay Lin Dan who struggled to find his rhythm and started making uncharacteristic errors, surrendering the first game 21-15. Lin Dan proved why he is the world champion by stamping his authority in the second and third games. Lin Dan then denied Chong Wei victory by taking the next two games 21-14, 21-15. Take no credit away from Chong Wei as he made life difficult for Lin Dan in his own den and this will be a massive boost when he bids to become the first Malaysian to win a world title at Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Aug 13-19. Tactical astuteness and calmness on court are the ingredients previously missing from Chong Wei’s game and with a crucial quarter-final victory over Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia already in the bag, he is probably the man to beat in the World Championships. "My aim in the China Masters was to do my best against Lin Dan and I still have to work on my fitness and focus on my preparations for the World Championships," said Chong Wei in a telephone interview from Chengdu. "Lin Dan has proved he is still the better player. "I feel no pressure at all playing Lin Dan or Taufik and I will be the underdog in the World Championships. This is a good situation for me. "It was completely different in the last World Championships (in Madrid) where there was so much pressure on me. The pressure now is actually on Lin Dan and other rivals." Meanwhile, Choong Hann, Malaysia’s sole survivor in the tournament, will be aiming to clinch his second title in China after having won the 2002 China Open where he defeated the then World No 1 Chen Hong of China in the final. Choong Hann started the tournament by toppling the same opponent, Chen Hong, in the first round but the 30-year-old Malaysian needs more than luck for his final hurdle will be the formidable Lin Dan. If Choong Hann does the unthinkable, the defeat will be a blow to Lin Dan’s title defence in the World Championships. In the men’s doubles, Tan Bin Shen-Ong Soon Hock’s run came to a tame end as they were beaten 21-9, 21-15 by World No 1 Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun of China in just 25 minutes. Results — (All s-finals) Men’s singles: Lin Dan (Chn) bt Lee Chong Wei (Mas) 15-21, 21-14, 21-15; Wong Choong Hann (Mas) bt Przemyslaw Wacha (Pol) 17-21, 21-13, 21-13. Doubles: Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun (Chn) bt Tan Bin Shen-Ong Soon Hock (Mas) 21-9, 21-15; Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) bt Luluk Hadiyanto-Alven Yulianto (Ina) 14-21, 21-13, 21-16. Women’s singles: Xie Xingfang (Chn) bt Yip Pui Yin (HK) 21-6, 21-16; Zhang Ning (Chn) bt Pi Hongyan (Fra) 21-18, 21-6. Doubles: Zhao Tingting-Yang Wei (Chn) bt Gail Emms-Donna Kellogg (Eng) 21-9, 21-16; Lilyana Natsir-Vita Marissa (Ina) bt Du Jing-Yu Yang (Chn) 11-21, 22-20, 21-18. Mixed doubles: Zhang Bo-Gao Ling (Chn) bt Nathan Robertson-Gail Emms (Eng) 21-18, 21-12; Anthony Clark-Donna Kellogg (Eng) bt Nova Widianto-Lilyana Natsir (Ina) 21-18, 21-18.
good fight by Choong Hann... if the court didnt have the strong draft, maybe it would have been a much closer fight... Good for WCH... Glad to see him back to this top level... Too bad he'll miss out on the WC...
I still wan to congratz WCH although he lost today!This is the 1st time he make it into final in SS..
走出车祸阴影 李宗伟:我曾半年无法正常训练 2007-7-14 南方日报 中羽网 人物专访 “做访问呀,什么时候都可以呀,讲粤语国语都行。”作为马来西亚的头号男单,李宗伟还穿着滴着汗的球衣,就爽快地接受了记者的采访。 李宗伟在这一年间的状态起伏不定,一度攀上了世界排名第一的高峰,成为中国队最危险的对手之一,但又在去年年底开始突然陷入低迷,加上恩师李矛的离去,还一度让他萌生退意。但在今年的印尼公开赛他一举夺冠,又在苏杯上击败了林丹,那个让中国队忌惮的李宗伟又回来了。 “上次苏杯能击败林丹,是因为我当时状态很好,而林丹在比赛中没有打出最好的水平。这次要碰到他结果还很难说,当然先要过陶菲克的一关。”李宗伟对自己的实力看得很透彻,对于今天和陶菲克的对决,他认为双方实力相当,胜负难以预测。当然,他的重点是放在了下个月在马来西亚举行的世锦赛上,“马来西亚从来没出过世界冠军,这次作战开始是把目标放在男双冠军上,但自从我拿了印尼公开赛冠军,状态恢复之后,我也成为了夺冠的热门人选之一。我要做的是摆正心态,不要给自己很大的压力。” 对于此前一年的起伏,李宗伟透露了一个秘密,“我在去年11月在高速公路上出了一次车祸,尽管没有伤到筋骨,但也流了很多血。此后半年中一直无法正常训练,因为体能跟不上,甚至在比赛中会突然头晕看不到球,只能请求擦汗来休息一下。”而在车祸后,他最佩服的恩师李矛又突然辞职,让李宗伟更加对自己的前途失去信心,甚至想过了退役。但在李矛和他的启蒙教练米斯本的劝说下,他才坚持留在球场。随着体能的恢复,李宗伟在车祸半年后才恢复了正常的训练,在取得了印尼公开赛冠军后,他才重新恢复了信心。 赛场下的李宗伟没有林丹的霸气,也没有陶菲克的傲气,倒和鲍春来一样有着纯纯的邻家男孩气质。“对呀,所以我和小鲍也是好朋友。我俩从世青赛就认识了,不仅平常会互相请客吃饭,还会给对方带点特产什么的。我有语言优势,会讲中文、马来语和英文,所以和陶菲克也是好朋友,他来马来西亚都是我开车去机场接他的呢。”所以在很多人看来他和陶菲克的“巅峰对决”,对李宗伟而言,“不就是好朋友过过招吗。” 特派记者 梁燕 本报成都电
i think team mas has done very good in MS event this time.. LCW lose but his performance was great... WCH make it to the final by beating CH & some surprise player i think.. juz Hafiz tat make ppl sad but luckily he lost to boonsak not other lower rank player. but MD team doesn't make sense at all.. after all those special training & they said tat they prepared well.. they came out with these kind of result... high hope player crash out to lower rank pair... luckily there is still some unexpected player reach semis... really hope tat KKK/TBH can back to their AE form...
I am happy and glad that my badminton idol is back.Wong Sifu was on of a kind during his prime years.Wearing the oversized Gosen T-shirt..It just shows that i am getting old...Anyways, winning is not everything it is about the passion for the game..Playing with your heart is most important.. LCW and WCH did great..Just wondering where is KKK-TBH
KKK-TBH are under special training, day in day out, from Rexy. Rexy is leaving no stones unturn, to make sure the slight hiccup in KKK-TBH's play is not repeated. KKK-TBH were tentative in their plays when they lost to CAI-FU. CAI-FU are solid players but they can be defeated. I look at their plays on the video and I think I can see their weakneses - Rexy will surely pick these up if I can. CAI-FU, don't think you can win WC if KKK-TBH can capitalise on your weaknesses. I am very confident KKK-TBH will come good in the WC .... looking to some great wins by the Malaysians. My bottle of "Grange" is on standby for celebration !
Your bottle of grange shall not be consumed by the end of the WC... unless your using it to drown the depression and sorrow
I can't blame you if you nothing about 'Grange'. It is sacrilegius to even suggest drinking it when you are unhappy.
There is a HUGE question mark for concentrating on training the players or sending them to more tournament to get into match tempo.. MAS MD definitely were ALL produce BAD results thus far... If they continue like this... Nth can be done even increased the volume of training .. For a MAS to have 1st ever world champs in MD WC
Mas MD seems to rely on rexy too much, whenever Rexy was not around they seem inconsistent and can even lose to a much lower ranked player. The other MD coaches seems clueless .... MAS should take Tan Kim Her when he wanted to join the MAS team.
I have to say that, our Malaysian players are at the level that they can play competitively.It is always the last minute jitters that kill them the most.I had a chat with one of the Malaysian coach a while in Malaysian Open.he mention that during training our players are in tip top form and the are doing well.But when they step into the courts everything seems different seems like they lost their good self. I believe that our MS and MD are in good performance.They need a bit more experience and also more confidence i suppose.Give me more support and dont stop giving them. I am sure that they will achieve WC in flying colours. X ball please don't drown yourself witn a bottle of grange....
I don't mind drowning in bottles of grange but not 'a bottle' surely. Obviously you are not a wine drinker.