..Tine seemed to be not in sync, besides making some unforced errors herself.. ..as far as i can see and tell, i haven't seen any live video & camera setup like in previous few yrs..we'll see today if they'll have one setup for the last few days of competition..
not sure if it is live or not. but Ben Lee is down there this week and he told me will be commentating the matches like he did for the Adult Nationals. i expect at least for the finals but also not sure if anything else. i will try to confirm with him.
Day 2 recap.. ..here's a quickie recap.. 1. Both defending MS and XD champs are ousted: Rajiv Ouseph, last yr's MS winner, just couldn't find the same energy which propelled him to the top of the podium. On the other hand, Luka Wraber played with patience and was able to slowly wear down Rajiv. Then in the XD, German's Fuchs and Michels (Overzier) who won the XD title last yr, couldn't contain the less error-prone CHN's Bao YX and Qiu ZH. The German's pair tried to change strategy and close the gap but they just couldn't shake off and take over the game. 2. The XD match between CHN's Liu XL & Cheng Shu vs. Kenta Kazuno & Ayaka Takahashi was probably the most exciting match of the day, at least in the XD front. To be frank, the JPN pair should've won the match, but Ayaka Takahashi made quite a few errors starting in the middle of Game 2 which eventually led to CHN winning the 2nd game. In the 3rd game, Ayaka made the same crucial errors toward the end of the game, when JPN was leading, which eventually allowed the CHN pair to tie and win the match...that was quite a match! 3. The MS match between Marc Zwiebler vs. RMV Gurusaidatt was also as entertaining. Although it should've been over in 2 games. In the 2nd game, Zwiebler had match pt at hand but was just simply not patient enough. Tried a few risky shots and Gurusaidatt was able to take the opportunity to force the 3rd game. Fortunately, in the 3rd game, after a few near bone-injuring dives and falls, Zwiebler was able to find his groove again and coupled with a few errors from Gurusaidatt, he clinched the match. 4. The MS match between Chan YK vs. Suppanyu A. was also as exciting. The end of the 3rd game really brought out the crowd as they were chanting for Chan YK. Unfortunately, Suppanyu was a bit better and luckier this time around.. 5. The XD match between Halim H. & Eva Lee vs. Hirokatsu H. & Mizuki F. also was a good one. Unfortunately, the errors were more on the U.S. side. 6. The MD match between Tony G. & Howard B. vs. Liao MC & Wu CM really nearly brought down the entire hall. After losing the 1st game and the crowd getting nervous about losing their best U.S. representatives, Tony and Howard brought their A game straight out in the 2nd game and romped through the much younger, quicker but inexperienced opponents. They would need as much rest as possible because it ain't gonna get easier from here on out.. 7. And of course, who can not miss the nerve-wrecking WD match between BC's current fave JPN junior women player Misaki Matsutomo & Ayaka T. vs. KOR's Jung KE & Kim HN... To be frank, a lot of people thought it would've been a pretty easy cakewalk for the KOR ladies; at least for me it was. The JPN young pair really played their hearts out and if not for their inexperience and lack of sync as a pair, they probably could've at least forced a 3rd game. The crowd really got behind the JPN pair after they caught up and tied the score in the 2nd game after the KOR pair, esp. Kim HN made a bit of errors near the end of the 2nd game. I thought she's the weak link in that pairing. It was neck and neck and at one pt the JPN pair had a game pt., but the KOR pair was able to squeeze through. Overall, in the new JPN WD pairing for Misaki, i have 2 observations. One is i thought both Misaki and Ayaka lacked defense (which i know is a trademark for a JPN WD pairs). They have to improve that area as well as the shot selections (i don't understand nihongo, but i can somewhat overheard & understand what their coach was telling them with the hand signs and all)..Second is, Misaki is not a rear-court player since she just doesn't have any pop in her smashes. Everytime i saw her switch from front to back with Ayaka, i told myself, "oh my, bad switch". Because Misaki is very deft at the front with her really soft touches. Sorry for Misaki, as she suffered 2 defeats in 1 day and for all her BC's supporters..But overall a good learning experience for them..Sorry After the match ended, both junior girls had a few mentor-mentee talk with the coach. At one pt, both Misaki and Ayaka almost cried after being spoken to by the coach (i have a few pics of that).. *Too bad, we couldn't get the human audiophone out of the stringing area to yell his "Nippon! Nippon!" chants... 8. The very late XD match between Lee YD & Ha JE vs. Manipong J & Savitree A. was a good one. Lee and partner were slow in the 1st game but found their rhythm. Ha is error prone; imo, if they're going to go with this partnership for next yr's OG, Ha needs to improve by leaps and bounds. Towards the end of the 3rd game, the THA pair just made a few more errors. 9. The other very late XD match between Cheng Liu & Luo Ying vs. Tony Ng & Grace Gao was also a close affair. Unfortunately, Toby's shot at the forecourt, in the 2nd game, went out. 10. The WS match between CAN's Michelle Li vs. Tse YS was also close. But Michelle seemed to just run out of gas in the 3rd game. 11. The WS match betwenn Lok YP vs. Salakjit P. was also close. Salakjit just seemed a half or 1 step slow and wasn't as sharp.. hmm, what else to share.. oh, no power outage (thank goodness for that and will keep crossing our fingers for rest of the week)..and .. oh, that's right: 2 days and 2 losses for Li Gen (the one on Tuesday was against a Vietnam MD pair, in straight games!)...i guess he now has more time to go sightseeing..
Yeah ctjad.. I'll call the Hurk (Henri Hurskainen) to set you straight if you continue mixing him up with Luka Wraber... ;-(
Its 4.37 AM in my room. and I am too tired, I need to sleep. Good luck to Carolina marin, Inthanon and of course Taufik Hidayat...
Tine also did many unforced-errors against Saina Nehwal at last month INA SSP, she must reduce it. Thx Chris for your live-report & recaps Bad result indeed for Tine, got early exit in GP Gold tourney, waiting her performance next month in world-meet
As expected, Taufik progresses into last eight, def. Chetan Anand with 21-16 and convincing scoreline at second game 21-7. Tomorrow, Marc Zwiebler will be his opponent.
Huge upset once again after Tine first round exit, Aussie pair Ross Smith/Glenn Warfe shocks top-seed TPE MD Fang Chieh Min/Lee Sheng Mu, 21-16 / 21-15.
2011 US Open Grand Prix Gold . Our Aussie pair is an experienced pair, partnering each other for years. Glad to find that they have defeated top-seed TPE MD Fang Chieh Min/Lee Sheng Mu. .
The real final will be between Taufik Hidayat and Bao Chunlai, expected to be in the SF. Meanwhile, I expect Boonsak Ponsana to emerge from the bottom half.
