LGP Day 3 report Kicking off a full day’s play it’s nice to see Salakjit Ponsana on court, but she struggled to find her range and form, losing out to the vocal Xuan Deng in straight games: A slightly less vocal Carolina Marin continued her good form, sweeping aside Millicent Wiranto (INA) in two games: Brother and sister combo, Chloe and Sam McGee won out in the end over Swedish duo Ruponen & Hogstrom: English mixed pair Mair and Moore enjoy the distinction of both being left handed (can anyone think of any other such mixed pairs?). Alas, it didn’t seem to help them in their match with Chrisnanta and Neo (SIN), and they went down tamely in the end: And here is a picture of the ‘tubby’ Chinese mens doubles player, Li Gen: and, for the record, a picture of the final result – surely the first time any French doubles pair has overcome a Chinese pair at international level? (please correct me folks if I’m wrong): England’s Raj Ouseph hardly seemed to break sweat in overcoming Hsu Jiu Ting (TPE) who seemed bewildered by Ouseph’s reach and retrieving: Scottish women’s doubles pair of Kirsty Gilmour and Jillie Cooper overcame their disappointment at the Czech Open final last Sunday with a fine victory over Michels & Goliszewski: Next up was Sayaka Sato against English challenger Sarah Walker – no real problems for Sayaka who won in 2, but who is her coach? Victor continued his good form, and despite his groovy shirt, Henri couldn’t come up with any answers, Victor winning in two games to 10 and 12. A happy Zi Liang Derek Wong (SIN) signs autographs after his close fought victory over Scott Evans: As usual, HK required some running repairs to his knees in his encounter with Yuxiang Huang (CHN) but came through to get the result(s) he wanted: The mercurial Ville Lang (FIN) has a discussion with the referee while a bemused Riyanto Subagja (INA) looks on: Just outside the venue is this marquee-like structure. Inside it contains… …a practice court! The Danish mixed pair Kim Astrup Sorensen and Maria Helsbol has real potential – Sorensen especially showing creativity and power. Nevertheless, Maria was hampered by an injury, and despite some running repairs, had to withdraw, leaving Irfan Fadhilah and Weni Aggraini (INA) to progress to the next round: Then it was Kirsty Gilmour on court again, this time for singles against Maria Febe (INA), but Maria couldn’t seem to read Kirty’s game, and the Scot ran out a winner in two games – a really good result for her: Feature match of the day was Jan O Jorgensen (DEN) against the recent conquerer of Lee Chong Wei in Australia, Tian Houwei (CHN), and it was Tian who was the victor here in a three set match of high quality: For this event Adidas have re-invented the ubiquitous Badminton clacker: and if you get bored clacking, you can unfold it and enjoy a poster for the National Schools Championships In a better day for English players, the young duo of Peter Briggs and Harley Towler had a convincing victory over the Danish pair of Nohr and Overgaard: And now Porntip plays doubles! Partnered with Busanan they were up against the English pairing of Heather Olver and Kate Robertshaw, and it was the English pair who eventually came out on top in a tough three setter, Olver especially playing with aggression and resilience to send the crowd home happy.
Three former World Junior Champs continue their journey here, Tian HW v Derek WZL, Axelsen v Xue Song, Zulkiffli v Ouseph. WS, Marin, Wang Xin are predicted to secure semis ticket. Busanan v Deng Xuan should be close match. The Danish #1 pair, Boe/Mogensen also Pedersen/Juhl are clear faves to win MD and WD title on Sunday's final QUARTERFINALS schedule : http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/matches.aspx?id=8F919726-8CA0-416B-B84C-D1895410EC71
Surprising, Derek Wong, as the 8th seed, has never played any CHN players before in mens singles. Tian HW will be his first. Apparently, THW is too much for Wong to handle.
Not looking good for THW. But Derek is improving lately, just a few weeks ago he bested Sony and in the past even beaten Taufik. Kristy Gilmour is a surprise package, ousted Maria Febe yesterday, and today overcome the reviving Sayaka Sato convincingly.
Glad to see more potential coming from europe. I really didnt expect Gilmour could pass through Sayaka. Congrats !!
Good to see a good player or two coming out from Europe. I saw part of Derek's match against the Irish player. He can really attack.
Derek is a proactive player with a positive attitude; in fact it was reported that his father, a former SEA Games champion beating Icuk Sugiarto decades ago, gave his son two years to produce satisfactory results to his expectation, of course, or quit badminton. And, yes, Luan Jin is still coaching Singapore.
For a young underdog to play above himself and stunned a formidable top player is uncommon but for him to then almost immediately follow up with many more spectacular performances is indeed rare - I'm talking about Tian Houwei. Indeed, very few can be like LXR whose rise to the top from early on in her career is practically a linear curve. Wonder what happened in G3 with THW running away with it? I didn't get to see the match.
Derek ran out of steam in the third set. Probably smashed himself out of the match in the first set. How old is Derek? Hope he is still young. Will be good to see Singapore come up with a home-grown world class player.Singapore had done it before when it produced the legendary Wong Peng Soon didn't it?
If I'm not wrong, Derek is 23 already; perhaps Uncle Loh when he sees your post would want to confirm it; he's better informed than I am as regards Singapore badminton, including the history of Wong Peng Soon.
