Sight of the shuttle was blocked for the linejudge -> let Lucky escape for Rice in the 2nd though, might've been some questionable calls iirc near then end of 2nd as well. Seems like an age ago already and it's 4AM over here so ... video review tomorrow (that would be today then).
the most anticipated match the Canadians will rarely get to see is coming up on the TV court... Zhu Lin vs Pi Hongyan
zhu is cruzing, theres no difference in intensity between her warmup and her actual game lol so relaxed man, has anyone noticed the score guy for the livestream really doesnt pay attention, mistakes every game, its 20-19 and he still got zhu and pi backwards
ya it took them til 8-5....13 rallies to figure out dicky is the dutch guy, which i guess is understandable lol sweet, zhu just earned 3 points with one net shot, i need to learn that
For those who didn't see Taufik's match tonight, which was besides the court TV match, Taufik is quite lucky to have progressed to the next round. Matthieu Lo Ying Ping was winning 18-14 in the second set, and had all the momentum to take the match (especially after winning the first set). On the next point, Taufik made a great attacking lob shot from the net, and Lo Ying Ping dived in the backcourt to see if he could keep the shuttle in play. Unfortunately, Lo Ying Ping sprained his ankle on that dive. With the score at 18-15 for Lo Ying Ping, Lo Ying Ping decided to tape his ankle. Unfortunately, the taping could only do so much and Lo Ying Ping was limping at times for his footwork - not to mention a tightly taped ankle makes it impossible to flex your ankle and causes all sorts of balance issues. Lo Ying Ping was forced to change his strategy and gamble for the last 3 points by going for the line, but Taufik was experienced enough and Taufik played safe shots, taking advantage of Lo Ying Ping's sprain. Unfortunately for Lo Ying Ping, the gamble did not work and he only gained 1 more point before Taufik took set 2. Set 3 was just a formality as it was a limping Lo Ying Ping against a No. 5 World Player. I'm not quite sure why Lo Ying Ping decided to continue as he could have aggravated his sprain further and he had no chance with his taped ankle against Taufik. Furthemore, I don't know how Taufik can let a limping opponent ranked 41st in the world get 16 points off of him in the 3rd set. Taufik is quite lucky to still be in the tournament at this point. Hope he picks up his game, because he almost lost to Alex Pang and with all due respect, he should have lost today if it weren't for Lo Ying Ping's sprain with 3 points to go for Lo Ying Ping.
Yup, that would be me. Why didn't you come up to say hi. If you see me tomorrow, please introduce yourself
Interestingly, other than Taufik, all top 6 Men's Singles seeds are out of the tournament already. With all due respect, Taufik should be out too (please read my post above). This is quite an interesting tournament as many up and coming players are taking the lead. The most disappointing team though has to be England for their Men's Singles. If England plans to medal in Men's Singles at the 2012 Olympics, they have a long way to go.
I've gained a whole bunch of respect for Mathieu Lo. What a fighter. He really held his own, albeit against a sluggish Taufik
BTW, for anybody that was at the tournament in person, do you recognize any notable names in the coaching or management staff? Probably one of the most noteable coaches so far is Lee Dong Soo - two time silver medalist at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. What other noteable coaches and managers are at this tournament?
Lee's boss (and Sung Ji Hyun's mother), Kim Yunja, is also there and she is also a two-time All England winner. Her husband is there coaching, too. Did Kim Dong Moon not make it down from Calgary to coach the likes of Grace Gao, Fiona Mckee and Toby Ng?
The WS top seed Pi Hongyan has also been booted out in the 2nd round by the unseeded Zhu Lin. She has not been playing that well in 2010 just like TH who has been beaten in early rounds of some tournaments or taken to 3 games by lowly-seeded or unseeded opponents. :crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying:
It's unfortunate that Pi and Lin played against each other so early in the tournament. Their match was probably the finals right there because they are the two best Women's Singles players in the tournament. I suppose this is because Zhu is not ranked anymore and therefore, she was unseeded. I'm guessing they randomized the draw and somehow, they both ended up on the same side of the bracket. I heard that Zhu is still playing in Shanghai - I'm sure Zhu's opponents in Shanghai are more competitive that any female opponent that Pi can find in France.
The livestreaming is pretty smooth, just depends on the connection speed. I was able to watch a pretty smooth stream on another computer. Looks like Mathieu LoYP's North American baddy tour will most likely end @ the Canada Open, with his ankle injury, and he most likely has to withdraw from next week's U.S. Open..
KDM wasn't around (don't think he made it down). I was sitting with the Korean team after my volunteer shift on Wednesday. Sung's mother (Kim Yunja) was there and the whole team is staying in Richmond very close to the venue and I was told that a lot of them brought their own food stuff from Korea and was "cooking" in the hotel rooms . The average age for the Korean team is around 19 years old so definitely the next generation.
I also watched the line stream. Zhu Lin is still pretty good. Just too many young Chinese WS players fighting for limit spots right now. She has very good skill - even better than Pi, just her mental strength needs to be improved. I hope she can leave China and migrate to another country like Pi. That makes me think of another younger, Wang Lin, who may need to follow Zhu Lin's footsteps.
