Exciting Singapore Open 2008 XD Final

[Loh]

The finalists met at last after four gruelling days of excitement and upsets . The form book was only half right as the 6th seed spoilt the party by showing up unannounced and facing the number 1 seed instead.

The English pair of Anthony Clark and Donna Kellogg was not supposed to be there! Before this all-important encounter, such was their fine performance and superiority that they eliminated all that stood in their way in straight games, including the highly-regarded second seeded Chinese pair of Zheng Bo/Gao Ling and other opponents:

R1 - Mohd Razif Abdul Latif/Chong Sook Chin (MAS) 21-7, 21-9 (23 min)
R2 - Chayut Triyachart/Shinta Mulia Sari (SIN) 21-13, 21-14 (29 min)
QF - Zheng Bo/Gao Ling (#2) (CHN) 21-12, 21-18 (34 min)
SF - Rasmus Bonde/Helle Nielsen (DEN) 21-16, 21-18 (37min)

Nova Widianto/Liliyana Natsir (#1) (INA), on the other hand, had had a surprisingly difficult starting match when they faced the unknown Singapore pair of Danny Bawa Chrisnanta/Vanessa Neo and lost the first game 19-21. They woke up in time to take the second and deciding games, 21-5, 21-14, all in 34 min and went on to defeat the other opponents quite convincingly:

R1 - Danny Bawa Chrisnanta/Vanessa Neo (SIN) 19-21, 21-5, 21-13 (34 min)
R2 - Kwon Yi Goo/Ha Jung Eun (KOR) 21-12, 21-15 (21 min)
QF - Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam (#5) (THA)
21-14, 21-12 (29 min)
SF - Songphon Anugritayawon/Kunchala Voravichitchaikul (THA)
21-18, 21-19 (29 min)

Indeed Anthony and Donna had nothing to lose, so they played their hearts out and gave little respect to the no.1 seeded Indonesians. Donna dominated the front and troubled Liliyana (Butet) with her clever net play and intelligent placements while Anthony held the fort behind with deadly jump smashes and powerful drives. There were lots of exciting rallies but, expectedly, the first game went to the English pair, 21-17.

Hopes were now high for another upset. The second game continued well for England but Donna began to show signs of irritation as her shots began to falter, either going into the net or outside of court. Anthony tried to calm her but Donna's worst was yet to happen. No sooner, she exhibited her bad behaviour by tieing her shoelace (without the umpire's permission I think) to cause undue delay, step on the shuttle and throwing her racket high up into the air. When cautioned by the umpire, she argued with him. Under such circumstances, even Anthony could not save the situation and they lost 14-21.

In the deciding third game, Donna did not show she had overcome her previous temper. The Indonesians took advantage and breezed all the way home giving merely a token 9 points to the English pair. It all ended in 50 min.

What started as an exciting and thrilling XD final ended in a whimper. And all because of temperamental Donna!

 

[Jagdpanther]

Nice photo, Mr. Loh.
Hm... Looks like INA needs help from this English pair to beat CHN pairs for us...

 

[Shuttlekok]

Zheng Bo played so badly in the game they lost to the English pair. He
played as though he was taking part in a primary school competition but
his opponents were state players! Tonnes of unforced errors... even simple
shots went way out of court.

Gao Ling was so furious with him that after the match, they were seen
arguing. They were "stationed" at the exit near the stringing station and
ZB was seen sitting down on the floor while GL was talking to him in a
manner which her body language expressed unhappiness. Obviously we
wouldn't know what exactly went wrong but it could be deduced that GL
was very upset with him.. otherwise, why would they do they match
debrief while ZB was seated on the floor, in the open?

But having said so much, the English pair did perform well but guess Donna
was the ultimate let down. Unnecessary tatics and temper gave the game
away and yes, like Mr Loh had said... it was an anti climax to what could
have been an orgasm!

The question in my mind... what would AO09 bring?