Singapore Open 2006: QUARTER-FINAL (09/06)

My Review of the Quarter-Final Day

The day started with drizzles in Singapore (and a black rainstorm back in Hong Kong). I left my home after I had my brunch at around 11:30am and went to Orchard to settle some banking stuffs and do some shopping. Bought a jeans that was discounted from S$189 to only S$40 Grabbed it without hesitation...hehehe

The indoor stadium was not that packed when I arrived there at around 2:55pm. The announcer just made the announcement for the first and second match of the day: the mixed doubles. I settled into my seat right at the back of Court 3 (the centre court). The matches started at 3:00pm.

The first match was Nathan Robertson/Gail Emms vs Zheng Bo/Zhao Tingting. It was pretty tight from the start and the pairs were separated by at most 2 points. However, the Chinese pair made some crucial mistakes at the ending stage and they yielded the set to the England pair. The England pair had control of the second set until they began to make mistakes and let the Chinese caught up. However, they proved to be the more dominant pair and won in 2 close sets 21-19, 21-19.

Then, the Indonesian pairs began to arrive in Court 2 and 4 as their matches started at 3:20pm. I switched my attention to watching the World Champions, Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir. They were dominant from the very beginning and wrapped up the first set quite comfortably at 21-15. The second set was much closer but they were never troubled. It ended 21-18.

In between pts, I also watched the new pairing of Mohd Rizal/Greysia Polii playing against the Chinese Taipei pair. The Indonesian pair made many silly mistakes in the first set (esp Rizal) and they let the opponents (esp the guy) take control of the match. The Chinese Taipei pair took the first set 21-16. However, things were different in the second set. The Indonesian pair started to play their game and once they established a healthy gap, they were never in trouble. It was the same story in the rubber game. The Indonesian pair grabbed the second and third set 21-15, 21-12. I think this pair can go far and they are certainly better than either Devin/Vita or Anggun/Yunita. They will be in the top 20 in no time.

After the XD matches, I also watched some part of Mia Audina's match against Chen Li. There was no question, Mia was in control of the entire game from the start to the finish. A good win for her.

I took a break from watching the matches and went outside to shop around at the Yonex booth. At that time, there was a group of Chinese young players shopping for souveniers. I saw Zheng Bo, Zhao Tingting, and a couple of other unfamiliar faces. Then, I took a walk outside the stadium and was quite suprised to see that there were a number of restaurants surrounding it. I would probably try the Jumbo Seafood restaurant tomorrow night. While walking around, I bumped into Gail Emms and Donna Kellogg. They were searching for a cafeteria that sells sandwich. As I was not familiar with the area, I couldn't direct them to the right shop

At around 4:45pm, I bought some snacks and tucked into them while watching Jens Eriksen/Martin Lundgaard Hansen playing against Anthony Clark/Robert Blair. I only watched the first set and it was a close encounter. The English pair was no pushover and they won the first set 21-18. Subsequently, the Danes had to retire because one of the player was injured. So, the England pair progressed to the semi-final.

The next match I watch was Flandy Limpele/Sigit Budiarto against Chan Choong Ming/Koo Kien Keat. The Indonesian pair was simply awesome and they were almost flawless in the first set. They won the first set convincingly at 21-12. The second set was a close one. The Indonesian established an early lead at 11-5, however, they started to make mistakes which led to the Malaysian pair gaining some quick pts. The Malaysians eventually caught up and the score was tied at 19-19. However, the Indonesian veteran pair proved that they still had something to show as they won the second set 21-19. Congrats to them!

After the match, there was another break as the next one will only begin at 6:30pm. Again, I wandered around the stadium and saw some fans asking for Sigit and Flandy's signatures. A group of primary school kids also had their wishes when Sigit gave them his. I also saw Rashid Sidek mingling with a group of Malaysian; Yap Kim Hock, Sigit, and Flandy sharing some friendly banter, with Flandy sending his regards to Rexy; and finally Yap Kim Hock giving his ever-erratic boys (CCM and KKK) a lecture.

When the break was over, the last matches of the day began. First, the Malaysian young pair, Hoon Thien How/Tan Boon Heong vs Jonas Rasmussen/Peter Steffensen. It was more like a mis-match in the first set as the Danes were completely in control (esp JR). JR was very dominant and there was nothing the young Malaysian pair could do as they lost 10-21. They put up a gallant fight in the second set, however, it was not enough and they lost closely 21-18.

The same scenario was followed in the WD match between Jo Novita/Greysia Polii vs Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen. The Indonesian pair was still a class below the World Champion and they could not kill off the Chinese pair even when they had a few chances to do so. They ended up yielding the pts to the opponent. The second set was better as they could keep up all the way till 18-18. However, the World Champion still won quite convincingly 21-13, 21-18.

The local favorite, Ronald Susilo had a few good moments when he led Peter Gade 18-16 in the first set. However, his over-defensive strategy was simply too conservative and could not withstand Peter's constant attack. Peter won 21-19 in the first set. The second set was worse for Ronald as Peter raced ahead quicky to reach game point at 20-13. It was at this point that Ronald started to play some nice attacking game which yielded him a few more pts. However, it was not enough and Peter won 21-16.

The last match of the day was the local doubles pairing of Hendry Saputra Kurniawan/Hendra Wijaya against Thomas Laybourn/Lars Paaske. The first set was similar to yesterday's match. The Singaporean pair was quick to establish a huge lead as they won the first set 21-13. The second set was opposite of the first set. This time, the Danes took the initiative from the start and took the set without difficulty at 21-12. The real show began in the third. It was close from the start as both pairs played under the constant cheering from the local crowd. Hendry/Hendra was the first to reach 11. They had a few good pts to lead at 19-18. However, at this point, the Danes staged a comeback and they managed to reach match point at 20-19. The match was not over and there were indeed a few dramas which really increased the temperature inside the stadium. Crowds were loudly cheering every shot as the Singapore pair managed to equalize at 20-20 and then 21-21. At this point, it was a pity that they made the crucial mistakes and eventually lost 21-23. What a game....

Overall, it was another fantastic day. Hopefully, Team Indonesia will have 2 finalists on Sunday.