WORLDS Day 3 - Smooth Sailing for the Chinese Armada

Thursday, 13 August 2009 01:01

Many a badminton fan across the world had their fingers crossed when rumours broke out that the Chinese team might follow suit with the English team and announce their withdrawal from the World Championships in Hyderabad, but the Chinese put paid to any doubts about their commitment to capture gold by displaying an impeccable performance on Day 3 winning all matches in which their superstars featured.

By Gaurav Gupta, Badzine Correspondent live in Hyderabad. Photos: BadmintonPhoto (live)

The Chinese squad asserted their supremacy on a day which saw Korea’s top men’s singles player Park Sung Hwan, Malaysia’s top women’s singles player Wong Mew Choo and the Danish men’s doubles pairing of Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen book their exit from the championships.

Awesome Foursome Navigate to Pre-quarters

The Chinese quartet of women’s players featuring in today’s action in the women’s singles all tided opposition waves this afternoon at Gachi Bowli.

Wang Lin, the highest-ranked Chinese player, featuring in the bottom half of the singles draw, was methodical in her 21-13, 21-12 destruction of Yu Hirayama of Japan. After having lost in the finals of the recently concluded Indonesia Super Series to India’s very own Saina Nehwal, the former world junior champ will be looking to sail further ahead at Hyderabad.

Newly crowned All England champion and 4th seed of the tournament Wang Yihan needed just half an hour to dispose of her Scottish opponent Susan Egelstaff 21-13, 21-16 whilst 5th seed Xie Xingfang (photo) got out of tough fight when her Bulgarian nemesis Linda Zechiri retired in the second game due to injury that left Xie the 23-21, 18-10 victor.

Lu Lan’s performance was further proof of the Chinese resolve to dominate proceedings at the Worlds. She was clinical in her 21-17, 21-8 mauling of her Indonesian opposition in the form of Adrianti Firdasari.

worlds09-CHen

A Minor Hiccup for Chen Jin

For once it was not Lin Dan who was amongst the spotlight in the Chinese men’s squad. Chen Jin (photo) was the antihero for the Indian fans as he was pitted against home favorite P Kashyap and he nearly gave them reason to celebrate when he lost the first game 14-21 to the tenacious Indian youngster. But the # 2 seed had no plans to hit the showers early as he swept past Kashyap in the next two games 21-10, 21-7 in less than an hour.

Lin Dan was playing the last match of the evening and his calm demeanor was only a cloak to the steely will that has seen him dominate the men’s game. The young Thai Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk stood absolutely no chance against the mighty captain of the Chinese ship and was sunk 21-16, 21-12.

Cai & Fu Lay Anchor

The bad boys of Chinese Badminton Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng (photo up) marked their debut at the World Championships with a demolition derby style outing against the Singaporean pairing of Suputra & Wijaya. Pirate-like and cutthroat would best describe the 5th-seeded Chinese duo’s display of aggressive badminton as they hacked their hapless opponents 21-12, 21-16.

If Cai & Fu’s win went by the form book it was the turn of the other Chinese men’s doubles team to create the upset. Guo Zhendong / Xu Chen joined their higher ranked compatriots in the next round when they upset 7th seeded combination of Md Ahsan & Bona Septano of Indonesia. After a losing a very close first game 22-24, it was cruise control for the Chinese in the next two as they closed out the match, winning the next two games 21-10, 21-9.

Worlds09-MaJin

Also involved in a close 3-game match was the other Chinese combination of He Hanbin / Shen Ye. They followed a similar script as Guo and Xu, losing the first 24-26 and going on to take the next two 21-16, 21-17 in an hour-long marathon over their German opposition of Hopp/Schoettler.

High & Mighty in Women’s Doubles as well

The performance of the Chinese women’s doubles shuttlers capped off their perfect day with the entire set of Chinese duos recording emphatic wins over their much at sea opposition. Ma Jin and Wang Xiaoli (photo) were too good for their French opponents whilst Cheng Shu / Zhao Yunlei breezed past the India duo of Balan/Kurian. It was an even more devastating performance by Du Jing / Yu Yang, who toyed with their Belgian opposition whilst Zhang Yawen / Zhao Tingting hardly broke a sweat against the clueless Nigerians.

For complete results from Day 3 of the 2009 Yonex Sunrise BWF World Championships, please CLICK HERE

For live, local coverage from Hyderabad, follow the World Championships on Badzine India

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