Lee
believes he can loosen the Chinese grip Richard Eaton
Lee Chong Wei, who aims to
break the Chinese monopoly of All-England titles, patiently and
calmly worked his way into the quarter-finals of the men's
singles and closer to a possible rematch Sunday's final with his
great rival, Lin Dan.
The world number one from Malaysia's 21-11, 21-17 win against
Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia was a good result against a
dangerous opponent, who is not only former winner of Olympic
bronze and world silver and medals, but has twice accounted for
Lee in world championships
Kuncoro
made some eye-catching attacks, both with smashes and lunging
kills at the net, but Lee often contained him, moving with great
balance, and sometimes defending brilliantly. The top seed used
attacks as surprise, and changed to higher paced rallies at
physically well-times moments.
Lee also looked and sounded confident about the rest of the
week, appearing to agree with the suggestion that he could go
all the way.
"I am getting better and better. The second set shows I have
improved from yesterday,” he said, referring to his slightly
laboured first round win over
Chetan Anand of India.
“Yesterday I wasn't so good but today was better and the second
set showed that. It's a good to start early in the day and I was
happier with the way my intensity and performance today."
Lee displayed hints of relief at getting through to a last eight
meeting with Shon Wan Ho, the world number 44 from Korea.
“I am happy to go through - I am just going to do things my own
way and concentrate on playing my own game and that is what I
will do in my next match,” he said.
However
Lee is well aware that Lin Dan, who did not play in the first
two Super Series tournaments of the year, in Seoul and Kuala
Lumpur, is a master at peaking for titles he wants to win, and
looked effortlessly excellent the previous night as he coasted
through in straight games against Christian Lind Thomsen, a
Danish qualifier.
The top-seeded titleholder in the women's singles, Wang Yihan,
also came through without too many difficulties, by 21-16, 21-16
in a cagey match with Yu Hirayama, the Japanese qualifier.
”It takes a while to understand your opponent's game, and both
of us were trying to learn from each other,” said Wang. “But I
found a way.”
She now plays Zhou Mi, the former world number one from
China, who described her resurrection as a Hong Kong player
three years ago after a serious injury as a “miracle” and who
won 21-13, 21-15 against Wang Chen, another former Chinese
player representing Hong Kong.
Later
another top-seeded doubles pair went out in the first round.
Yesterday it had been Koo Kean Keat and Tan Boon Heong, the
Malaysians, in the men's doubles; now it was Zheng Bo and Ma
Lin, of China, in the mixed doubles.
Zheng, who twice won the All-England title with the now retired
Gao Ling, said: “It's not easy to play these opponents because
we are familiar with each others' styles,” after he and Ma had
lost 21-16, 21-17 to Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei, Chinese
compatriots who had had to qualify.
“We knew they are a good pair but we didn't expect to lose. We
were a bit impatient and tried to do too much.” Zheng added.
Gade
earns himself an omen,
and a trip down memory lane ... Richard Eaton
Peter
Gade, who still harbours ambitions at the age 33 of winning
another All-England title, reached his seventh quarter-final and
at the same time earned himself a repeat of the match-up he had
in his most memorable final.
Gade's hard-worked 24-22, 21-18 win over Simon Santoso
gained him a trip down memory lane with an even better known
Indonesian, Taufik Hidayat, who was the man he beat in
the All-England final of 11 years ago.
As omens go, it seemed a good one, and the fifth-seeded Dane was
even prepared to drop a hint as to what it might signify.
“It was the final in '99, so it's a big game but if I can win
that - then you never know," he said, which was the closest he
has come to suggesting he can win the title again.
But
there were moments when his progress seemed less than assured.
Santoso led 15-9 and even though Gade then began to move the
shuttle around with more accuracy he still had to save a game
point at 20-19.
The second game saw Gade play with increasing feel and
confidence in the slightly drifty conditions, and the match
looked all but over as he advanced to 17-11 and then 19-14.
Then however he faltered, and Santoso began to press, reaching
18-19 before he tried to attack a high clear, with a tightly
angled clip and put in into the net. Gade's sequence of accurate
clears in the next rally was enough for him to close out the
match.
"Of
course it was a tighter game than I would have liked but that
was exactly what I expected,” Gade claimed. Simon is a very good
player and on his best days he can play very well and that is
what he did today so I had to play the best that I could."
"I let him go a little in the first set and that maybe made it
tougher than it had to be, but luckily I got back into game and
began to play my best. Simon is an excellent player and he
played well today so I had to play well - and thankfully I did."
Hidayat came through with a 21-18, 21-14 win over Andrew
Smith, the Englishman who has occasionally been one of his
sparring partners at the Kuala Lumpur Racket Club.
Even though Smith closed an early six-point deficit to one in
the first game, the fourth-seeded Hidayat had too many ways in
which he could win points to worry unduly.
“My
preparation was good for today and for me it was an easy game
and I could control the game, so for me that was pleasing,” he
said. "I will just relax and think about my strategy for the
next game and hopefully play as well as I did today."
If he does, Gade may find the rematch very difficult.
"We know each other very well and Taufik always plays well,” the
former All-England champion said, mindful of his 21-17, 21-18
loss to the former Olympic champion in last year's
quarter-finals.
“So hopefully tomorrow will be a good game,” Gade added. “He won
the last time here so hopefully this is my turn.”
Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork transformed a
mediocre day for Britain into a triumph with a late night win
over the world champions Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter
Juhl which may also do much to transform a partnership which
has taken a while to gel.
The
21-14, 16-21, 21-15 win with which the English national
champions denied the Danes should take some of the pressure away
from Wallwork who - whatever the tactful PR utterances about no
comparisons being made with Gail Emms, Robertson's previous
partner - has had the extremely difficult job of stepping into
the shoes of the highest profile English woman of the
professional era.
Now, 18 months later, Wallwork revealed her improved ability to
move in flexible patterns between defence and attack, and to
pounce on the openings at the net, she and Robertson adding
noisily to the celebrations of the 100th All-England by reaching
the quarter-finals for the first time.
“It's
a great achievement for her,” said Robertson, even though his
own form had been back somewhere close to his best. “She's a
young player stepping forward – and this was a great step
forward. It's the biggest win of her career.
“It should be a huge confidence boost and it's good to know that
she can do it. She has had big shoes to fill and that's what we
have been training to do.
“She's quite fiery on court,” Robertson added. “She never let's
anyone get the better of her. She's similar to Gail in that
respect. And that's what you have to have.”
Both Robertson and Wallwork had suffered doubles defeats earlier
in the day, and now they came out fired up to make amends. They
took control of the first game with some well engineered
combinations of attack, and seemed to be ready to launch another
push at 7-7 in the second game.
For a while though their standard fell away a little and
although they reduced a five point deficit to one at 16-17, the
Danes produced four quick winners to level it.
Rytter Juhl took an injury time out early in the decider,
apparently because she had been feeling discomfort in her back.
But the Danes still nosed ahead at 3-1 and 7-6 and looked
capable of generating the momentum to put a run of points
together.
But Robertson and Wallwork managed to manoeuvre Laybourn away
from his position of greatest strength, in the mid-court, where
he can be brilliant quick in the fast exchanges, and edged their
way forward from 10-all to 13-10 with Wallwork making some sharp
interceptions in the forecourt.
As
the score moved from 15-11 to 18-13 Robertson grew in dominance,
sometimes moving between the front and the back like a ghost but
proving only too real a presence when there was a chance of an
opening. At the end he celebrated as though they had won a big
title, and indeed called Laybourn and Rytter Juhl “probably the
biggest pair here we could beat at the All-England”, even though
the Danes were unseeded.
He will have been recalling how he and Emms had to battle to
beat them in the 2005 All-England final. Did he think they could
now go all the way, he was asked – but he wasn't being drawn
into that. He and Wallwork next play Nova Widianto and Lilyana
Natsir, the Indonesians who have twice won the world title. They
won't be looking further than that.
Earlier
Anthony Clark and Heather Olver, the fledgling, three-month
old English partnership which has played less than a handful of
tournaments, also reached the quarter-finals with their finest
victory so far.
Olver, in her first main draw in an All-England Open mixed
doubles, proved an encouragingly sensible and sturdy support for
Clark, a former world finalist, as the English pair overcame
Lee Sheng Mu and Chien Yu Chin of Taipei 21-18, 22-20.
Maybe it is best not to get carried away with a victory over
opponents ranked at 64 in the world. Nevertheless there were
ingredients in the success, notably Olver's significantly
imprved net play, which not only got the Thursday night crowd
roaring but augured well for the future.
They surged back from 1-5 down in the first game and once they
got their noses nin front never looked like relinquishing the
lead; then in the second they fought out a neck-and-neck finish
in which they overcame the disappointment of losing a four-point
lead and saved a game point at 19-20.
Clark
was often at his brilliant best. He was almost unstoppable in
the fast, flat rallies, sometimes changed the direction of the
shuttle with exhilarating deftness, and finished the match with
a brilliantly disguised jab which left his opponents
wrong-footed and rooted.
He was also so thrilled with the win that he sank to his knees
and placed his head on the floor, before embracing Olver. “We
played a fantastic match,” the veteran of dozens of great wins
enthused. “We came out of the blocks flying and played a great
match.”
What seemed to please him as much as his own excellent
performance was the accelerating progress of his 23-year-old
partner. “We have done a lot of work together,” Clark said.
“There were areas where she had to improve, and she's not there
yet, but there's more improvement to come. There's not many
woman who play the net beautifully well – it's a difficult job
to be in the firing line and also be at the net to make the
kills.
“But
this really sends a message to the opposition – it won't be long
before she's one of the best mixed doubles players in the
world.”
Olver appeared laid back about it all. “If we carry on playing
well there is no reason why we can't win again,” she said with
oceanic calm. Seeing as they next meet the Olympic champions,
Lee Yong Dae and Lee Hyo Jung, that really would cause a
sensation.
Their success was a welcome relief for home hopes, which had
dwindled a stage where some naysayers were even predicting a
total exit by the end of the second day.
Taufik Hidayat, the former Olympic and World men's
singles champion, beat a less than fully fit Andrew Smith,
21-18, 21-14 and said: "I am comfortable playing here and I knew
what I had to do to win today - so even though Andrew did score
some good points I was always confident that I would be able to
respond with some points myself."
Rajeev
Ouseph played a fine first game against the 2008 All-England
champion, Chen Jin, coaxing the shuttle about with
wonderful control, giving the Chinese player very little pace,
and even reaching game point at 21-20 in the first game. But he
still lost 23-21, 21-8.
Susan
Egelstaff, of Scotland, the only British player in the main
draw of the women's singles, put up a brave and tenacious fight
against Lu Lan, the sixth-seeded world champion from
China, before going down 25-23, 20-22, 21-17.
Earlier Jenny Wallwork and Gabby White, who attacked well
in the first game, were exposed defensively in the second and
third games of a 21-13, 21-9, 21-8 loss to Miyuki Maeda and
Satsoko Suetsana, the Olympic quarter-finalists from Japan.
Robertson and Clark also suffered a defeat earlier on when they
went down 21-14, 21-11 to Guo Zhendong and Xu Chen, the
seventh seeded Chinese men's doubles pair. But there was no
doubt that the two men's mixed doubles efforts more than made up
for it.
China's grip on the two singles titles began to close ominously
as eight of the 16 quarter-final places were filled by their
players.
Lin Dan, the titleholder has slid through almost
unnoticed because he has twice played last thing at night, but
for those who watched there was no mistaking the power of his
21-14, 21-18 victory over Muhammad hafiz Hashim, the former
All-England champion from Malaysia.
“I'm
getting used to the conditions and feeling better each time I
play,” said Lin, and despite the routine concept of the words
they seemed to contain a sliver of menace when they came from
him.
Lin was able to go through the gears from a stroll, to economy,
to sudden acceleration, and just occasionally to overdrive, all
in one match, and still have a bit to spare – though it will be
interesting to see how he approaches his quarter-final against
another Chinese hero, Bao Chunlai.
Bao is a former world silver medallist and a Thomas Cup stalwart
for his country, and the way he beat Park Sing Hwan of Korea
suggested he is good enough to make the champion work.
But he was not planning on that. “I want to see China win all
five medals again,” he said, and the 100th All-England is
panning out in a way which certainly makes that possible two
years in a row.
In the same half Chen Jin saved a game point against the
in-form English national champion Rajeev Ouseph before his
23-21, 21-8 earned a meeting with the improving young Japanese
player, Kenichi Tago.
In
the top half though the Chinese challenge was expunged, with the
brilliant young Chen Long, conqueror of the seeded Jan
Jorgensen, surprisingly losing to Shon Wan Lo, a Korean
qualifier. He now plays Lee Chong Wei, the too-seeded
Malaysian who kept alive his threat to stop the juggernaut by
denying the dangerous Sony Dwi Kuncoro, the former world silver
medallist from Indonesia.
But China has a presence in both halves of the women's singles,
and five players in the quarter-finals if you count Zhou Mi,
the former world number one who now represents Hong Kong, as one
of them.
She plays Wang Yihan, the top-seeded titleholder, who has
done enough to progress satisfactorily without quite yet looking
at her best, and two Chinese contest the other semi-final place
in that top half.
They
are Jiang Yanjiao, the third seeded former Asian
champion, and Wang Xin, the fifth-seeded Malaysian Super
Series winner.
An all-Chinese final can only happen if Lu Lan, the world
champion, wins twice more, as well she may, though she may need
to be more convincing than she was in struggling past Susan
Egelstaff of Scotland 21-17 in the final game.
Lu now plays Tine Rasmussen, the 2008 All-England
champion from Denmark, who looked impressive in beating Eriko
Hirose, the Japanese giant-killer, 21-12, 21-12.
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