Quick
Roundup as it happened ...
Lee marches into the final, Danes deny China,
Tine marches on ... Top
seed Lee Chong Wei became the first player to reach the
100th All England finals with a commanding performance to beat
Peter Gade. Trailing 10-7 in the first, the Malaysian stepped it
up to take the first and established a good lead in the second
with some wonderful touch play.
The final two points were a marvel as Lee left his opponent for
dead, placing the shuttle into the corner of an empty court to
the delight of the Malaysian fans.
The first men's doubles semi saw Danes Boe & Mogesen come
through 21/16, 21/16 against Guo Zhendong & Xu Chen, pulling
clear at the end of both games. The result means that China will
not be able to repeat their last year's haul of five titles.
China are certain to win the women's doubles though, after two
all-Chinese semis saw the first and third seeds through
tomorrow's final.
For Tine Rasmussen it will be three finals in a row as
the 2008 champion defeated India's Saina Nehwal in straight
games. That final will be a repeat of last year's when she faced
the then unseeded Wang Yihan. The Chinese won that
encounter the top sed overcame compatriot Wang Xin 21-17, 26-24
to reach another final.
It
just keeps getting better for Denmark - they are assured of the
men's doubles championship after unseeded Lars Paaske &
Jonas Rasmussen beat third seeded Indonesion pair Markis
Kido & Hendra Setiawan in a thrilling match.
Late in the decider the Indonesians took a 19-17 advantage, but
the Danes held firm, taking the win on their third match point
before throwing their rackets deep into the adoring Danish
crowd.
The upsets kept coming when Kenich Tago became the first
Japanese for almost half a century to reach the men's singles
final. He saved a match point at 19-20 in the second against Bao
Chunlai,who yesterday put out the defending champion, went into
the interval 11-4 up in the decider, and hung on as his opponent
threatened to get back into it, claiming a historic win
8-21, 22-20, 21-18in 76 minutes.
Lee
brings the Malaysian dream nearer Richard Eaton
Lee Chong Wei's dream of becoming only the second
Malaysian in 44 years to win the men's singles title moved
impressively closer with a brilliantly taken semi-final win.
The top-seeded Olympic silver medallist beat Peter Gade, the
former All-England champion from Denmark, 21-17, 21-14, to earn
his second successive final at Britain's national indoor arena.
Even more impressive was that Lee was dominant from the moments
when he turned an early 7-10 deficit into a small lead,
gradually edging further away and taking control of more and
more of the rallies.
The light-footed Lee did that by keeping the pace uncomfortably
high for Gade, who had done superbly well to get past Taufik
Hidayat, the former Olympic champion, in three very long games
the night before.
That may have cost him. Lee, light-footed, energetic, and
superbly fit, hustled his 33-year-old opponent without
relenting, and apparently without any distress.
"I had a better recovery than Peter," said Lee, referring to his
own three-game quarter-final match, against Shon Wan Ho of
Korea. "I always felt I had the extra edge."
Though the stats suggest Lee won a high percentage of his points
with smashes, the damage was done with his punchy clears, sharp
flicks from the front court, and well balanced tumblers at the
net, all of which set up openings to put the shuttle on the
floor.
"I
needed to make things happen on the court," said Gade. "Lee
could do that - and I can't at the moment."
Gade did however try to hang in hard, as he had so bravely done
against the odds against Hidayat. But the best he could do was
to haul a 8-13 second deficit back to 13-15. After that Lee
accelerated away again.
The finish was brilliant. Lee got to match point with an edgy
rally in which both men found net cords with tight little net
shots, and then closed the match out with the shot of the
contest.
He got Gade in trouble in the forecourt, delayed his shot almost
as though he were slowing down time, and at the moment his
opponent placed his weight forward, flicked the shuttle
diagonally over his head into the back forehand corner.
It made the large Malaysian contingent, which had almost made
this feel like a home match for Lee, go wild. It also gave the
match a great finish, and the winner some great impetus to take
into a final in which he hopes to make a bit of history.
Without Lee's most frequent obstacle on big occasions, Lin Dan,
the Olympic and World champion, who was beaten on yesterday, the
route to a big title now seems less hazardous.
"It's very important for Malaysia," said Lee, apparently
unafraid to admit to the pressure. "I really want to win this
title.
It was not surprising that Tine Rasmussen hurled her
racket ceilingwards as though trying to test the sturucture of
the roof. Not only had she reached her third successive
All-England final, she had earned a great chance to atone for
last year's last ditch disappointment.
Then,
as the top seed, the tall Dane had lost in three
sinew-stretching games to the unseeded surprise packet from
China, Wang Yihan. Now Rasmussen is unseeded, Wang is the
official favourite, and the two meet again in what could prove
the most fascinating of all the five finals.
The circumstances are certainly very different. Ramussen has had
such an injury-plagued few months that a 21-17, 21-19 semi-final
win over Saina Nehwal which was hardly a surprise came as
a moment of relief and ecstasy.
Not that Nehwal isn't a phenomenon too. The first Indian woman
ever to reach the semi-finals of the All-England, is one of the
great emerging talents and she showed why.
She tailored her tactics intelligently to the occasion, stroked
the shuttle accurately and moved with economy. She also denied
Rasmussen � arguably the most fearsome attacker in the game when
she is on song � opportunities to attack some of the time.
But not all of it. "I knew her style of play. But I also knew
that if I concentrated and stayed calm and kept to my tactics, I
could make my own type of points," said Rasmussen.
There were crucial moments in the first game when Rasmussen's
20-17 lead was chiselled away as Nehwal, angry over a line
decision at 19-16 which she thought was wrong, made an
impressive push.
It was then that Rasmussen's freshly rediscovered calm served
her well, as she won the two points which did more than anything
to alter the course of the match. The second of them saw her
leap to intercept an attacking flick, getting the shuttle down
for an overhead drop winner.
In
the second game, Nehwal cut a four-point deficit to two at
17-19, but once again when it mattered Rasmussen delivered. A
brilliant cross court disguised kill got her to match point, and
a trademark smash, heavy, steep and accurate converted the
opportunity at the first attempt.
"I can feel the support of the Danish spectators behind me when
I am playing, and I feel that English spectators cheer for me
too," said Rasmussen. "I feel really at home here. I love it.
Would she be able to keep her calm, unpressured attitude for her
third successive All-England final? "I am just looking forward
to it," she said. "I will have had a rest and I will go on court
tomorrow and enjoy being here again in the final. It's amazing �
I didn't expect that."
However Wang Yihan again showed herself a more dangerous and
confident player than she was a year ago, as she overcame her
compatriot Wang Xin 21-17, 26-24.
Yihan had the greater variety in attack, but Xin worked hard to
contain the champion, leading by one point at the interval.
Yihan pulled away to take the game after a sequence of long
rallies, but left herself with some work to do when she slipped
to a five-point deficit in the second.
Xin's
tenacious clearing, left-handed angles and fine court coverage
had helped her pull away, but from 14-19 Yihan began to play
somewhere near her best again.
She saved game points at 19-20, 20-21, and 22-23, and then,
after earning her second match point at 25-24, made no mistake.
It had been a low key match but Yihan did not think it would be
more exciting now that she was playing a non-Chinese opponent.
"It doesn't work like that," she said. "I am in the finals and I
have to have my quality to win the match whoever I play."
If Rasmussen brings her quality as well though, there is no
doubt that the final will have a fire and an atmosphere which is
utterly different.
Tago
ends a wait of nearly half a century Richard Eaton
Kenichi
Tago became the first Japanese player for nearly half a
century to reach the men's singles final when he saved a match
point to beat Bao Chunlai 18-21, 22-20, 21-17.
The 20-year-old's dynamic performance enabled him to climb back
from a precipice in the second game, and to take charge of the
third, ending the China's men's singles challenge in the
process.
It was further proof of a major breakthrough for the son of
former All-England women's doubles finalist Yoshiko Yonekura,
for he has now beaten three seeds � Tien Minh Nguyen of Vietnam,
the number seven Chen Jin, the 2008 champion, and now Bao, the
sixth seeded former world silver medallist.
"Badminton is my play-ground," said the smiling Tago. "I've been
playing the sport since I was three years old. That's why I feel
at home."
He
also volunteered that he knew before going on court that it had
been 47 years since H.Akiyama reached the All-England final. His
coach, Park Joo Bong, the Korean legend, had been
motivating him by teasing him about this piece of history.
Tago responded with energy that was amazing, bringing both
explosive movement and the ability to play at a high pace for a
long time. This extracted unusual errors from Bao, and made the
Chinese player feel uncomfortable even when he was well ahead.
It was this which kept Tago in the match even when Bao took a
lead of 12-8 in the second game, threatening with his angular
left-handed smashes, and reached match point at 20-19.
At that moment Tago had a slice of luck. He could only manage a
defensive flick lift, and Bao, looking to finish the match with
a spectacular jump smash, put the shuttle wide.
Two
points later Bao faced game point against him, and this time the
Chinese player allowed a defensive flick from Tago to drop,
thinking it was floating out. It landed on the line, and the
match changed character after that.
Tago shot into leads of 7-2 and 11-4 in the final game, and
although Bao fought to reduce the deficit, and even got it back
to two points, it was clear by then that Tago thought he could
win.
When he did, with a dynamic smash-kill combination, he fell on
to the court and lay there for ten seconds or more, covering his
face with his hands.
"I felt rushed in the second set, it was getting harder, and I
was making some errors," said Bao, who was clearly upset, having
taken the responsibility for China with his victory over Olympic
champion Lin Dan the night before.
"I felt I was not concentrated and could have played better," he
said. "I am really frustrated and felt I could have played
better."
Head coach Li Yongbo commented bluntly: "He needs to practise
better because he was making errors at crucial points."
Tago will meet in the final Lee Chong Wei, whose dream of
becoming only the second Malaysian in 44 years to win the men's
singles title moved impressively closer with a brilliantly taken
win.
China's
chances of winning all five All-England titles for the second
successive year came to an end when Mathias Boe and Carsten
Mogensen reached the biggest final of their career so far by
beating Guo Zhendong and Xu Chen in straight games.
But the impressive 21-16, 21-16 victory over the sixth seeds was
only the first installment of Danish doubles delight, and of a
day which ended with a country of only five million people
earning a decent chance of winning two All-England titles.
The last time Denmark did that was in 1995, when it was the
tall, elegant, and brilliant Poul-Erik Hoyer won the men's
singles. Peter Gade was not so far from earning a chance to
emulate him again, but it is now certain that one Danish pair
will emulate Jens Eriksen and Martin Lundgaard Hansen, the only
men's doubles combo from Denmark to win the All-England during
the same period of time.
That
is because Boe and Mogensen were joined in the final by their
compatriots Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen, the unseeded
former world champions who are back to their best.
Having trounced the top-seeded former champions Koo Kien Keat
and Tan Boon Heong in the first round, they beat the Olympic
champions Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan 14-21, 21-13, 23-21 in
the semis � which was a tremendous effort.
It was one of those brilliant men's doubles matches which have
so often electrified the All-England over the years, where the
shuttle moves in a blur and the reflexes with hardly a blink.
The Danes were 6-9, 11-12, and 17-19 down in the decider, and
when they won on their third match point, Rasmussen tossed his
racket in the air, fell backwards, rolled over and raised a
clenched fist while lying on the ground.
"It's a phenomenal result for us," said Denmark's doubles coach
Lars Uhre. "We are certain of one title � but of course
we want two."
The Chinese could yet win three. They too are certain of one,
the women's doubles, in which Du Jing and Yu Yang, the
top-seeded Olympic champions, and Cheng Shu and Zhao Yunlei,
the world's third-ranked pair, reached the final.
They
could of course win the women's singles again, if Wang Yihan
successfully defends her women's singles title, but the mixed
doubles is still within their ambit too.
That is because Zhao Yunlei became the only player to
reach two finals, she and her new partner Zhang Nan
producing their third upset of the week by beating He Hanbin and
Yu Yang, their fourth-seeded compatriots.
This could be the start of something big. They have already got
the better of the top seeds, their compatriots Zheng Bo and Ma
Jin, and of the eighth seeds, H. Gunawan and Vita Marissa.
No-one would now put it past them to do something similar to
another seeded Indonesian pair, Nova Widianto and Lilyana
Natsir, the former world champions who needed nearly 70
minutes to prevail 21-16, 18-21, 21-8 against Lee Yong Dae and
Lee Hyo Jung, the Olympic champions from Korea.
