SINGAPORE OPEN 2010 Qualif. – Polii/Ahmad cruise on

By Serla Rusli, Badzine Correspondent, reporting live from Singapore Indoor Stadium. Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

The pair met a slightly bumpy road in the first round against Hendra Setiawan / Anastasia Russkikh. They scraped through to the second round after upsetting the Indonesian-Russian duo 21-18, 16-21, 21-18.

They moved on to show their impressive streak today by beating young Chinese mixed doubles pair Liu Xiaolong/Luo Ying.

“Today we just focused on playing well and did not think of the threats that Chinese players normally give us. As it turned out, they are still new and we could beat them. Chinese players are normally very fast, so we tried to use tactics to play against them,” commented Greysia about their match.

“Tantowi is a good player and partner. He has good techniques and strong mentality. All he needs right now is to play in more tournaments to gain more experience.”

India Open finalist outshines Koreans

Gurusaidatt Rajah Manuri (Photo), runner-up at the India Open Grand Prix Gold last week, also booked his spot in the main round after showing two Koreans out of the tournament today.

Gurusaidatt upset the second seed of the round Shon Wan Ho in a convincing 21-17, 21-15 win. The next in line to falter under the Indian’s speed and agility on court was former World Junior Champion, Hong Ji Hoon.

“I was dominating the whole match. The draft was definitely a problem as I had to adjust to it whenever I played at the different sides of the court.  In the first game, I just tried to keep the shuttle in while Hong kept making unforced errors. In the second game, I tried to hit the shuttle far and wide,” said Gurusaidatt.

The nineteen-year-old was a bronze medallist of World Junior Championship in 2008. His Super Series debut, Denmark Open 2009, was a breakthrough for him as he worked his way up from the qualifying round to reach the quarter-finals and along the way eliminated one of the then home ground favourites Joachim Persson.

“Coming to Singapore is like a dream come true for me. I have always wanted to play in big halls like this and to play against the world’s top players. I really hope to get more chance to play and improve my game as the time goes by.”

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