CHINA MASTERS 2010 – Revenge for Lin Dan, injury for Wang Lin

By Raphaël Sachetat. Photos: Yves Lacroix/Badmintonphoto (live from Changzhou)

It took 49 minutes and two games for Lin Dan to make amends for his poor outing in last month’s Yonex World Championships.  This time, he was obviously more motivated as he was playing on home ground and against one of the few players in the world to whom he has lost on several occasions. Though he was beaten quite badly in Paris – where the score line was 21-13 , 21-13 for the tall right hander – Lin Dan played some of his best badminton to dominate his opponent for what was the match of the day for the spectators in Changzhou – most of the public left once Lin had avenged his Paris defeat. The Chinese beat Park 21-11 , 21-17 and advanced to the second round where he is expected to meet France’s Brice Leverdez.

China scooped no fewer than 8 out of the 16 remaining spots in the men’s singles draw, with Bao Chunlai, Chen Jin and Chen Long also advancing to the next round.  Bao and Chen also took care of Korea’s 2nd and 3rd players, leaving only Lee Hyun Il to advance.

The major upset of the day was the defeat of Boonsak Ponsana, 6^th seed, to Hong Kong’s Hu Yun. The latter, in the lead 20-17 in the decider had to overcome two match points against him before overcoming the soft-spoken Thai.

The other big news of the day was the injury sustained on court by the recent world champion Wang Lin, who injured her knee while leading 14-8 in the third game against Indonesia’s Maria Febe Kusumastuti. The Chinese was well in control of the game when she suddenly collapsed and held her left knee, obviously in pain. She had to hand over the match before being sent directly to the hospital. She will not get to play Wang Yihan in the quarters as expected, even if the latter has not yet qualified for the last eight as she is to play Asian champion Li Xuerui in the next round. Pi Hongyan had to dig deep to beat Singapore’s Gu Juan  (21-19 in the third game) while Tine Baun had a more relaxed first round. The two friends could play each other on Friday if everything goes as planned.

It was the end of the road for Korea’s Hwang Hye Youn, beaten in three games by Chinese teen Chen Xiaojia.  Her understudies Bae Youn Joo and Sung Ji Hyun both advanced with easy wins, however, only to come up against Lu Lan and Wang Xin respectively in the second round.

Full results HERE