INDIA OPEN QF 2011 – Peter, Chong Wei through

After an upset-laden beginning to the India Open Super Series, the quarter-finals followed the seedings on Friday. World No.1 Lee Chong Wei and No.3 Peter Gade progressed into the semi-finals.

Dev S Sukumar/ DNA. Photos: Badmintonphoto (archives)

In the absence of Lin Dan and team-mates, Lee Chong Wei and Peter Gade worked their way through to the semi-finals of the Yonex Sunrise India Open on Friday in Delhi. The Dane overcame a third Japanese opponent in a row. After Kazushi Yamadi and Sho Sasaki, Takuma Ueda was on the Dane’s path, but Gade came though with less trouble than the following days.

“It was a close 1st set. I played a bit up and down, and Ueda was playing really well. I was leading 20-17 but Ueda cam back and leveled.  Fortunately I was able to finish off 23-21. In the 2nd set, we had a few long rallies in the beginning and then Ueda started making mistakes and I was able to do a lot of easy points. I’m quite satisfied – my game gets better and better each match and in tomorrow’s semi-final I need my A-game to beat Park Sung Hwan, but I believe I have a chance,” saidd the Dane, who is now uploading video updates on his Facebook fan page from his hotel room after each day of competition

The one minor blip was No.2 Taufik Hidayat, in his loss to former Asian champion Park Sung Hwan. But Taufik has always been of erratic temperament, and his loss to Park, who is in his second innings after coming back from retirement, was not an aberration.

Both the Indian quarter-finalists, Sourabh Verma and Guru Sai Dutt, met their match in superior opponents, but their exploits here will stand them in good stead in the future.

Sourabh Verma, who left his stamp upon the inaugural Super Series in India with a stunning march into the quarters, could not make an impression against the world’s best player. Lee Chong Wei (photo) was too quick and experienced for the 20-year-old from Madhya Pradesh, who is in just his second senior major international tournament. Chong Wei did not even allow his Indian opponent the opportunity to get into double figures in either set, winning 21-7 21-8 in under half-an-hour.

Guru Sai Dutt had upset former top-ten player Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand in the second round, and ran into Hu Yun of Hong Kong. The tricky Hu (photo), possessor of a deceptive game, had the measure of the Indian in a 21-10, 21-16 triumph.

The top two seeds among the women had already crashed out earlier, and making the last four were no.3 seed Bae Youn Joo of Korea and fast-rising youngster Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand. Junior World Champion Ratchanok Intanon lost to no.4 Yip Pui Yin, while Tine Baun’s conqueror, Chen Jiayuan of Singapore, was in turn felled by Sayaka Sato of Japan (photo).

In the mixed event, former partners Lilyana Natsir and Nova Widianto faced each other in the quarter finals and the younger one, together with Tantowi Ahmad, won 17-21, 21-12, 21-9 over the veteran, who had reunited with Vita Marissa. Indonesia scooped three spots in the semi-finals, leaving Chan and Goh from Malaysia as the sole non-Indonesians.

Two pairs from Indonesia feature as well in the men’s doubles, but Koo and Tan as strong top seeds look like they might be heading for gold after another strong performance against Korea’s Cho/Kwon.

Results (Quarterfinals):

MS: Peter Hoeg Gade (DEN) [3] bt Takuma Ueda (JPN) 23-21 21-10; Park Sung Hwan (KOR) [6] bt Taufik Hidayat (INA) [2] 21-17 21-17; Lee Chong Wei (MAS) [1] bt Sourabh Verma (IND) 21-7 21-8; Hu Yun (HKG) [8] bt Guru Sai Dutt (IND) 21-10 21-16

WS: Bae Youn Joo (KOR) [3] bt Yao Jie (NED) [7]21-13 21-18; Sayaka Sato (JPN) bt Chen Jiayuan (SIN) 18-21 21-15 21-15; Yip Pui Yin (HKG) [4] bt Ratchanok Intanon (THA) 21-17 21-15; Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (THA) bt Gu Juan (SIN) 21-16 23-21

Full results HERE