CHINA OPEN 2011 R16 – China strong up the middle, rough around the edges

China looked dominant overall in second round action of the 2011 Li Ning China Open Premier Super Series but a few notables have already been relegated to the sidelines as Ratchanok Intanon capped off the day by offing top seed Wang Shixian in two close games.

By Kevin Kung, Badzine Correspondent.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (live from Shanghai)

It is only the conclusion of Day 2 of main draw matches in Shanghai but the host nation has already shown its dominance in the sport.  Many Chinese players are still in the draw after the completion of round of 16 matches but not first-seeded women’s singles ace Wang Shixian (pictured).

Wang bowed down to Intanon Ratchanok in two games 19-21, 18-21.  Ratchanok has been wreaking havoc far beyond her 16 years in the women’s singles department but Shixian was the first of the three Chinese Wang’s to taste defeat at the young Thai’s hands.

China’s other two Wang’s did succeed in proceeding to the next round but second seed Wang Yihan (pictured right) had a tough test in her match against Korean Sung Ji Hyun. She beat Sung 20-22, 21-19.

Sung’s loss was compensated for by her team-mate Bae Youn Joo’s easy victory over Sayaka Sato 21-8, 21-10.  With it, her fourth straight victory over Sato, dating back to their junior days, came a ticket to join Sung – and Sato, incidentally – at the Super Series Finals, where Bae was the runner-up last time around

China will have to do without Wang Shixian for the remainder of the China Open and most likely for the Super Series Finals next month as well.  But for this week, things are still rosy as the home team holds 5 places in the last 8 of women’s singles.

Denmark’s army in the China Open is still showing good form today.  In spite of the loss of Tine Baun to Yao Xue (pictured left with Baun), the least-renowned of the abovementioned 5 women, Peter Gade gave his team-mates something to shout about, as he prevailed in his three-game thriller against Du Pengyu 21-16, 9-21, 21-12. His compatriot Jan O Jorgensen upset Nguyen Tien Minh 13-21, 21-15, 21-16.

Other top seeds Lee Chong Wei, Chen Long, Lin Dan and Chen Jin also won their matches, but eighth seed Taufik Hidayat lost to compatriot Simon Santoso15-21, 10-21.

In men’s doubles, for the second time this fall, Liu Xiaolong / Qiu Zihan almost had a major upset in the 1 hour and 11 minutes match against second seeded pair Lee Yong Dae / Jung Jae Sung in front of their home crowd. They failed in the end and lost 22-24, 22-20, 17-21.

There were plenty of upsets in doubles too, however, the biggest being the loss by second seeds Xu Chen / Ma Jin to Bitburger Open champions Chan Peng Soon / Goh Liu Ying (pictured right with Xu/Ma).

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