KOREA OPEN 2012 R16 – No quarter-final fratricide

By
Raphaël Sachetat
– January 5, 2012Posted in: news
There will be no matchups between compatriots on Friday in Seoul, as all quarter-finals will see different nations playing each other – a rare fact, helped with the defeat of […]

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There will be no matchups between compatriots on Friday in Seoul, as all quarter-finals will see different nations playing each other – a rare fact, helped with the defeat of some of the top Chinese, including Chen Jin. But the great Chinese warriors are in full force with no fewer than 12 players or pairs left in the draws.

Raphael Sachetat. Photos (live): Yves Lacroix for Badmintonphoto

Chen Jin, Wang Zhengming and the duo of Pan Pan and Cheng Shu were beaten on Thursday, but 12 players or pairs from China are still aiming at gold in Korea. For Chen Jin, a win against Jan O Jorgensen would have meant another battle against Lin Dan. Instead, it will be the Dane who will try to get the best of the defending champion this time, after an impressive 15-21, 21-16, 21-12 victory over the 2010 World Champion.

Another 5th seed was sent packing, this time from Denmark, as Tine Baun could not match the speed of Li Xuerui, with the two players even in the first two games before the Chinese drove to an easy 21-7 win in the decider.

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Germany scoops three spots

The Germans are in full speed towards the Olympics and secured three spots for the quarter-finals. Juliane Schenk was expected to fare past Hong Kong’s Poon, but Marc Zwiebler took three hard games to beat Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Jen Hao. Last but not least, the surprise of the day came from Oliver Roth and Michael Fuchs, who edged out the reigning Olympic champions Kido and Setiawan from Indonesia, 21-17, 21-19. They are now set to meet the mighty Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng.

Their fellow Europeans didn’t have that much luck, as Denmark – just like Germany – will have only 3 spots in the quarters. On top of Jorgensen, both mixed doubles made it to the next round (Fischer-Nielsen and Pedersen and Laybourn-Juhl), while both women’s doubles lost.

Amongst the other surprises of the day, Koo and Tan of Malaysia lost closely in the decider to Fang and Lee of Chinese Taipei, who will meet next Lee Yong Dae and Jung Jae Sung. Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen’s invicibility ended with Hong and Shen from China beating them in the second round.

All results HERE

Badzine’s Photo gallery HERE

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Raphaël Sachetat

About Raphaël Sachetat

Raphael is the Chief Editor of Badzine International. He is the founder of the website together with Jean François Chauveau. After many years writing for the BWF and many publications around the world about badminton, he now leads a team of young and dynamic writers for Badzine.