TUC 2012 QF – Triple double for Asian Northeast

As in the Thomas Cup, Indonesia was sent packing by Japan in the women’s team competition. Korea qualified both teams in the evening session as well, while Malaysia couldn’t do much against China without Lee Chong Wei.

By Kira Rin. Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

With all teams now in the main draw of the tournament, each and every win now means a lot more to the teams hoping for victory. This means a lot of strategy and thought to be put into the player lineups in order to gain the vital points to progress. The players themselves also put forth their best effort in order to not disappoint their team-mates and get a chance to touch the prestigious cups.

The long singles road

With the exception of Sayaka Sato (photo), who edged Maria Febe Kusumastuti in 2 quick games, all of the other first singles players found themselves heading to a third game. This was especially true of Liew Daren’s match with Lin Dan, in which he took the 1^st game off the great king with superb tactical play and positioning but later fell victim to Super Dan’s increased pace. Veteran Lee Hyun Il found old age catching up as it took him an hour and 5 additional minutes to put down Marc Zwiebler of Germany. Sung Ji Hyun emerged victorious over Tai Tzu Ying in the battle of younger set, with the longest match, clocking in at 1 hour and 14 minutes.

Red Sun Rising

As if to compensate for the short singles match, the pairs of Greysia Polii / Meiliana Jauhari and Mizuki Fujii / Reika Kakiiwa took their time with their doubles. Both sides put forward their best effort in doubles, creating many good rallies and making great saves, even diving to the floor to reach the shots. With the experience that has come from the countless international tournaments, Greysia/Meiliana were able to match the Japanese pair in pace and hold out shot for shot. Mizuki/Reika just had the tiny bit more experience with their own playing styles to be able to take home Japan’s second point.

On the other court, Chinese Taipei’s pair of Cheng Wen Hsing / Chien Yu Chin also took their own time with their match against Kim Min Jung / Ha Jung Eun, taking three long games and 1 hour, 20 minutes  before evening the score for Chinese Taipei.

In a rare moment, a let was called when Eriko Hirose high served a shot straight on the middle line, leaving the both line judge and the umpire undecided.  With Japan on the verge of winning, Adrianti Firdasari fought hard with impressive speed to deny Japan a vital point. However, later on in the 3^rd singles, Minatsu Mitani ended the Indonesian dream with a win in yet another 3-game match.

The Hermit’s Defense

The Korean Uber Cup Team, the defending champions, had a slight shock when Pai Hsiao Ma took the lead for Chinese Taipei with an upset victory over Bae Youn Joo, her first in their 4 meetings. With Korea down by 2 points, the trio of Kim Ha Na / Jung Kyung Eun and Hwang Hye Youn (photo) stepped up to task to bring back the vital 2 points that would propel Korea to the semis.

Oh the other side, the men’s team won their matches quickly with a 3-0 victories over their opponents. With Lee Chong Wei injured, Malaysia could not find any answers for China’s men – Liew Daren did play well enough to take a game from Lin Dan but that wasn’t enough – while Korea took a tad longer to demolish Germany.

Results

Thomas Cup
China bt Malaysia 3-0
Korea bt Germany 3-0

Uber Cup
Japan bt Indonesia 3-2
Korea bt Chinese Taipei 3-2

All results HERE