SUPERSERIES FINALS 2013 Day 2 – Challengers show up

Inevitably, a few players involved in the second day of round robin play at the BWF Superseries Finals ended up in a do-or-die situation in order to at least secure 2^nd place to earn the right to make it to the tiny knockout round.  It was another day of upsets, and challenges as the new “instant review” system was used more times than on Day 1.

By Kira Rin and Nadhira Hafsha. Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

Despite the just recent debut of the badminton line call challenge, it saw its fair share of use, with Li Xuerui, Japan’s Misaski Matsutomo and Mohammad Ahsan being the next few people after Lee Chong Wei calling for challenges to line calls.  Some were lucky, some not, but the attention was clearly on that new feature, which most players seem to enjoy.

Kim Ki Jung and Kim Sa Rang were amongst the first players to lose a challenge. Initially the umpire was going to rule in favour of the Koreans until the quick-witted Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan asked to double check the meaning of the thumbs down sign from the referee. Upon further clarification, the thumbs down sign was found to indicate that the first call by the line judge was confirmed and thus the point was awarded back to the Indonesians.

The discussions started spreading in the hall about how a better communication could be found between referees and umpires to make the confirmation clearer – some spectators rising the issues in the stands as they could not understand the meaning of the thumb sign and praising a clearer confirmation about how the shuttle could be confirmed “IN” or “OUT” either by language or by using the same signs used by line judges.

In contrast, there was no confusion as to why players take out their racquets and set them atop their bags during their match. Mohammad Ahsan answered that one once again as he gave a textbook demonstration of how to swap racquets mid-rally, as Hendra’s light touches, held the fort before Ahsan could return to smash without worry and rely on his partner’s court coverage.  The Indonesians were just as calm throughout their straight-game win over Kim/Kim, which allowed them to clinch a semi-final spot in the men’s doubles.

While Minatsu Mitani seized an epic 3-game victory over Saina Nehwal on day one, neither player could find stamina to maintain their form the following day, as they succumbed tamely to Bae Yeon Ju (pictured above) and Li Xuerui respectively, with Xuerui needing only less than 30 minutes to finish off an exhausted Saina with quick drops and side smashes. Bae swept Mitani 21-10, 21-18.

Hoon Thien How and Tan Wee Kiong (pictured) found themselves on the better side of the last 3-game match of the day, coming back from one game down to put forward quick smashes and close net shots. Buoyed by the home crowd’s support, the Malaysians kicked their game up a notch, utilizing seemingly superhuman speed to rush for every opportunity to keep the shuttle down. With the last point struck down, the home crowd were quick to share their joy with the players, their cheers flooding the stadium.

The biggest surprise of the day came in late, with the elimination of reigning World Champions Tontowi Ahmad and Lilyana Natsir (pictured below) who bowed to an inspired Ma Jin and Xu Chen. After their loss to Prapakamol and Thungthoungkam the previous day, they will still finish at the bottom of the table, even if the beat Denmark’s Fischer Nielsen/Pedersen on Friday.

Home hero Lee Chong Wei thrashed Boonsak Ponsana (pictured right) in 29 minutes for a clean 21-6, 21-9 rout. He secured his spot for the quarter-final, as did all the Chinese ladies with the exception of Ma Jin and Tang Jinhua.  Those who have already secured their semi-final spots, without having to rely on the results of the last day of the round robin stage, are shown below.

Already qualified after Day 2:
MS
Group A: Lee Chong Wei, Jan Jorgensen
Group B: Kenichi Tago

WS
Group A: Wang Shixian
Group B: Li Xuerui

MD
Group A: Ahsan/Setiawan

WD
Group B: Wang/Yu and Pedersen/Rytter-Juhl

XD
Group A: Zhang/Zhao
Group B: Fischer-Nielsen/Pedersen

Click here for complete Day 2 results

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