SS FINALS 2010 Day 3 – Lee unbeaten; unbeatable?

Lee Chong Wei gave Peter Gade no quarter as he refused to give up even one game en route to the semis at the Super Series Finals in Taipei.

By Don Hearn, Badzine Correspondent live in Taipei.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

Lee Chong Wei was never in trouble against 2008 runner-up Peter Gade (pictured here with Lee) as he ran away the 21-14, 21-12 winner in less than half an hour to book a date with Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana for the semi-finals of the Victor BWF 2010 Super Series Finals.  Lee, in fact, has not lost a game since the inaugural Super Series Finals in 2008, when he dropped one to Hong Kong’s Chan Yan Kit in the group stage.

“I lost to Boonsak in the team event at the Asian Games but at the time I was suffering from a fever,” recalled Lee Chong Wei.  “Once I recovered, I was able to beat him again.  As for tomorrow, nothing is sure except that I will do my best to beat him again.

“Perhaps because I have won this tournament twice before I am not feeling any pressure.  Whether I win or lose it is still okay but I just want to try my best tomorrow.”

Lee insisted that goings on back in Malaysia regarding the resignation of his coach Misbun Sidek were not going to be affecting his performance in Taipei.

“All of that is back at home.  I am her and am focussing on this tournament.  I am not going to worry about that until I get back to Malaysia,” Lee said, smiling.

In fact, Lee did plenty of smiling in his press conference with the Taiwan media, joking that rumours about his ability to speak Taiwanese were only partly true, that he could listen and understand some but not speak it.  He also told local reporters that he could lose but if he did, he would be expected to write a report on it for the Malaysian authorities.

Wang Yihan (pictured), for her part, weathered a storm from Tine Baun to remain undefeated and book a rematch with Bae Youn Joo, to whom she lost in Malaysia a year ago.  Wang got riled at the end of the first game when she drove the shuttle through Tine’s hair but did not get the fault call from the umpire that she was expecting.  Wang came back from one game down, however, top top Group B and leave Hong Kong’s Yip Pui Yin as the only shuttler with a 2-1 record.

Only one 3-way Thai in mixed

Kunchala Voravichitchaikul and Songphon Anugritayawon (pictured) made sure that mixed doubles Group A would not end up as a trio of 1-1 records.  They held on against England’s Nathan Robertson / Jenny Wallwork, winning 21-16, 14-21, 21-17 despite almost blowing a 5-point lead in the decider.

“Everything changed when the Danish team withdrew from the tournament,” said Songphon after the match.  “This left us very worried about advancing.  At this point, we are still waiting for the results of the match between Sudket and Saralee and Poland to know who we’ll play but we don’t have any preference.

“I feel good going into this season.  I want to concentrate more in badminton but my confidence is coming along.

“We don’t feel any pressure to win this tournament but for ourselves, Kunchala and I both feel we have to try to win it because it is very big money,” the big man laughed.

However, their compatriots did rise to the occasion to bring all three pairs atop Group B to  two matches won and one lost.  Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam beat Poland’s Mateusiak/Zieba to move into second place by virtue of their individual game record, which was 5-3, behind the Ko/Ha’s 5-2, but ahead of Gunawan/Marissa’s 4-4.

“In training, our team-mates win half the time and we win half the time,” Saralee explained after the match, “so the only thing you can predict is that there will be Thailand in the final!”

Asked who needed the money more, Sudket Prapakamol (pictured) thrust both arms in the air and exclaimed “Everybody needs, but we just don’t know who will win it!”

Semi-finals line-up
Men’s Singles
Lee Chong Wei (MAS) vs. Boonsak Ponsana (THA)
Chen Long (CHN) vs. Peter Gade (DEN)

Women’s Singles
Wang Shixian (CHN) vs. Yip Pui Yin (HKG)
Wang Yihan (CHN) vs. Bae Youn Joo (KOR)

Men’s Doubles
Cai Yun / Fu Haifeng (CHN) vs. Mathias Boe / Carsten Mogensen (DEN)
Jung Jae Sung / Lee Yong Dae (KOR) vs. Chai Biao / Zhang Nan (CHN)

Women’s Doubles
Cheng Wen Hsing / Chien Yu Chin (TPE) vs. Cheng Shu / Zhao Yunlei (CHN)
Wang Xiaoli / Yu Yang (CHN) vs. Miyuki Maeda / Satoko Suetsuna (JPN)

Mixed Doubles
Songphon Anugritayawon / Kunchala Voravichitchaikul (THA) vs. Sudket Prapakamol / Saralee Thoungthongkam (THA)
Zhang Nan / Zhao Yunlei (CHN) vs. Ko Sung Hyun / Ha Jung Eun (KOR)

For complete results from Day 3 of the BWF Super Series Finals, CLICK HERE

Come stay with us for the Super Series Finals at the Chateau de Chine.  Located at the heart of Sinjhuang City, Chateau de Chine Hotel is created to convey the vibrant and everlasting sense of traditional beauty. Inspired by the Art Nouveau style, Chateau de Chine hotel infuses the finest elegance of French design with an authentic touch of oriental aesthetics.   If you are looking for quality accommodation during the event or anytime you are visiting Taipei, check out their website here.