ALL ENGLAND 2011 QF – Zwiebler rushes to the last four!

Click on the image to hear Zwiebler's post-match interview with Badzine

Marc Zwiebler didn’t intend to stop his run after his upset yesterday of current World Champion Chen Jin.  Instead, he forced Kazushi Yamada from Japan to step out from the competition after three thrilling games.

By Tarek Hafi;  Photo: Badmintonphoto; Video Interview: Mark Phelan

For a player who had already planned his trip to Italia – thinking the draw wouldn’t allow him to go any further than the second round – Zweibler is no doubt overjoyed that fate has proven him wrong.

From the opening game, the German player set the rule, displaying great technique, all the while proving his injuries are now in the past and that the best was yet to come. But Kazushi Yamada is known to be a retriever, even after losing the first game 18-21, the Japanese still found the strength to reduce the gap in the second game by increasing his pace and attacking intensively.  It was a tactic probably wrongly chosen as the Japanese couldn’t hide his fatigue.  Marc’s excellent defensive play, meanwhile, made Yamada attack,  even though he lacked the power to ensure his net play afterwards. No one seemed to be able to stop the top German men’s singles player as he flew to victory, sending his racket into the crowd, creating history for Germany again.

Disappointed but still smiling, Kazushi Yamada admitted his inability to triumph today “His win yesterday against Chen Jin seemed like it gave him a lot of confidence.  He played really well, he made me tired throughout the match and I couldn’t cope with it at the end of the last game.”

Of course, Kazushi was asked about the recent event in Japan, if any of his team-mates were hurt because of the tsunami hurting a large part of Japan. “Fortunately it didn’t hurt any of my relatives nor my team-mates’ relatives.  We all called this morning to check if everyone was okay.”

Asked also if any of the coaches considered withdrawing from the tournament, he replied “No, we didn’t think about withdrawing at all, we were mostly thinking about getting good results and make it up for our country.”

Marc Zwiebler will now get the task of probably confronting the best men’s singles player in history, Lin Dan, in tomorrow’s semi-final.

To hear Zwiebler-s post-match interview, click on the image above or follow the link by clicking HERE

For all results CLICK HERE

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