INDONESIA OPEN 2011 R32 – More June thrills for Tzu Ying

Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying had a late but great 17th birthday present, edging out world #2 Wang Xin in the first round of the Indonesia Open Premier Super Series. Most of the early upsets came in the women’s events in Jakarta.

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

Tai Tzu Ying (pictured) seems to peak in early summer.  Her name first became an international murmur when she was runner-up to Chen Xiaojia in the 2009 Asian Junior Championships.  But it was her runner-up finish in last June’s Singapore Open that really put her on the map and now she has moved into the second round of the 2011 Djarum Indonesia Open Premier Super Series with a shocking 15-21, 21-15, 21-19 victory over newly-crowned Singapore Open champion Wang Xin.

In fact, it was Wang who shut Tai down in Hong Kong last fall, after the youngster had scored an upset over former World Champion Lu Lan but she could not find the right combination this time.  China’s other five entries advanced in women’s singles, with only Liu Xin really being troubled, as she scraped through her Australian Open final repeat, beating Thailand’s Porntip Buranaprasertsuk 21-16, 23-21.

In the women’s doubles, China’s Pan Pan continued to struggle.   After a hapless partnership with one World Champion Du Jing, she is now paired with another, but Pan and Ma Jin (pictured) have been ousted in the first round fora second straight week.  This time, it was Indonesia’s own Greysia Polii / Meiliana Jauhari who did the honours, winning it 21-15, 23-21.

Pairs from Korea and Japan are not only trying to encroach on Chinese dominance in the discipline but they are also, of course, developing some rivalries with each other.  New Korean pairing Jung Kyung Eun / Kim Ha Na have now beaten three of Japan’s top four pairs, ousting 3rd-seeded Miyuki Maeda / Satoko Suetsuna in two quick games.

Later in the day, Japanese youngsters Misaki Matsutomo (pictured) and Ayaka Takahashi threatened to return the favour against Singapore Open runners-up Ha Jung Eun / Kim Min Jung but came up just short as the Koreans took it 21-8, 12-21, 21-12.

Japan sent three pairs through to the second round in mixed, including Shintaro Ikeda / Reiko Shiota (pictured below), who upset sixth-seeded Robert Mateusiak / Nadiezda Zieba of Poland 24-22, 13-21, 21-14.

Indonesian star Taufik Hidayat has gone on record recently about the need for his younger compatriots to step up in men’s singles but he is once again all alone in the hunt to keep the title in the archipelago.  Taufik had to work very hard for his 30-28, 21-23, 21-12 win over Liew Daren, whose own loss leaves Malaysia with only one competitor left.

The only seeded man to exit the tournament so far is Boonsak Ponsana, who could not finish his match before bowing to China’s Du Pengyu for a second straight week.  Two of Du’s compatriots, Wang Zhengming and Chen Long, faced stiff challenges from from hopeful Europeans Mark Zwiebler and Jan Jorgensen but China saw all six shuttlers safely through to the second round while Denmark’s Peter Gade is once again the last European standing.

For complete first round results, CLICK HERE