ALL ENGLAND 2015 R16 – A day for Danish dominance

The round of 16 saw the Danish have the perfect day as all players won, including a guaranteed men’s singles semi-finalist already as Axelsen faces Jorgensen tomorrow. The English team also put up their best performance of recent times as both Ouseph and the Adcocks advanced but Korea continued with their poor year with only two of eight disciplines progressing.  Meanwhile Li Xuerui and Ahsan / Setiawan were the pick of the seeded casualties on Day 2.

By Michael Burke, Badzine Correspondent.  Photos: Yohan Nonotte and Raphael Sachetat for Badmintonphoto (live).

The two Danish coaches struggled to get between games to cover all their players on court as the team had so many players competing, in stark contrast to last year’s underwhelming efforts at the Yonex All England.  Solid play saw none of the Danes requiring the full three games, which would have been a relief as Mads Pieler Kolding, Christinna Pedersen (pictured left with mixed partner Joachim Fischer Nielsen), and Kamilla Rytter Juhl all progressed in two disciplines.

The Danes have already ensured a semi-finalist as Viktor Axelsen beat a tired Scott Evans to set up a match against compatriot Jan Ø. Jorgensen (pictured right), who endured a marathon first game of his match as veteran Boonsak Ponsana took him to 28-26.

Whilst the Danes are returning to the performances expected of them, it is the Koreans who are proving to have a bad outing.  After the shock defeat of Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeon Song at the hands of the Danes yesterday, now only Sung Ji Hyun and mixed pair Ko Sung Hyun and Kim Ha Na (pictured left) remain.  Both must face reigning World Champions in the quarter-finals.

The English team, by contrast, are having a bumper year as Chris and Gabby Adcock comfortably beat Greysia Polii, playing with her new partner, the young Sukamuljo. Their draw is not easy however as they face defending champions Ahmad and Natsir in the next round.

Rajiv Ouseph (pictured right) also followed up his impressive performance to dismiss third seed Son Wan Ho yesterday with another solid performance against Indian H. S. Prannoy, to show that he has dropped the shackles of the Commonwealth Games.

It is a lonely time in the women’s singles, Ratchanok Intanon, Carolina Marin and Saina Nehwal the only remaining representatives from their respective countries.

It was not so for the Chinese however, who also had a successful day, with the maximum numbers of players progressing as possible. Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan provided the success story for the day as they beat defending champions and fourth seeds Ahsan and Setiawan in three games.

Lin Dan was also among one of the 14 Chinese entrants into various disciplines to progress, as he shook off the cobwebs for a comfortable victory against compatriot Tian Houwei. The last time Super Dan competed at the Yonex All England was in 2012, where he preceded his Olympic title defence with his fifth crown in Birmingham.

Sun Yu (pictured left) provided the real shock for the day, however, as she out-muscled her compatriot, the first seeded Li Xuerui. Only behind for a solitary point in the whole match, Sun beat the world number one to 13 in both games.

The full results for the day can be found here