Forced to perform by his coaches otherwise given a one way ticket back to his province, Zheng Bo showed up a “never say die” attitude to defeat top seeds Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir along with his efficient partner Ma Jin.
By Tarek Hafi (live in Paris). Photo: Badmintonphoto (live)
Two straight but stressful games were needed to get rid of the Indonesian pair, as usual, very accurate in their attacks and reliable on defense. Nevertheless, the Chinese pair succeeded in providing better quality play throughout the whole match.
“Even though we didn’t get enough preparation, I was happy to see Ma Jin’s improvement in defense and very smooth net play,” revealed a nervous Zheng Bo. “It definitely helped me release all the burden from my shoulders and play at a better level.” Zheng has just returned to international competition and needed a good performance to secure a permanent place within the team.
The Chinese pair will now face the mighty Koreans Ko Sung Hyun and Ha Jung Eun who earlier defeated India’s Diju V and Jwala Gutta, also in straight games.
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