WORLDS 2010 – Gade beaten as Chinese steamtrain rolls on

Peter Gade’s dream of World Championship gold ended this afternoon in Paris after suffering a 3-game defeat at the hands of China’s number 3 seed Chen Jin in the 2010 Yonex BWF World Championships.

Article and Video by Mark Phelan (Live in Paris). Photos: Badmintonphoto (Live)

This was without doubt Peter Gade’s best chance at World Championship gold, after he was handed a favourable draw in the lead-up to the championships, and even before the unforeseen withdrawal of Indonesian duo Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Simon Santoso .

The Dane had looked impressive through the early rounds and even when troubled against Korea’s Shon Wan Ho in the second round, Gade still looked fit fresh and in control of his game.

However, today he met his match in China’s Chen Jin and the Great Dane was unable to match the speed of his opponent after claiming the opening set.

In that first set the large, predominantly partisan, European crowd, were on their feet as Gade held game point at 20-15.  The Dane had his supporters on the edge of their seats as he wasted set point after set point but the loudest cheer of the week was heard as the 33-year-old eventually closed it out 21-19 and the dream was still alive.

But that was as good as it got for Gade as the Chinese came out like a ‘bat out of hell’ in the second set and increased the tempo, which Gade was unable to match. A 21-8 victory in the second was soon followed by a match-winning 21-11 third set and the number 3 seed had justifiably booked his spot in tomorrow’s final.

“I was fully prepared to play three games today.  Even though Peter is a veteran player, he is definitely still technically strong and is very experienced,” remarked Chen Jin at the post-match press conference where the 24-year-old Chinese revealed that the 33-year-old Gade had lost in a strategic and psychological battle.

Chen Jin said: “I was very clear about my game plan in taking on Peter. But Peter was his usual, impressive self in the first game, where he was able to execute his perfect game and fully capitalized on his strengths in the first game, playing at an incredible speed as well.  However, I feel his game plan eventually backfired.

“I felt that Peter might have perhaps unintentionally allowed himself to deplete his energies and exhausted himself by the end of the first game while my strategy did not change throughout the match actually,” Chen added. ” But it was difficult for me to break him down in the first set when he was executing so perfectly.

“Peter was also psychologically defeated as he failed to maintain his composure,” Chen said.  “Peter kept forcing himself to play at the same intensity as he did in the first game, which is clearly not possible as he had obviously used up so much of his energy and was clearly digging into his reserves in the second and third sets.”

Chen concluded: “To be in the final, I’ve actually achieved my target, as I was the runner-up last year.  But since there is a fighting chance for the final, I will give it my best shot but I won’t be thinking too much.  It’s normal that I’m the only Chinese player left to fight for this title.  No one will have a 100% winning record anyway.”

Click on thumbnail below for Chen Jin and Peter Gade post-match press conference.

You can view it and our other video content on our video page.

For all results click HERE