MACAU OPEN 2010 Finals – Disappointing day for Indonesians…and fans

“Hey when will be the match of the two Lees?” This is what was heard in the stands all day. Scheduled as the fifth and last final of the day, it was never meant to happen. But the crowd only got the answer after the fourth match: Lee Hyun Il had injured himself during a practice session on Sunday morning and was forced to forfeit the final. The spectators who had bought tickets for this match only were quite dissatisfied with the late announcement.

To apologize for not being able to give a great match to the fans, both Lee Hyun Il and Chong Wei signed some shuttlecocks and sent them up to the stands to their fans, a gesture that took away part of the frustration. The frustration was shared by the local and international media, who had no access to the players nor to press conferences – none were organized, not even after the finals – while photo positions were way under par for a Grand Prix Gold event.

Fortunately for the game, however, there were some good matches to watch on Sunday.

Ladies doubles put on the show

Third seeds Cheng Wen Hsing / Chien Yu Chin (photo) and their opponents Meiliana Jauhari / Greysia Polii played the match of the day. It was the fourth straight final for the pair from Chinese Taipei. Most of the audience believed that the Indonesian pair would take the gold medal until a badminton fan shouted “Chinese Taipei!” after every shot and this action somehow triggered an echo from other spectators. “Chinese Taipei!” “Add oil!” These two short sentences were repeated from side to side, together with “Smash! Smash! Smash!” when the Taiwan pair was hitting. It was obvious that Meiliana and Greysia were affected by the crowd and even began to mishit in the decider. Chien and Cheng won 16-21, 21-18, 21-16 and took a set of gold medals back to Taipei for the third consecutive week. This particular match was the climax of the day.

“I just caught a cold this weekend and I haven’t recovered yet. The crowd helped us a lot and I was very happy to see many supporters in the arena. I could feel the backup and it contributed to our victory,” said Cheng Wen Hsing after the match.

“This is my fifth final in three weeks [Two mixed doubles and three women’s doubles in Canada Open, US Open and Macau Open]. I lost my mixed doubles match here and I got some time to readjust my strategy with my partner. The arena has a strong flow of wind and we knew it would make us harder to win if the Indonesians play fast net shots. But we made it eventually. Credits to the crowd!” Chien Yu Chin added to Badzine with a smiling face. The pair will now have 2 days to rest before the start of the Chinese Taipei Open next week.

Chien/Cheng had split after the Beijing Olympics but now they are working together again and have won three titles in a row. They shared their expectations for the Chinese Taipei Open and World Championships in Paris with Badzine readers. “We always try our best in every tournament. The Taipei Open is important to us. Every athlete wants to show their best in their hometown. We will have relaxing condition but with full preparation for the upcoming World Championships.”

Li Xuerui, New star on the Chinese block

In the women’s singles, Chinese youngster Li Xuerui won her first ever Open title in her career. After the exit of Hong Kong badminton queen Zhou Mi and local player Wang Rong, Li became the local favourite in the event. “I didn’t set a target before the tournament. But today my intention to win was much higher than yesterday in the semi-final. I forbade Adriyanti Firdasari to play her own game and I had better control in the match. I’m satisfied with my overall performance today,” said the young talent, who got all shy when facing cameras and hearing reporters calling her the reigning Asian Champion.

Ko, Yoo: remember!

There were some uncertain line calls for both sides in the men’s doubles final and the match was a very close one. Both sides dived to save drop shots and smashes but it was Ko Sung Hyun / Yoo Yeon Seong (photo) who finally beat Alvent Yulianto Chandra / Hendra Aprida Gunawan. With the 7000 points from the victory, Ko/Yoo are about to take a big leap closer to the Top 10 in world ranking. Although they couldn’t communicate with the local press, they showed how delighted they were after the match in the photo taken for Badzine readers exclusively.

Tontowi Ahmad / Liliyana Natsir beat Hendra Aprida Gunawan/ Vira Marissa 21-14, 21-18 without too much resistance and claimed the only gold for Indonesia despite entering the final in four categories.

ALL RESULTS HERE