WORLDS 2011 Day 1 – So Long Chen…Bravo Cordon!

Kevin Cordon of Guatemala will go down in the history of 2011 World Badminton Championships as the one who triumphed over 5^th seeded Chen Long of China in the 1^st round in a gruelling 74-minute, 3-game battle with 6 deadlocks and 4 nerve-wracking match points for the eventual winner, enough to send spectators to the edge of their seats!

By Emzi Regala, Badzine Correspondent.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. “Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?” he asked.
“Begin at the beginning,” the King said gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”
From Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

Cordon’s 1^st set 21-19 unexpected win entertains a possible fairy tale beginning.  There could be no better way to start the quest for gold than to win the opening game against a Chinese player who happens to be in the world’s top 5!

Chen Long, however, would not heel so easily and he massacred the Guatemalan 21-8 in the second, effectively demonstrating why he is World Number 5.

Two dreamers, one dream and a final 3^rd game in between.  Chen Long found himself in unfamiliar ground, fighting to stay alive. Coaches from both sides look very nervous with one letting a sigh of relief and the other that of disappointment in the last 10 rallies of the rubber game. In the end, Cordon proved that ranking becomes irrelevant in a battle of who hungers for more.

Kevin: “To play against one of the top players in the first round isn’t a good draw so I just said I needed to play my best,” Cordon was quoted as saying in a BWF Media Official Twitter post.

“I didn’t think I could win but I remembered I had troubled Bao Chunlai in the Olympics in 2008, so… why not?” the victor told Badzine.

Chen may have been the highest profile, but he was not the only Asian favourite to fall at the first hurdle.  Hu Yun of Hong Kong and Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka of Indonesia went down to, respectively, Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Vittinghus and Ville Lang of Finland.  Tago Kenichi of Japan was runner-up at the All England last year but his English conquest ended early this time at the hands of India’s Ajay Jayaram.

It’s still a long way to go to conclude that fairy tales do come true at the Wembley Arena…but who knows?  Even in badminton, anything is possible.

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