CHINESE TAIPEI OPEN 2011 SF – A day of many firsts

It was a day of many firsts, especially for youngsters as the Chinese Taipei Open continues with Korean players extending their domination by having representatives in all the events in the finals except for men’s singles.

By Chee Ying Fan, Badzine Correspondent. Photos: Badmintonphoto (archives)

It all started with the mixed doubles match between 1^st seed from Indonesia, Tantowi Ahmad / Liliyana Natsir and Koreans Lee Yong Dae / Ha Jung Eun. Although Lee Yong Dae / Ha Jung Eun lost the match 12-21,16-21, Korea’s hopes in the mixed doubles were kept alive when their compatriots Ko Sung Hyun and Eom Hye Won upset 3^rd seeds Fran Kurniawan / Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth 22-20, 21-13. This is Sung Hyun’s first tournament with Eom Hye Won (photo), who just turned 20 on Thursday.

Youngsters take over

Thailand’s Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (photo) pulled off the biggest upset of the day when he beat world number world number 7, Nguyen Tien Minh. Tien Minh started off very well, leading the 1^st game 9-0 but Tanongsak displayed great fighting spirit to catch up and eventually won the 1^st game 21-18. In the 2^nd game, Tanongsak won 21-12 with 10 smash winners.

The Thai will meet Tommy Sugiarto (pictured below), who proved that he is still Indonesia’s promising star with a 22-20, 22-24, 21-13 win over veteran Sony Dwi Kuncoro. Both Tanongsak and Tommy will be playing in their first ever Grand Prix final and fans can expect an interesting match between these two rising stars in their battle to their first Grand Prix title.

Meanwhile, Pai Hsiao Ma’s gallant run in the tournament was stopped by Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun. Hsiao Ma found Ji Hyun too tough to handle in the 1^st game, losing 9-21 but played better in the 2^nd game before losing 18-21.  Sung, who will be playing in her second final of the year, will meet Thailand’s young badminton princess, Ratchanok Intanon (pictured below), who scored an easy 21-10, 21-13 win over Bae Youn Joo and has thus now scored wins over all of Korea’s active singles players.

16-year-old Ratchanok, who will be gunning for her 1^st Chinese Taipei title tomorrow, is actually the only one of the four singles finalists this weekend who already has Grand Prix titles to her name, having captured the Vietnam Open and Indonesia Grand Prix Gold crowns last autumn.

Still a chance for Lee and Ha

Although losing in the mixed doubles, Korea’s golden boy Lee Yong Dae will still be featured in the final in the men’s doubles after beating team-mates Kim Ki Jung / Shin Baek Cheol in a close match, 22-20, 21-15. Korea is assured of the men’s doubles title as they will meet another Korean pair, Ko Sung Hyun / Yoo Yeon Seong who won over Alvent Yulianto Chandra / Hendra Aprida Gunawan, 18-21 21-18 21-18.

Local fans’ hopes of watching Taiwan players in the finals were dashed when their 1^st seed Cheng Wen Hsing / Chien Yu Chin fell to Indonesia’s Meiliana Jauhari / Greysia Polii, 12-21, 18-21. However, Ha Jung Eun / Kim Min Jung lived up to their billing as the 2^nd seeded pair in the tournament when they beat Malaysia’s upcoming stars, Vivian Hoo / Woon Khe Wei. Although just playing in their 3^rd tournament together this year, Vivian and Khe Wei had shown great improvement and did well to make it to the semis. Trailing at 8-14, the Malaysians showed great determination and scored 6 consecutive points to level up at 14-all but eventually lost the 1^st game narrowly 18-21 and the 2^nd game 16-21.

Semi-final results:
XD: Tantowi Ahmad / Liliyana Natsir (INA) [1] bt Lee Yong Dae / Ha Jung Eun (KOR) 21-12, 21-16
Ko Sung Hyun / Eom Hye Won (KOR) bt Fran Kurniawan / Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth (INA) [3]  22-20, 21-13

WS: Sung Ji Hyun (KOR) [4] bt Pai Hsiao Ma (TPE) 21-9, 21-18
Ratchanok Intanon (THA) [3] bt Bae Youn Joo (KOR) [2] 21-10, 21-13

MS: Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (THA) [15] bt Nguyen Tien Minh (VIE) [1] 21-18, 21-12
Tommy Sugiarto (INA) [6] bt Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA)  22-20, 22-24, 21-13

WD: Meiliana Jauhari / Greysia Polii (INA) [3] bt Cheng Wen Hsing / Chien Yu Chin (TPE) [1] 21-12, 21-18
Ha Jung Eun / Kim Min Jung (KOR) [2] bt Vivian Hoo / Woon Khe Wei 21-18, 21-16

MD: Ko Sung Hyun / Yoo Yeon Seong (KOR) [2] bt Alvent Yulianto Chandra / Hendra Aprida Gunawan (INA) [4] 18-21, 21-18, 21-18
Jung Jae Sung / Lee Yong Dae (KOR) [1] bt Kim Ki Jung / Shin Baek Cheol (KOR) 22-20, 21-15

Click here for detailed results