SS FINALS 2011 Day 3 – Saina tops Group Stage via a clean slate

Saina Nehwal weathered the resilient Wang Xin to top Group A with a 2-game win 21-17, 22-20 preventing the possibility of an all-Chinese women’s singles final.  The Indian sensation meets Denmark’s Tine Baun, while Wang faces Group B’s top finisher, her compatriot and name-sake Wang Yihan in the group cross-over semi-finals.

By Emzi Regala. Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

In the final day of preliminary round robin play at the 2011 Li-Ning BWF World Super Series Finals, many of the world’s very best badminton players were struggling to stay in it and qualify for the semi-finals.  When the dust cleared, of course, the field had indeed been cut in have, with many expected, but a few surprising, developments.

Saina Nehwal (pictured) had a small leeway in the first game but the never-say-die spirit of Wang Xin allowed the Chinese to catch-up from a 6 point-deficit to actually earn a game point at 20-19 in the second game. Wang’s costly miss empowered the more focused Saina to take the next two crucial points to walk away with a victory.

Juliane Schenk gave Wang Yihan (photo) the scare of her life when the German shuttler took the 1st game 21-14 in what would be a thrilling 58-minute match.  The second game went by the same score 21-14, this time to Wang.   Schenk did not have enough gas to pull through towards the end of the final game and gave away the match to Wang 15-21.  Wang thus saved her semi-final campaign, as both she and Tine Baun were ahead of Sung Ji Hyun on game difference in the three-way tie atop Group B.

It is not unusual that China has taken semi-final spots in each of the 5 categories.  What is unusual is that the men’s doubles will feature not feature four-time World Champions Cai Yun / Fu Haifeng, who lost in straight games to injury-free Korean pair Ko Sung Hyun / Yoo Yeon Seong (pictured below).

On the other hand, Jung Jae Sung’s shoulder injury did not seem to matter as he and partner Lee Yong Dae easily breezed through their final group stage match against defending champions Denmark’s Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen.  The Danes made it much more obvious this time than they did last year in Taipei, in the identical situation, that they were not desperate to win with their semi-final spot already secure. They will have a chance to defend their title as they face Korea’s Ko/Yoo, while Jung and Lee battle China’s Chai/Guo.

Lin Dan to face Peter Gade

In the men’s singles event, Lin Dan and Peter Gade will meet for one of the mouth-watering matches of Saturday, as the Dane showed some great badminton, pushing Lee Chong Wei to extra points in the first game. As both he and the Malaysian were already assured of making it to the semi-finals, the Dane then kept some energy and let go with the second game but was happy overall with his performance.

Lin Dan, meanwhile, beat Kenichi Tago in no time, 21-11, 21-13, showing he was to be counted on to win one of the only titles he has yet to get. While he and the 35-year-old Dane cross swords, Chong Wei will take on Chen Long in the other semi-final.

Christinna Pedersen will have the joy of competing in two semi-finals with Kamilla Rytter-Juhl in the women’s doubles and Joachim Fischer Nielsen in the mixed. The latter face Xu Chen and Ma Jin while Zhang and Zhao Yunlei – the only other double semi-finalist – take on Ikeda/Shiota whereas in the women’s doubles, the Danes play Korea’s Ha and Kim, leaving an all-Chinese affair between Yu/Wang and Tian/Zhao in the other half.

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