HONG KONG OPEN 2013 QF – Tough day to be a champion

Quarter-finals day at the Yonex-Sunrise Hong Kong Open was not an easy day to be a World or Olympic Champion as Li Xuerui, Wang/Yu, and still others found out.

Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand repeated her winning form over China’s Li Xuerui (pictured above) for the second time this autumn, beating the Olympic women’s singles gold medallist in two games to book her third Superseries semi-final appearance in just over two months.

Meanwhile, current women’s doubles World Champions Wang Xiaoli / Yu Yang were unable to handle compatriots Bao Yixin / Tang Jinhua (pictured below) and also went down in straight games.

Even those champions who did not suffer upsets had to fight hard, including two who needed extra points in the deciding game.  First it was men’s doubles World Champions Mohammad Ahsan / Hendra Setiawan who nosed past Russia’s Vladimir Ivanov / Ivan Sozonov (pictured above).  Then Olympic gold medallists in mixed doubles, Zhang Nan / Zhao Yunlei went right to the wire against Hirokatsu Hashimoto / Miyuki Maeda of Japan.

The last shuttler in pursuit of a berth in the Superseries Finals was eliminated today.  Juliane Schenk (pictured below) could have passed Tai Tzu Ying with a quarter-final win over China’s Wang Shixian but the French Open champion maintained control and took that match in two.

It was not all bad news for Europe, however.  First Chris Adcock / Gabrielle White (pictured above) made quick work of Malaysia’s Chan/Goh, then Christinna Pedersen / Kamilla Rytter Juhl (pictured below) enjoyed a one-sided contest against Indonesia’s Awanda/Harris.

China’s young giants had their way blocked early in the afternoon.  Wang Zhengming went down in three games to Tommy Sugiarto (pictured above).

It was a much closer affair when Chai Biao / Hong Wei found Korea’s Kim Ki Jung / Kim Ki Jung (pictured below) too much to handle.

Click here for complete quarter-final results