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| Day 3: Daily Wrap-Up: Round of 16 |
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| The third day of the 2012 Yonex Australian Badminton Open included the round of 16 in all disciplines. There were a few causalities among the top seeds, with women’s doubles third and fourth seed’s, Korea’s Kyung Eun Jung and Ha Na Kim, and Indonesia’s Meiliana Jauhari and Greysia Polii, going down in tough three setters, as well as fourth seeded mixed doubles pair, Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam of Thailand. Japan advanced in all five disciplines into the quarterfinals stage. The Seeds & Key Match Ups Hong Ji Hoon (KOR) vs Alamsyah Yunus (15) (INA) Korea's Hong Ji Hoon took on the reputation of dark horse the way he snuffed out the prospects of sixth seed Tommy Sugiarto, but today's opponent, another Indonesian, 15th seed Alamsyah Yunus, he could not resolve the problem of. In fact, both men kept probing the court with long rallies the entire first set, ultimately reaching the conclusion that either was incapable of striking an outright winner against the other. Eventually, Hong gifted the first game when he left a lift that fell in of the backline. Yunus could not figure out the winning strategy, so he did not bother to do anything different than he has done all tournament so far which is happily rally. Sure enough, the Korean became frustrated and committed unforced errors to give his opponent breathing room and confidence to claim the match 21-19, 21-17. Robert Mateusiak/ Nadiezda Zieba (POL) vs Danny Bawa Chrisnanta/ Yu Yan Vanessa Neo (SIN) Robert Mateusiak and Nadiezda Zieba showed just why they were once world number one mixed doubles pair, by racing off to the 11 point interval and then closing out the first set just as quickly, against the competent pairing of Danny Bawa Chrisnanta and Vanessa Neo. Mateusiak's short serve was troubling both the Singaporeans and the Poles were able to finish off a handful of rallies within three strokes, making their internationally experienced opponents come off looking almost like amateurs. The mixed doubles rallies lasted longer in the second set and the score was closer, but the Poles smartly managed to baffle the Singaporeans and separate them into a side by side formation before punishing the one who was most of position. 21-9, 21-15, in 29 minutes. The Polish pair are starting to look like outside favourites to take the title in Sydney. Jung Kyung Eun/ Kim Ha Na (3) (KOR) vs Cheng Wen Hsing/ Chien Yu Chin (TPE) The slight figures of the Korean ladies, especially Kim Ha Na, belied their surprisingly powerful smashes as they forged towards an 11-3 first set lead. The Taiwanese never got into the opening set so they used it to play their way into developing some feeling for the shuttle and regaining a normal composure. The equally powerful Taiwanese former world number one’s leveled by taking the second set. The deciding one was anyone's game and reached a thrilling finish, and ultimately won by the more experienced Taiwanese pair 14-21, 21-14, 23-21 this time, but they have lost to them in the past. Chan Kwong Beng (MAL) vs Tien Minh Nguyen (4) (VIE) This was the match most of the afternoon crowd, were enjoying as both men scampered around the court defending with panache. Malaysia's Chan took control of the first set by successfully putting into place his own game plan and doing everything he wanted to do. In the second set, the Vietnamese had his turn, which meant getting his racquet on more of Chan's shots and narrowly inching ahead at the closing stage first. Nguyen managed to make the younger man tired at his 14 point stage and the resulting slowness in the Malaysian's legs after an hour meant he would be vulnerable to drop shots and making mistakes at the net in a long rally. This aspect was taken advantage of to close out the match 18-21, 21-18, 21-12 in favour of the popular Vietnamese player. Wang Lin (CHN) vs Ratchanok Inthanon (4)(THA) The first set was strewn with a variety of errors by both players. Ratchanok because she was trying out stuff, and therefore occasionally rewarded, but Wang Lin struggled with being no rhythm by her opponent, and committed unforced errors at the net as well as misjudgment of shuttles close to the line. Wang failed to progress beyond 17 points despite narrowly leading. Added to that, the popular player kept looking to her coach for reassurance, which made the crowd begin to worry that the writing was on the wall. Wang liked the other side of the court far better and powered to a 11-4 lead through executing a series of outright smash winners. Once the Chinese discovered the solution to the Ratchanok sized problem, the confidence never left her and the rest was history as indicated by the one sided score henceforth, 17-21, 21-9, 21-8. Wesley Caulkett/ Wendy Chen (AUS) vs Hanbin He/ Yixin Bao (CHN) Hanbin and Yixin came out firing in the first, which took the Aussies by surprise, creating forced errors while they adjusted, allowing the Chinese pair run away with the first, 21-6. Caulkett and Chen become more accustomed to the pace in the second, and kept up with the Chinese pair for the first half, but the Chinese pair were just too good and picked up the intensity to take the second, 21-11 Jacqueline Guan/ Gronya Somerville (AUS) vs Anneke Feinya Augustin/ Nitya Krishinda Maheswari (INA) The young Aussie pair started confidently against their more experienced opponents, keeping competitive for the first half of the set. However, the Indonesia pair took control of their game, and while the Aussies hung in, the Indonesian’s were able to step up their intensity to take the first set, 21-14. Augustin and Maheswari changed their game plan in the second, applying more pressure at the net, and ran away with an early lead. While the Aussies eventually adjusted and fought back, the Indonesians were too far ahead and took the second, 21-11. The Aussies The remaining Aussies went down today, wrapping up their Yonex Australian Badminton Open campaign for 2012. Next Up? It’s quarterfinals on day four where the contest really heats up as the top seeds meet up. The headline match is the men’s singles between defending champion and world number six, Sho Sasaki of Japan, up against former world and Olympic champion, and crowd favourite, Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia. Matches to watch: 4.00pm: WS Wang Lin (CHN) vs Youn Joo Bae (5) (KOR) Tickets are still available at the venue for the quarterfinals. For all the latest results, news, photos and videos, go to: w: www.australianbadmintonopen.com.au |