Dev S Sukumar in Odense
China stayed in contention of a five-gold sweep at the Denmark Open with authoritative performances across all semifinals, with perhaps just one match not going their way on Saturday. Joachim Fischer and Camilla Pedersen played inspired badminton in front of their home crowd to upset top seeds Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei, but otherwise it was smooth sailing for all the other Chinese.
Lee Chong Wei, Fischer-Pedersen and Yong Dae/ Jae Sung stand in the way of a sweep. Chong Wei played meticulously against home hope Peter Gade, and despite a minor aberration late in the second game, he was always in control. Gade had three game points at 20-17, but Chong Wei got his focus back again and refused to let go.
The contest wasn’t as tight as the scores suggested. Chong Wei kept ahead by a small margin all through the first game, frequently using his deadly whip-like smash to exploit the flanks, while his own defence was near-perfect.
The Malaysian had kept a handy two or three-point lead, but in the second game he allowed the Dane to climb back on level terms at 14-all. And when Gade earned game point with a typical jump smash following a net dribble, one thought he would take the contest all the way. It was a classic Gade moment, fluid moving forward and devastating in attack.
But Chong Wei pulled himself together, winning a long rally at 18-20 and equalled at 20-all. Gade got one more game point with a nicely angled sliced drop, but he let the Malaysian clamber back by faltering at the net. Match point came with a brilliant block to a smash that just died at Gade’s side of the court.
”I’m disappointed that I could not convert my game points,” said Gade. ”I’m happy with the way I played, I fought all along, but I should’ve taken it to a third game.”
Chong Wei takes on Chen Long, who jogged to a victory over Sho Sasaki 21-16 21-7.
Among the more interesting contests on Saturday was world champion Wang Yihan against world junior champion Ratchanok Inthanon. There will be plenty more face-offs to come, and the semifinal was an indicator of future battles. Ratchanok frequently had Yihan gasping early in the match at the sheer variety of her strokes. The Thai girl dragged the world No.1 back and across with a sliced drop and nice flicks to the back-court, but once Yihan had figured out her play, it was going to be difficult for the junior champion. Yihan’s speed and power in attack slowly gained on the craft of the Thai girl, and the second game was a brutal reminder of the prowess of the world No.1.
Meanwhile, Joachim Fischer and Camilla Pedersen did what other doubles pairs couldn’t do on Saturday. The two rode on the full-throated support of the crowd to upset Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei. The two withstood a resurgent Chinese attack in the second game and kept their composure in the climactic moments to ensure a place in the final. That was in sharp contrast to Yong Dae/ Ha Eun Jung, who seemed to wither in the first game under the sustained assault of Xu Chen and Ma Jin. They recovered in the second set, but the Chinese seemed to have the edge because of Ma Jin, who dominated the net over Eun Jung. Similarly, Mathias Boe/ Carsten Mogensen, expected to run world champs Cai Yun/ Fu Haifeng close, were never in with a chance. The Chinese disallowed the Danes the opportunity to get under the shuttle and the Danes’ rhythm was cut off by the drives and parallel attacks, and it was a surprise at how easily they capitulated.
Cai and Fu take on Yong Dae and Jae Sung in the final that’s loaded in favour of the world champions.
