Thursday, September 17, 2009

China geared up for an assault on the five titles at stake in emphatic fashion after their players or pairs took an astonishing 26 of the 40 quarter-final spots in the Li Ning China Masters 2009 in Changzhou.

Only the men’s singles and men’s doubles look to be an open affair with players from China occupying four spots each. In the mixed doubles, only one quarter-final spot went to Korea while in the women’s doubles and women’s singles, non-China players occupied two and three spots respectively.

Denmark's Tine Rasmussen’s recent run of unimpressive results continued when she was shown the exit by China’s Wang Xin who was rewarded with a match against France's former Chinese player, Pi Hongyan. The Frenchwoman beat Japan’s Kaori Imabeppu 16-21, 21-17, 21-18.

In a battle that lasted 45 minutes, Wang Xin denied Tine a place in the last eight with a 17-21, 21-16, 21-14 win.

Joining Wang Xin in the last eight are her teammates Wang Lin, Wang Shixian, who stunned Hong Kong’s Wang Chen, and Lu Lan. Hong Kong's top seed Zhou Mi had no problems disposing Japan’s Shizuka Uchida 21-7, 21-17 to book her place in the quarter-finals.

However, Zhou Mi is expected to face a sterner test in the quarters as she will square off against Lu Lan, the fifth seed.

In the men’s singles, World No 1 Lee Chong Wei and three-time world champion Lin Dan took another step closer to renewing their rivalry when both players won their 2nd round match.

Chong Wei beat England Rajiv Ouseph 21-15, 21-8 while Lin Dan defeated Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Yu Hsin 21-15, 21-19. However, before Chong Wei and Lin Dan can confirm their semi-final clash, they will have to get past Du Pengyu (China) and Park Sung Hwan (Korea) respectively in the last eight.

Denmark’s Peter Gade and Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana are the other two non-China players still in the hunt for the men’s singles crown. However, only one player will progress as Gade and Ponsana will play against each other in the quarter-finals.

In the men’s doubles, China’s Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng, the favourites to win the title, after the withdrawal of top seeds Lee Yong Dae-Jung Jae Sung from Korea, beat compatriots Guo Junjie-Li Gen 21-16, 21-15 and will now play Korea’s Ko Sung Hyun-Kwon Yi Goo.

Another Korean pair also made it through to the last eight, Cho Gun Woo-Yoo Yeon Seong. The Koreans beat China’s Liu Xialong-Qiu Zihan 21-8, 21-13.

Malaysia also have two pairs in the last eight with Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah victorious over China’s Chai Biao-Zhang Nan (21-16, 10-21, 21-9) while Gan Teik Chai-Tan Bin Shen also beat Chinese pair Huang Haitao-Lei Weiliang 21-6, 21-16.

In the mixed doubles, Korea’s Ko Sung Hyun-Ha Jung Eun are the sole non-China pair left in the competition while in the women’s doubles, the urden to stop the Chinese armada lies on the shoulders of Zhang Dan-Zhang Zibao (Macau) and Ha Jung Eun-Kim Jung Min (Korea).