Tommy Sugiarto from Indonesia sent Korea packing in the quarter-final of the Asia Thomas Cup stage in Macau as Indonesia beat the Koreans 3-2 in the overall tie. Simon Santoso had lost his match against Lee Hyun Il, then Ko and Yoo took the advantage over Ahsan/Septano before Taufik and Kido/Setiawan put Indonesia back in the tie, leaving the remaining point to score to Sugiarto, which he did by beating Hong Ji Hoon in three games.

The Indonesians will meet China in the Thomas Cup semi-final while Japan will face Malaysia, wo trounced India 3-0.

In the Uber Cup, Thailand and China secured the last two remaining semi-final spots after the evening session with clear 3-0 wins over Malaysia and Indonesia respectively.

Semi-final line-up

Uber Cup:
China vs Chinese Taipei
Thailand vs Japan

Thomas Cup:
China vs Indonesia
Malaysia vs Japan

All results HERE

Related posts:

1. TUC – First semi finalists known
2. TUC ASIA – Double scare for Malaysians
3. TUC – Japan top both groups

Japan secured two spots in the semi finals of the Thomas and Uber Cup, with wins over Chinese Taipei and Singapore respectively with the same score of 3/0. China’s Thomas Cup’s squad beat Thailand 3/0 while Chinese Taipei’s Uber Cup went on to the semi finals as well thanks to a 3/1 victory over Hong Kong.

Thursday’s afternoon session

Thomas Cup quarter finals

China beat Thailand 3/0
Japan beat Chinese Tapei : 3/0

Related posts:

1. TUC – Japan top both groups
2. TUC ASIA – Double scare for Malaysians

Good day for Japan in Macau as both its Women’s and Men’s squads topped their respective groups. On Wednesday the Thomas Cup team beat Thailand 4-1 (the only loss came from Hirata/Hashimoto against Bodin/Jongjit) while the Uber Cup squad beat Hong Kong 4/1 to secure a quarter final spot against Singapore, who were beaten 1-4 by Chinese Taipei in the same session. The latter top group X and will play Hong Kong in the ther quarter fnal.

In the Thomas Cup, Japan will take on Chinese Taipei while China and Thailand will fight for another semi-final spot. The other quarter finals will be known after the evening session.

All results HERE

Related posts:

1. TUC ASIA – Double scare for Malaysians

Japan’s Head Coach Park Joo Bong (photo) has made it official that he was not happy with the world governing body’s decision to allow China to play in the Thomas Cup qualifying rounds. The Korean legend, who was once the head coach for Malaysia, told the New Straits Times that this change of rule and the number of points given at this preliminary stages might hurt the sport.

“I don’t understand why BWF is offering so many points for the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup qualifying rounds. It doesn’t make sense for the China to play in the qualifying rounds after  they have secured automatic berths for the two events as hosts. The points offered are too high for a qualifying round and win or lose, a player or a doubles pair will earn 10 per cent of their total world ranking points. BWF must have a clear qualification guidance and tighten its rules and regulations. China always have their way and BWF has failed to control them.”

Previously, the teams which had hosted the event – in this case China men’s squad and Korea’s women’s squad, which won in 2010 – did not have to go through qualifying rounds. Also, the hosts – in this case China in both events – did not have to go through qualification either. Because of the Olympic qualifying points at stake and in order to give a fair chance to everyone, the BWF had decided to change the rule and allow the hosts to compete in Macau, while the winners of the Uber Cup, Korea, will not get to participate in the event.

Whether he wins or loses, Chen Jin will benefit from an added points equivalent to the average of his points on the best 10 tournaments of the year. which is around 6800 points. This means Chen would add another 1800 point to his average points and hence get closer to Gade’s convoited 4th spot – the rank he needs to get to in order to qualify for the Games. Gade will not benefit from the extra points as he chose to not participate in the European stage.

The Korean Olympic Champion did not mention about Korea’s Uber Cup players, which will be penalized by this amended rule. The impact may not be as important in the singles as both Bae and Sung are within the top 16 already, but it could mean that Kim Ha Na and Jung Kyung Eun, who were the first team outside the top 8 in Badzine’s latest Olympic dummy list, might miss some crucial points when the deadline of May 3rd comes.

Related posts:

1. TUC ASIA – Double scare for Malaysians

After Jenny Wallwork and Imogen Bankier made the headlines of the British press these past few days becuase of arguments exchanged in their respective Twitter feeds, the two shuttlers, who train on a daily basis together at Milton Keynes, both apologized as mentionned on the website More than the Games.

“I would like to sincerely apologise for the exchange between myself and a badminton team-mate that happened on February 10,” said Bankier.“What started out as some friendly banter got out of hand. As part of the GB badminton squad we regularly train together and I realise our good offline relationship is unknown to the general public, so our online disagreement has caused some offence. I made a bad call in judgement and want to apologise for my actions. I would like to put this whole issue behind me and concentrate on playing badminton with the aim of qualifying for London 2012.” added the Scottish

Wallwork also apologised : “We both train and play together regularly and it was some light-hearted teasing that went further than it should have. One hundred percent of my focus is now back on playing badminton and hopefully qualifying for the London Olympics.”

The two mixed double shuttlers are just 4 spots away (latest world ranking) from each other in the battle for the only spot given to Great Britain for their home Olympic Games.

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The European preliminary stage of the Thomas and Uber Cups started one day later than its Asian counterpart, with some old names back in the picture: the top Dutch are now back in the team after a long lasting trial with their Federation, while Ella Diehl was back on the court after she gave birth only weeks ago to her second daughter.

Raphael Sachetat. Photos (live from Amsterdam): Badmintonphoto/ Arthur van der Velde

The Dutch had created the buzz by launching a badminton flashmob in Grand Central Station in Amsterdam, to take the attention on the upcoming competition, but it was on Tuesday – Valentine’s Day – that the real show started with no fewer than 59 teams ready to take the challenge and try to qualify for the Thomas and Uber Cup final stage to be held in Wuhan, China, next May. Under the live cameras of BadmintonEurope TV, the best Europeans are there to shine, not only to win a trip to China, but also to get what is now called the European men’s and women’s team gold medal .

Denmark is the clear favourite in the men’s competition, even if its best player Peter Gade has stayed home to focus on his training towards the Yonex All England. His compatriots Jan O Jorgensen, Viktor Axelsen and Hans Kristian Vittinghus together with experienced doubles pairs should manage to win a competition they’ve won many times in the past. They are to take on Scotland on Wednesday and Sweden Thursday in their Group 1 match.

Pang, Palyama and others back in orange

One of the most pleasant surprises of the kick-off day in Amsterdam was the sight of players such as Eric Pang and Dicky Palyama back in their national team, after a very long dispute with their Federation and their sponsors. The problems seem to be now underway to be resolved and the best Dutch players can now compete in front of their home crowd – they beat Hungary 5-0 to celebrate this new beginning, and are likely to top Group 5 with Austria and Slovakia left to beat.

Another good sight was the welcome back of Ella Diehl, who had left the courts in 2011 to give birth to her second daughter Lea. The Russian, whose team came in as 4^th seeds, was back in competition for the first time since giving birth and still managed to get a point with a win over Slovakia’s Zuzana Orlovska 21-16, 22-20.

“It was very tough to play back at this level, but it also felt very good to be back,” claimed the former top Russian shuttler.

After Jenny Wallwork and Imogen Bankier had made the headlines back home for entertaining a “Twitter War” (see this article), all eyes were turned towards the match between arch-rivals Engand and Scotland in the Uber Cup. The two girls – who fight for a sole mixed doubles spot for the Olympics with their respective partners – were not to cross swords on court as Bankier was not fielded for this match, even if she was on the start list of the team. It might have made a difference as the Scots came just one point short of sending back home the 6^th seeds of the competition.

After Susan Egelstaff saw off England’s Nicole Cerfontyne (runner-up to Elizabeth Cann in the recent English Nationals), and Christy Gilmour beat Sarah Walker, Scotland was one point away from the tie victory. And their third shuttler Linda Sloan had no fewer than 4 match points to close it up but England’s heroine Kate Robertshaw managed to pull it back with an amazing 17-21 21-12, 26-24 victory. The English doubles then took the last two points for a final 3-2 victory over their long-time rivals.

Live results

Live stream (BadmintonEurope.Tv)

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In both the Thomas and Uber Cup group matches of the Asian preliminary stage held in Macau, the Malaysians came through a difficult second day as the men’s squad beat Hong Kong 3-2 while the women’s squad came through victorious over India by the same tight score of 3-2.

By Raphaël Sachetat. Photos (archives) : Badmintonphoto and rights reserved

After two days of competition in Macau, for the Asian stage of the Thomas and Uber Cup qualifying rounds, things are getting serious with ties which have gone down to the wire. The Malaysians enjoyed a good day after all, as both squads beat their respective opponents 3-2.

In group D of the Thomas Cup, Lee Chong Wei had set his team on the right track – after he had treated his whole team with a nice meal the previous day. “Captain” Lee took two games – but had to fight hard – to win against Hong Kong’s Wong Wing Ki, for a final 21-18, 22-20 victory. This was exactly the reverse score of Hu Yun (photo) against Hafiz Hashim, who put back Hong Kong in the tie, after Koo and Tan made light work of their opponents. At 2-1 in the lead, the Malaysians banked on Lim and Goh (photo) to get the deciding point.  This was fortunate as Daren Liew was then unable to close it down and Chan Yan Kit brought his team back to 2-3 in the overall tie. After Korea had beaten Hong Kong  5-0 in this group, the final tie between Korea and Malaysia will determine who tops the group, but in any case, the second will still have a chance to qualify – for Hong Kong, it is now too late.

In other groups, China and Taiwan will play the top of the group A as both nations won their match against Vietnam – with a good victory from Nguyen Tien Minh over Chen Long. In group B, Indians won the most important match against Singapore 3-2 and are now in the lead with Indonesia. Both teams should go on to the next stage.  It was the same fate for Japan and Thailand, who are yet to meet to see who will top group C on Wednesday.

If China is the strong favourite in the group W of the Uber Cup, there was still a chance for either Malaysia or India – in the same group – to be able to still qualify. And it will be Malaysia – unless India beats China – who might get the chance, after their 3-2 victory over the Indians. Saina Nehwal did show up after all, even after a health scare, and managed to take one point, as did the new rising star Sindhu PV, but both doubles failed to deliver. Chin and Wong (photo) beat Gutta and Ponnappa, the Commonwealth Games gold medallists, in three games in what was probably the key match of the tie. And then, in a thriller, youngster Yang Li Lian beat Sayali Gokhale 11,21, 21-15, 22-20 to create the upset of the day.

After 2 days of play in Macau, other groups are set to see their final round robin matches on Wednesday, with favourites meeting to top their respective groups. Singapore and Taipei will meet up after each won 5-0 over Vietnam, while in Group Z, Japan and Hong Kong will play for the best spot on Wednesday as well.

In group Y, it is no surprise to see Thailand and Indonesia leading the party with an interesting tie to come, with strong players on either side of the net on Wednesday.

“Both teams have the same quality and chance to win. We hope the players will play at their best and win the match,” Yacob Rusdianto, Secretary General of PBSI  told the Jakarta Globe.

For Ratchanok Inthanon, Thailand’s wonder, the key of the match will rely on the singles for Thailand: “If we want to win the match, we have to win all three single matches,” she told the Antara News Agency. “I think we have a 50-50 chance against Indonesia, but Indonesia has great doubles.”

All results HERE

No related posts.

The 36th National Junior U-17 & U-19 Badminton Championships of Badminton Association of India held at Pink City of India Jaipur from 04th to 12th February 2012 have confirmed that the P. Gopichand Academy is going on the right path with imprsesive results during the event.

Sameer Verma has won the Title of of Men Singles easily against own Academy player Rohit C. Yadav. He was the Runner Up of Commonwealth Youth Games 2011 Isle of Man and Badminton Asia Youth U-19 Championship 2011 also.  He also reached in Quarter final of Syed Modi India Open Grand Prix 2011 as he played Ist BWF Grand Prix Gold event of his career.

Many others players have reached in the final from the P. Gopichand Badminton Academy : Sameer Verma, Rohit C Yadav, K Srikant, Hemanagendra Babu, Chaitanya Reddy, Chaitanya KP, Gopi Raju, Rituparna Das, Maneesha K, & Meghna J.  Maneesha K and Meghna J have reached in the Women Doubles event of U-19 & U-17 both.  But Maneesha K also reached in the event of Mixed Double event with K Srikant.  K Srikant had also won the title of Men Doubles with T Hemanagendra Babu.

All resuts

Under – 19

Men’s Singles
Sameer Verma beat Rohit C Yadav 21-16, 21-16

Men’s Doubles
Srikant K / Hema Nagendra Babu beat Gopi Raju / Shivam Sharma 15-21, 21-18, 21-17

Women’s Singles
Tanvi Lad beat Saili Rane 21-17, 21-16

Women’s Doubles
Saili Rane / Aarthi Sara Sunil beat K Maneesha / J Meghna by 21-13,15-21, 21-12

Mixed Doubles –
B Venkatesh / Ruthvika Shivani beat K Srikant / Maneesha K  21-19, 21-19

UNDER – 17

Men’s Singles
Harsheel Dani beat Aditya Joshi 22-20, 15-21, 21-17

Men’s Doubles
Chaitanya Reddy K / Chaitainya KP beat Vighnesh Devlekar / Kaushal    Dharmamer  21-19, 21-15

Women’s Singles
Rituparna Das beat Reshma Karthik 22-20, 21-14.

Women’s Doubles
Ruthvika Shivani / Poorvisha S. Ram won against K Maneesha / J Meghna 21-7, 21-9

Thanks to Manoj Singh for his contribution

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Our preview specialist, Aaron Wong, attended a rare triple occasion (in order of importance): the launch of an international badminton tournament; in Sydney, where he lives; and, on the only non-rainy morning weekday that week.

Story and photos: Aaron Wong, Badzine Correspondent live in Sydney

What’s a launch? / Why the big deal?

I was informing him I was going.  “What’s a launch?” inhaled my editor, who time and again gets to go to gigs like the Super Series Finals and the richest tournament around, the million dollar Korea Open, and those events lack a launch.

Certainly, we both understand the definition of the word and can imagine a variation on a press conference but here’s an instance in English where we don’t say what we mean.  Who?, When?, Where?, and most of all Why??, were implied by that What…? Because, really, a badminton tournament launch is positively out of the ordinary.

I rocked up to The Rocks – as the edge of the CBD sandwiched between the iconic Harbour Bridge and Opera House is known – to find out what the big deal was.  What I found was a proper makeshift court and confirmation that the Australian Badminton Open was leaving it’s epicentre, the state of Victoria, and transferring to Sydney for at least a couple of years.

Further evidence that this has been a thoroughly welcome development was the presence of the deputy premier of the state of New South Wales (NSW), Andrew Stoner, and much more surprisingly the deputy head of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), Paisan Rangsikitpho (pictured below).

Overtures in front of the Sydney Opera House

Framed against the ever spectacular Opera House as he stood on the podium, Mr. Rangsikitpho made overtures to Sydney, Australia, proclaiming this city “the best place in the world for a tournament” and it was hard to argue otherwise on a summer’s morning surrounded by sparkling gentle waves and the odd ferry gliding unhurriedly across them.  Flattering as he was, he could not possibly have come to the ends of the earth just to say that.

Then, with personal enthusiasm and switching off from his prepared speech, he revealed that he would lend his support to hosting a Surdirman Cup or World Championships in this very city, not only for it’s attractiveness but for it’s proven capability to stage the biggest sporting event of them all, the Olympics.  He bemoaned that Sydney was “asleep for twelve years” and off the international badminton radar but that was about to change.

This wasn’t just any ol’ Grand Prix Gold tournament.  It was to mark a medium term handshake with the NSW government as major financial sponsors, and a longer term dream by the BWF.

The extroverted and tireless tournament organiser, Mr Loke Poh Wong, leaned in to gesture to me, ‘We were this close to (clinching) a Sudirman Cup.’

Baffled locals had been wondering why the event would not be held at the Olympic Park facilities.  Instead it will be at Darling Harbour in the heart of downtown and it is evident now that this decision is to showcase the city in all it’s glorious natural splendour.

What a profound pity and wasted marketing opportunity that Yonex tennis stars, former world top ranked singles specialist, Lleyton Hewitt and up-and-comer Bernard Tomic were not available for an appearance as initially planned what with the Grand Slam fanfare finishing up a few days earlier.  Seriously, for badminton to grow in Australia and help the city to shine as a tourist destination, it needs to appeal to greater than the badminton community and government investment and seek to be embraced by the general public at large in the same way that thousands flock to Melbourne to watch the tennis as an enjoyable holiday or long weekend away.  The as-yet untapped potential is there as Australians are a multi-sports obsessed nation.

Yet to be revealed, but we can guess

No badminton stars were namedropped as to who’s coming since the entry period remains open.  But being among the last major tournaments to yield precious qualification points so close to Olympic qualification, as well as once again offering the rich Grand Prix Gold-standard prize money that keeps it top in Oceania badminton history, there is incentive enough for a good number of big names to visit Downunder.  In the Melbourne edition last year,  women’s singles World Champion Wang Lin of China and former men’s world number 1 Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia provided some of the thrills but failed to lift the silverware.

With five and a half of the current top ten men’s doubles pairs having been world number 1, and seven pairs from the same bunch having won Super Series before, the men’s doubles category at the Australian Open is looking like it could be a heavyweight highlight.  Two of these from the near north are also still struggling toward a top 8 spot that can qualify them for the London Olympics.

There is a high probability one of the four Heavenly Kings of badminton would play this tournament because his ranking has slipped ten rungs when eleven months ago it was world number 2, and also he resides in the neighbouring country of Indonesia.  This would give Australians a chance to witness the pure talent of Taufik Hidayat, World and Olympic champion, before his imminent retirement.  The last time Hidayat competed here he was nineteen years old and world number 1 and I got his autograph.  Perhaps, another Australian youngster could be inspired to go far in this the fastest of racquet sports.  (With the preview specialist job already taken, they should inspire a champion this time around.)

Badzine looks forward to bringing you coverage of the Yonex Australian Open Grand Prix Gold, which runs during the week of Easter, from 3-8 April 2012, at the Darling Harbour Convention Centre.  Tickets on sale now from the Ticketek website.  Volunteering positions are still available including a limited number of line judging positions too.  Contact Badminton NSW for more information.

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Many nations around the world, particularly on the Atlantic, are once again holding their national championships at the same time.   India has long since finished and we have provided many of the links for other nations HERE

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