MALAYSIA OPEN 2011 Day 3 – Simon takes another swipe at China

Indonesia’s Simon Santoso created an even bigger upset in the 2^nd round of the 2011 Proton Malaysia Open Super Series as, after Du Pengyu, he stopped another Chinese contender, current World Champion Chen Jin.

By Adrian Kok, Badzine Correspondent live in Kuala Lumpur. Photos: Yves Lacroix for Badmintonphoto (live)

Both players confessed during the post-match interview that they were recovering from injuries: Chen Jin with a leg injury and Simon Santoso (pictured) with a back injury that had taken him three months to recover from.  Nonetheless the two battled it out on court for 74 minutes before the Indonesian emerged the winner.

Simon and Chen were very much on par in the first game. Both were careful not to make any mistakes. However, it seemed that Chen was playing a slower pace compared to Simon. Simon varied his game with lots of various strokes sending Chen Jin all over the place. A couple of deceptive push shots to the rear court from Simon put Chen in a state of confusion but did not stop him from fighting back, which he did, coming from 6-10 down to level it at 10-10.  Simon pulled ahead again, though and eventually won the first game 21-12 with a tight drop shot which was difficult for Chen to retrieve.

Long rallies were the norm in the second game. Both players were trying to force the other to make mistakes. Nevertheless, most of the longer rallies favoured Simon, with Chen Jin (pictured) hitting the shuttles to the net or shooting it out of court. After the mid-game interval, Chen upped his game and he continued to pull away from Simon, who was struggling to get back to the pace he had in the first game. Chen closed the second gave to his favour with a cross-court smash and the match was stretched to the full distance.

Just like in the second game, Simon was moving Chen around the court, forcing a lot of mistakes from Chen, who showed signs of giving up. At one point, Simon protested that Chen had hit the shuttle before it passed the net but the umpire did not take his protest ask Simon to continue the game.  The mid-game interval favoured Simon to the tune of 5 points.

After a few words from the coach, Chen began to give everything he had to win the match. Unfortunately everything that Chen threw at Simon came right back and the Indonesian powered on to open a big lead and win it 21–10.

“I was prepared for this tournament as I was recovering from a back injury,” said Simon with a smile.  “I know it was an uphill challenge but all I wanted was to give it my best.” Chen, meanwhile, said that he would not let this defeat affect him in the upcoming Korean Open, adding “I did my best and I lost to a better player today.”

For complete results from Day 3 of the 2011 Proton Malaysia Open Super Series, CLICK HERE