AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2013 Day 2 – “Five” is cursed

On the second day of action, spectators at the Australian Badminton Open had a chance to witness how highly trained this new batch of Chinese names are.  Predictably, they all displayed deep determination punctuated by war cries and backed up their fury with lightning crackling shot-making.

By Aaron Wong, Badzine Correspondent live in Sydney.  Photos: courtesy of Australian Badminton Open media.

Seeded Fifth

Bad luck and bye bye fifth seeds Aprilia Yuswandari in women’s singles, Chalardchaleam/Amitrapai in mixed doubles, and Jang Ye Na / Kim So Young (pictured) in women’s doubles.  But it is simply a matter of perspective because ask fifteen-year-old Chen Qingchen of China who disposed of the latter two pairs and she’d be overjoyed to tell you otherwise, especially having lopped off a top 10 player, Jang, amongst the lot.  Jang was troubled and outgunned by the relentless bullets coming off the racquet from one nine years younger and perhaps nine centimetres shorter, 21-10, 24-22.

Beijing Olympic champion Hendra Setiawan, with Mohammad Ahsan, dodged the fifth seeds curse, only dropping their first game, 19-21. The Indonesians varied the pace and rhythm of the match to turn things around their way for the remainder against the trigger-happy and skyscraper pair of Li Junhui / Liu Yuchen, 21-11, 21-16.

Tastes like Shin Ramyun

Just like the top selling instant noodles from their country, what the Korean women were offering their Indonesian opponents was hot to taste.  The top seeded women’s doubles pair, Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth / Riziki Amelia Pradipta, were overwhelmed by the intensity of the experience served up by Ko A Ra / Yoo Hae Won, and went down 21-9, 16-21, 17-21.

In women’s singles, Kang Hae Won, narrowly failed to fry top seed Lindaweni Fanetri because she undercooked the crucial net shot at the closing stages and let slip her opportunity, 21-14, 16-21, 20-22.

Lesser known Korean Lee Dong Keun raised team morale again through his men’s singles victory over the consistently solid performer on the international circuit, Ajay Jayaram (pictured) of India, 26-24 21-19.

Click here for complete Day 2 results