Chong Wei, Lin Dan stay on course while Hidayat and Santoso reach quarter-finals

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Indonesia’s Simon Santoso and Taufik Hidayat reached the quarter-finals of the PROTON Malaysia Open, the season opening event of the 2011 OSIM BWF World Superseries on Thursday.

Joining them in the quarter-finals are top seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia and China’s Olympic champion Lin Dan.

Lin Dan reached the last eight when he defeated South Korea’s Lee Hyun Il 21-15, 21-8. It was not a good day for the Koreans as Hidayat thrashed Shon Wan Ho 21-13, 21-11 to set-up a meeting with Japan’s Kenichi Tago.

Tago, last year’s All-England runner-up, was made to sweat for his 14-21, 21-6, 21-15 victory over Holland’s Dicky Palyama.

Hidayat, who is seeded second, said: “It was a good day and I feel confident entering the quarter-finals, even though I’m not 100% fit. It was a good match today but Kenichi will be a tougher test.”

Chong Wei, who received a big boost before his match with the appearance of his coach Misbun Sidek, will meet Nguyen Tien Mihn. The last time they the two met, Chong Wei won 21-12, 21-17 en route to winning the VICTOR BWF Super Series Finals men’s singles final.

“I was warming up when Misbun suddenly showed up. I was surprised but I’m happy,” said Chong Wei, of his coach, who quit the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) on Dec 31.

“I hope he will be around for the next matches as well. I’m not too sure if there were any discussions held with BAM but I hope this matter will be resolved quickly.

“I don’t want to think about my opponent tomorrow and rather focus on my game instead.”

Meanwhile, Santoso produced the shock of the day when he knocked out world champion Chen Jin with a hard fought 21-12, 18-21, 21-10 victory.

The Indonesian, who reached a high of No. 3 in the world rankings before injuries disrupted his career, is now ranked a lowly 27 but he said the win will certainly give his career a big boost.

In the men’s doubles, Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Hoon Thien How kept Malaysia’s flag flying when they defeated Indonesia’s Hendri Kurniawan Saputra-Chayut Triyachart 21-16, 21-15.

They will next play Japan's Naoki Kawamae-Shoji Sato, who defeated China's Hong Wei-She Ye 21-16, 21-16. The young Chinese pair, who upset top seeded Malaysians Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong on Wednesday, failed to rise their game against the Japanese duo and paid the price.

courtesy of BWF

Yangyang Rg | Create your badge



The secret to WINNING a football betting! Tips and MORE!!!

Nikon Coolpix L110 12.1MP Digital Camera with 15x Optical Vibration Reduction (VR) Zoom and 3.0-Inch LCD (Black)Nikon D3100 14.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S DX VR Nikkor Zoom LensNikon Coolpix L22 12.0MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Optical Zoom and 3.0-Inch LCD (Red-primary)Nikon Coolpix S6000 14.2 MP Digital Camera with 7x Optical Vibration Reduction (VR) Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Silver)Nikon D90 12.3MP DX-Format CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S VR DX Nikkor Zoom Lens