Sung Hwan books semis ticket

Thursday, 03 December 2009
South Korea’s Park Sung Hwan became the first player to march into the men’s singles semi-finals in the US$500,000 Yonex-Sunrise BWF World Super Series Masters Finals.

The lanky Korean battled for an hour before beating last year's runner-up and second seed Peter Gade Christensen 21-12, 7-21, 21-15 for his second win in Group B which assured him of a place in the last four. Sung Hwan beat Thailand's Boonsak Polsana 28-26, 21-18 on Wednesday.

Christensen, who beat compatriot Jan Jorgensen in his first match, will have to beat Boonsak tomorrow for a top two finish in the group and a place in the semi-finals. Boonsak also hauled himself back on track when he outplayed Jorgensen 21-9, 21-18 in 33 minutes.

“Things did not go right for me today. It’s okay. I lost to a better player. Park took full advantage of the strong draft in the stadium," said Christensen.

“I happened to be on the wrong side of the draft twice but I tried my best. All credit to Park for making good choices. This is the
best Park has played against me. “Tomorrow I just have to win which should be enough for me to make the semis.”

Women’s top seed Saina Nehwal of India, who fell to Malaysia’s Wong Mew Choo in her first match, gave a polished display to beat Canada’s Charmaine Reid 21-14, 21-9 and stay in the hunt in Group A.

In Group B, Boonsak’s sister Salakjit, the second seed is also back in the running after a shock defeat to Netherland’s Yao Jie in the first round. Salakjit outplayed Germany’s Nicole Grether 21-17, 21-7. Yao Jie in turn was beaten today, going down in straight sets 13-21, 10-21 to Germany’s Juliane Schenk which threw the group wide open.

In the men’s doubles, South Koreans Jung Jae Sung-Lee Yong Dae assured themselves a place in the last four with a 21-19, 21-19 win over Indonesia’s Alvent Chandra-Hendra Gunawan – their second win in Group B.

However, it will be a wait and see situation for Malaysians Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari. The pair who had upset compatriots Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, the defending champions and top seeds, in their first match in Group A, could not sustain their momentum and were beaten 18-21, 17-21 by Xu Chen-Guo Zhendong of China in their second match today.

“We made the mistake of following the rhythm of our opponents. And the Chinese pair took advantage of us when we started to make mistakes,” said Zakry