Monday, November 05, 2007

French Open : Lee Chong Wei Triumphs

Hurrah! I say show'em what we made of boys! It's high time we claim our place in badminton
"WORLD NO 2 Lee Chong Wei outplayed Bao Chunlai of China in the men's singles final of the French Open to win his third Super Series tournament in Paris yesterday.

Chong Wei, the second seed, stormed to a 21-11, 21-14 win in 35 minutes to avenge his semi-final loss to Chunlai in the Denmark Open last week.
After going through a troubled first half of the year, Chong Wei's resurgence started in the Indonesia Open where he defeated Chunlai for the title and captured the Japan Open in September. Chong Wei's cause was made easier by Chunlai's tendency to choke at the last hurdle and the latter has now lost an astonishing 14 finals on the international stage.
Chong Wei can now focus in the Super Series Finals in Kuala Lumpur on Dec 18-23 where he will aim to deny the in-form World No 1 Lin Dan of China yet another major title.

However, Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah's vulnerability in a final was exposed by Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun of China who won 21-14, 21-19 in 38 minutes.Tan Fook-Wan Wah simply lacked the courage to land their first Super Series title.
Tan Fook appeared nervous and there was no sting in his smashes while the steadier Wan Wah chose the wrong match to be off-form and three fault services by the latter described the Malaysians' fortunes in the match. Tan Fook-Wan Wah went into the match having beaten the former world champions in their last two meetings but the Malaysians were undone by number of uncharacteristic errors by them.
This was the second time Tan Fook-Wan Wah were beaten by Haifeng-Cai Yun in a Super Series final. The China pair beat them in three games in the Singapore Open in May.
Results: Finals -- Men's singles: Lee Chong Wei (Mas) bt Bao Chunlai (Chn) 21-11, 21-14.
Doubles: Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun (Chn) bt Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah (Mas) 21-14, 21-19.
Doubles: Zhang Yawen-Wei Yili (Chn) bt Zhao Tingting-Yu Yang (Chn) 21-10, 21-15.
Women's singles: Xie Xingfang (Chn) bt Pi Hongyan (Fra) 21-13, 21-13.
Mixed doubles: Flandy Limpele-Vita Marissa (Ina) bt Xie Zhongbo-Zhang Yawen (Chn) 21-11, 21-15.
Source : http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/Sport/2077111/Article/index_html