(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) South Koreas Bae shocks Chinese No.Saina Nehwal of India in action against Sung Ji Hyun of South Korea at the BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals on Thursday. — KT photo by Shihab
Dubai — World champion Chen Long Kidambi Srikanth and Saina Nehwal went into cruise control on Day 2 to virtually book semifinal berths in the $1 million MetLife BWF Destination Dubai Superseries Finals at the Hamdan Sports Complex Thursday night.
Chen had to wait a little longer than Srikanth and Saina before he could bag his winner’s quota of points in Group A against Hans-Kristian Vittinghus of Denmark with a 13-21 21-10 21-9 victory.
“The playing conditions are so good that there cannot be any excuse but I played too slowly in the first set” Chen said.
Vittinghus who has a good chance of making it to the semis was philosophical after the game: “I took advantage of Chen’s slow start to jump ahead but once he gets his stuff right we cannot make unforced errors. Hopefully I should learn a lot as this was one of my better outings against a top seed.” Saina brushed aside South Korean Sung Ji-Hyun 21-12 21-18 in a Group A second round fixture of the women’s singles championship.
Saina’s disguised drops smeared with deadly slice and the overhead smash troubled the tall South Korean throughout and in the first set Sung looked as if she belonged to another level altogether.
Srikanth played an intelligent waiting game to outdo Indonesian ace Tommy Sugiarto 21-18 21-13 in men’s group B action. Srikanth played a rally-based game with lots of disguised drops and high jump smashes that blistered Sugiarto’s defences on the flanks.
Sugiarto was very much in the match on equal terms in the first set till Srikanth broke away to register a 1-0 match lead.
“It’s almost like playing in India even if the crowd was small. The support and encouragement is so helpful to put you up there. The gameplans Gopi sir and I chalked out worked well tonight (Thursday)” said Srikanth. For Sugiarto the second straight defeat in Group B means practically the end of his run in the event.
Sugiarto said: “Srikanth played a very calm game without increasing the pace and this was good for me but the unforced errors I made during the later phase of the first set and from the middle of the second made the difference.”
Jan O Jorgensen met his match when Japan’s top player Kento Momota who lost to Srikanth on Wednesday defeated him 20-22 21-18 21-12 in 66 minutes in Group B. There was another big setback for Wang Shixian (China) who had lost to Saina in round one of Group A. She lost her second straight match this time to South Korea’s Bae Yeon Ju 17-21 17-21.
Jorgensen won a tight first game and nearly stole the second after trailing 15-19. Momota saw his lead evaporate from 19-15 to 19-18 but was able to take the game; it was a more comfortable affair for the Japanese in the third.
“Jorgensen has great stamina and sharp strokes so I was trying to avoid mistakes. I had to be patient. I was trying not to think of the first game loss. I just wanted to be aggressive. Yesterday’s loss hurt me and I badly wanted to win.”
Hong Kong Open winner Son Wan Ho of South Korea retired injured when he took on Kenichi Tago. He was down 9-21 3-11 when he pulled out. The retirement signalled the end of Son’s campaign according to BWF rules.
Apart from Momota and Tago Japan tasted success when Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi defeated South Korea’s Jung Kyung Eun/Kim Ha Na in the women’s doubles (Group A) 21-15 13-21 21-12. In another fixture in the same category Miyuki Maeda/Reika Kakiiwa lost to China’s Luo Ying/Luo Yu in Group B 21-13 21-14.
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