Indonesians stun second seeds

Unseeded Indonesians Andrei Adistia-Christopher Rusdianto were in stunning form on Saturday as they booked their place in the final of the men’s doubles competition at the Yonex-Sunrise Syed Modi Memorial India Open.

The Indonesians upset second seeded Germans Ingo Kindervater-Johannes Schoettler (right), in straight games and will meet top seeds Naoki Kawamae-Shoji Sato in the final.
Andrei-Christopher won 21-15, 21-14 while the Japanese players edged out Malaysians Ow Yao Han-Tan Wee Kiong 21-14, 21-16.
Japan will have the chance to win another title as top seeds Miyuki Maeda-Satoko Suetsuna came back from an opening game lost before reaching the women’s doubles final.
The top seeds were given a scare by Indonesian Open Grand Prix Gold winners Vivian Hoo-Woon Khe Wei before eventually winning 18-21, 21-16, 21-19 in 78 minutes.
In the mixed doubles, Sudket Prapakamol-Saralee Thoungthongkam of Thailand made it a clean sweep of all the top seeded doubles pairs to reach the final when they took out Fran Kurniawan-Shendy Puspa Irawati after a titanic battle in the semi-finals.
The Indonesians suffered a devastating loss in the opening game before coming back strongly in the second but the Thais were not to be denied and eventually ran out 21-8, 13-21, 21-16 winners after a 48-minute contest.
There was joy some joy for Indonesia as Muhammad Rijal-Debby Susanto upset fourth seeded Indians V. Diju-Jwala Gutta 21-15, 21-12 in 28 minutes and will now face the Thais for the gold medal.
Diju-Jwala’s loss meant India will only have Sourabh Varma as their sole representative in Sunday’s finals.
The men’s singles shuttler upset 16^th seed Suppanyu Avihingsanon 26-24, 21-13 to stand a chance of winning the main prize.
He however, will have to get the better of former world and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat, who has the perfect opportunity to win his first title for more than a year.
The Indonesian defeated Hong Kong’s Wong Wing Ki 21-16, 15-21, 21-18 in 70 minutes.
The women’s singles final will see an all-Thai affair with three-time world junior champion Inthanon Ratchanok taking on Porntip Buranaprasertsuk. Inthanon defeated Chan Tsz Ka 21-16, 21-15 while Porntip edged Eriko Hirose 22-20, 21-15.
For full results, click here.

Saina Nehwal first Indian to reach the final of BWF Super Series Finals

The stunning win over Chinese star Wang Xin on Friday was just what Saina Nehwal  needed to get out of her lean patch. She came out inspired on Saturday and outclassed Tine Baun of Denmark to cruise 21-17, 21-18 in the semifinals of the BWF Super Series Finals in Liu Zhou (China).
The straight-game victory over the two-time All England champion helped Saina become the first Indian singles player to reach the summit stage of year-ending Super Series Finals. Mixed doubles pair of Valiyaveetil Diju and Jwala Gutta had made the grade in 2009 but they lost in the final.

The Hyderabadi will now meet world champion Wang Yihan of China in the final on Sunday. Yihan is the only player in the current crop who has always beaten Saina.
The world No.1, who enjoys a 3-0 head-to-head record over the Indian star, defeated Saina twice this year - in the Indonesia Super Series Premier final and in the last eight stage of the China Masters. Saina, however, is unperturbed by these figures or past defeats.

Anup, Saina qualify for Olympics

Anup, Saina qualify for Olympics Special Correspondent BANGALORE: Anup Sridhar and Saina Nehwal will be the Indian contenders in the badminton event of the Olympics at Beijing. The two made the cut on the basis of being the top-ranked Indian players on the Badminton World Federation’s list.
Anup Sridhar, who was on a career high of 24, has slipped to 33, but still remained the country’s No. 1 player while the National champion Saina Nehwal, ranked 30, is top ranked in the women’s section.
Ready for the challenge At a media interaction organised by GoSport, which is managing his career, Anup Sridhar said he was excited to play at Beijing and was ready for it.
“I am fully fit and have recovered from my injury and hope to do my best at Beijing. Yes, I was disappointed with the performance at the Asian Badminton Championship but then it was my major meet after my recovery. I am happy with the way I am playing now and prior to the Olympics, I will be playing in the Singapore, Indonesian and Thailand Open events,” said Sridhar.
Anup also acknowledged the role of the Tata Padukone Badminton Academy, where he had been training for the past 14 years.
“What I am today, is due to the efforts of the TPBA and my mentors, Prakash Sir and Vimal Kumar and all other staff of the academy,” he added. He also thanked his parents, employer BPCL, his sponsors SLK Software and Yonex, for their support.
Padukone’s hope Prakash Padukone, while praising Anup Sridhar for qualifying for the Olympics, also urged him to live up to the expectations.
“Anup has grown with our academy and he was one of our first students, when we started out in 1994. He has done exceedingly well, but qualifying for Olympics is only a first step and he now carries a lot of responsibility as the expectations of a nation rest heavily on him.
“He has the talent to defeat the best players in the world and I hope he puts up a medal winning show at Beijing,” said Padukone.
Padukone also advised his ward that he should focus on one match at a time, instead of thinking too much about the future.
Great chance Sridhar’s travelling coach, Tom John of England who has been with him for the past three months was confident that his trainee stands a great chance, given the format of the game. “Given the restricted field, each match becomes important, irrespective of the draw or seedings. Talent and technique wise, he has the ability to beat the best and the key is to keep himself in peak physical condition during the event,” said the coach.
Our Principal Correspondent adds from Hyderabad:
Saina thrilled Saina Nehawal was delighted at having qualified for the Beijing Olympics.
“I am thrilled at the news and at the same time also aware of the huge responsibility and the expectations,” a beaming Saina remarked. “There will be pressure but if I start thinking on those lines, my game will suffer. I can only try my best and hope to come up with creditable performances,” she said.
Now training under former All-England champion and India’s chief National coach Pullela Gopi Chand, Saina is aware that she has not really performed to her potential of late despite becoming the first Indian a couple of years ago to win the Philippines tournament.
“Right now I am focussed on the immediate challenge and I am happy that my coach (Gopi) is making me work really hard to smoothen the rough edges in my game,” she said.

Lin Dan kicks off Superseries final with win

 LIUZHOU: China's badminton  star Lin Dan started his quest to bag his first-ever Superseries final title on Wednesday by dispatching compatriot Chen Long, while women's number one Wang Yihan lost to South Korea's Sung Ji Hyun.

"Super" Dan, badminton's most decorated player, beat Chen 21-15, 19-21, 21-17 in a closely fought battle, with both shuttlers jittery at the last major event of the year.

"This was the first match of the tournament - neither of us were prepared to have to face a teammate," Lin said of the Tuesday draw that pitted China's top two singles players against each other.

"I made some mistakes in my attack and I felt my footwork was not right, so I was nervous. The first match is always hardest."

Lin is seeking to win the "Super Grand Slam" by adding the Superseries title to his Olympics, world championships, World Cup, All-England, Thomas Cup, Sudirman Cup, Asia Championships and Asian Games wins.