Badminton Life

Indonesia Tops Podium in Austria

Four of the five events had an Indonesian in the semi final stage of the Austrian Open, with Andre Kurniawan Tedjono playing the top seeded Brice Leverdez in the first of the men’s singles semi final. After losing the first game, the Indonesian 3^rd seed won the next two to progress to the final 12-21, 21-12, 21-6.

The French still had a chance of at least one finalist, with Mathieu Lo Ying Ping playing Raul Must of Estonia in the second semi final. This time, the French had reason to celebrate as the 5^th seed defeated his Estonian opponent 21-19, 21-13 to set up a final with Tedjono.

The women’s singles had another Indonesian, Fransisca Ratnasari who played against Scotland’s Susan Egelstaff. Even though Ratanasari was the lower seed, she took the victory easily, 21-14, 21-14 to set up a match with the top seed, Petya Nedelcheva. The Bulgarian defeated unseeded Japanese player Tamaki Pujii 21-11, 21-16 to progress into the final.

The top two seeds in the mixed doubles safely progressed into the final also, Atrashenkov and Prus beating unseeded Swiss duo Dumartheray and Jaquet 21-13, 21-19 to book their place in the final. Second seeded Makarski and Dimova of Bulgaria had to defeat 5^th seeds Okvana and Megawati of Indonesia to progress into the final.

The women’s doubles would be an all-Japanese final, with the 3 seeds Eto and Wakita of Japan defeating the 2^nd seeded Kobtseva and Prus 21-15, 21-3 to go through to the final. Fukuman and Mitani defeated Mason and Cooper of Scotland 24-22, 21-15 to book their place in the final.

The men’s doubles would have another Indonesian influence, with Okvana and Putra defeating the second seeded Ellis and Mills in the semi final 21-17, 15-21, 21-14 to book their place in the final. They would play another English pair in the final, with Ellis and George beating Constantin and Vincent 21-18, 21-16.

The Finals took place on the same day, some 3 hours after the end of play in the semi finals. The first final was the mixed doubles between the top two seeds. The exchanged the first two games before the top seeded Ukrainians served out at 17-17 in the third to win 24-26, 21-17, 21-17.

The second final was the women’s singles final; yet again the pair shared the opening 2 games before the Indonesian defeated the top seeded Nedelcheva 21-15, 18-21, 21-14 in 62 minutes. The Indonesian success would continue in the men’s singles final, with 3^rd seeded Tedjono beating Lo Ying Ping of France 21-12, 21-11 to double Indonesia’s wins in the tournament.

The all-Japanese women’s doubles final was won by the 3^rd seeded Eto and Wakita over Fukuman and Mitani 21-14, 21-10. The final match was the men’s doubles and it was title number 3 for Indonesia as Okvana and Putra defeated Ellis and George 21-17, 21-23, 28-26 in a 64 minute classic.

Austrian International 2010 Final Results

Gade Leads Danish Squad

The top male and female players in Europe will represent their nations in the European Team Championships this week in Warsaw, Poland. Denmark are looking to defend both the Men and Women’s titles this week, but will face stern opposition from the likes of Germany, England and Netherlands.

Men’s Team Championships

Denmark

2008 Result – Winners

The winners from two years ago are again the favourites for the title in 2010, with the likes of Jan O Jorgensen, Joachim Persson and Peter Gade for the singles and in doubles, the 4^th ranked partnership in the world, Mogensen and Boe. In their group awaits Iceland, Finland, Hungary and Croatia. With the group winner receiving a bye in the Quarter Final.

Germany

2008 Result – 3^rd

Germany want to go one better than their 3-1 defeat in the semi final against Denmark in the 2008 Event. Marc Zweibler and Dieter Domke will have to live up to and play above their rankings of 16 and 73 for Germany to repeat their 2006 appearance in the final. A potential rematch against Denmark could await in the semi final this year.

Poland

2008 Result – 4^th

Poland has been on the rise for the last few years, with recent Super Series success in the mixed doubles. Wacha (#31 Rank) and Logosz and Mateusiak (#35 Rank) will need to perform at their best after being paired in a group with 2008 runners-up England. Thursday at 6pm will ultimately determine the winners of Group B.

England

2008 Result – 2^nd

Denmark’s biggest challenge will come from England, with Andrew Smith, Rajiv Ouseph and Carl Baxter being the strongest line-up for England’s singles could potentially shock the Danish. Experienced heads like Robert Blair, Anthony Clark and Nathan Robertson will be invaluable with a new young squad of players like Adcock, Wright and Middleton. Their big test in the group will undoubtedly be Poland on Thursday.

Women’s Team Championships

Denmark

2008 Result – Winners

Tine Rasmussen will be one of the stars on show in the Women’s Championship, the 10^th ranked player in the world will led off Denmark in the singles. Europe’s top ranked women’s double pairing, Kristiansen and Rytter Juhl will be the partnership to beat in the championships also. Like the men, they also a potential bye to the semi final if they win Group A, with Greece, Estonia and Czech Republic.

Netherlands

2008 Result – 2^nd

With Yao Jie and Judith Meulendijks out of the Championships, the Dutch are very much understrength in the singles. Patty Stolzenbach will need to regain the form that seen her reach the semi final of the Norwegian Open late last year for the Netherlands to have any chance to progress.

Germany

2008 Result – 3^rd

Juliane Schenk will lead the German team in Group D in the singles, with Marinello and Overzier being the top ranked all-German couple, however Nicole Grether is seeded higher in the world but with a Canadian partner, so Germany’s 2^nd doubles partnership could be just as strong as their first.

Scotland

2008 Result – 4^th

A surprise 4^th placed finish it might have been, but a full-fit Scottish squad will arrive in Warsaw. Emma Mason is back after an 18-month lay off, as well as Imogen Bankier returning to competitive competition after a knee injury. Susan Egelstaff is in the form of her life after winning the 2009 Scottish Open. However they are placed in a tough group with France, Poland and Ukraine.

The competition begins on Tuesday, February 16.

Tuesday’s order of play

Marc Zwiebler

The day started with two Scottish hopefuls in the final, unseeded Emma Mason and Mariana Agathangelou took on the top seeded Russian duo of Nina Vislova and Valeria Sorokina in the first final of the day. The local support rallied behind the British couple when they took a 12-11 lead early in the first set, only for the Russian pair to storm to the opening set 21-16.

The second set went much the same way as the first, with the Russian top seeds leading and refusing to let go of their lead, taking the second game 21-16 to claim the title. Marc Zweibler played Peter Mikkelsen in the Men’s Singles final, with both looking impressive on their way to the final.

Zweibler took a closely fought out first game 21-15, only for Mikkelsen to respond to take the second game by the same score but Zweibler dominated the final game and took it 21-16 to claim the Men’s Singles title.

The Men’s Doubles match turned into a fabulous encounter between the 3rd and 4th seeds, with the English 4th seeds of Middleton and Langridge taking a tight first game 21-19 and then saved 5 game points in the second but couldn’t get their own chance and lost the second game 26-24. The Danish 3rd seeds of Conrad-Petersen and Pieler Kolding dominated the third game and at 8-8 won 13 of the next 16 points to win the third game 21-11.

The mixed doubles was the most one-sided of the finals, with Valeria Sorokina and Alexander Nikolaenko defeating Raj and Renuga Veeran 21-11, 21-16 in just 23 minutes.  The last match of the day pitted the top two seeds in the women’s singles against each other, with Susan Egelstaff in her first Scottish International final.

Ella Diehl dominated the opening part of the first game, only for Egelstaff to respond and from 18-17 down took the next four points to take the first game 21-18. If the first game was a nervy encounter, the second game was a precession from the 2nd seed Scot. Ella Diehl’s level dropped dramatically and Egelstaff was in commanding form as she took the second game 21-10 to win her first Scottish International title.

Sunday’s Results

Marc Zwiebler

Susan Egelstaff and Emma Mason have kept local interests alive into Sunday’s finals day with two wins on Saturday, Susan Egelstaff defeated 8th seed Tatiana Bibik in 3 games in the quarter final then booked her place in the final with a two game victory over Switzerland’s Jeanine Cicognini.

Egelstaff will play top seed Ella Diehl in the final, after the Russian beat unseeded Turk Li Shuang in two close games in the quarters before beating 3rd seeded Linda Zechiri in three games to set up a first versus second seed final.

Przemyslaw Wacha’s quarter final matchup with Jan Vondra never took place, with the 8th seeded Czech pulling out the night before, 4th seeded Peter Mikkelsen continued his excellent run and took out the second seed at the semi final stage in two close games, winning 21-19, 21-18.

Mikkelsen will play top seeded Marc Zweibler in the final, after the German defeated 6th seeded Vladimir Malkov in two games 21-14, 21-14 followed by 7th seeded Scott Evans in three games to book his place in the final.

Emma Mason and partner Mariana Agathangelou also reached tomorrow’s Women’s Doubles final after two superb wins. The first against the 2nd seeded Danish pair of Neilsen and Ropke and then a comfortable two set win over Cooper and Ward in an all-British semi final. This will be Agathangelou’s third consecutive final in the Women’s doubles at the Scottish International.

They will play the Russian top seeds Nina Vislova and Valeria Sorokina, who had to come through 2 three game encounters to reach the final. The first against unseeded Dutch duo of Jonathans and Van Dooremalen, winning 21-12 in the third and against 3rd seeded Indian pair Balan and Kurian, defeating them 21-14 in the third.

Play begins at 1pm on Sunday.

Scottish International Championships 2009 Draws

There was some local interest in the finals of the Belgian Open today in the mixed doubles with Wouter Claes and Natalie Descamps making the final against Heather Olver and Marcus Ellis of England. The seeds had toppled in this tournament in all events, leaving only one top seed playing on finals day.

First on court with the women’s doubles, with Emma Mason making her comeback from a serious achilles injury reaching the final with her English partner Samantha Ward against Japanese pair Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi. They shared the opening two sets before the Japanese pair proved to be too strong in the third to take the match 21-13.

Marcus Ellis and Peter Mills played against the only top seed left in any draw, Ruud Bosch and Koen Ridder of Holland. The top seeds took the opening set 30-28, with both couples having five chances apiece to win the first set and then wrapped up the second 21-12 to claim the title.

The Men’s Singles provided the other seed against seed encounter on the last day, with German Marc Zweibler seeded second against seventh seeded Christian Lind Thomsen of Denmark. The match was a tale of three sets, with Zweibler dominating the opening set, before the Dane levelled the match in equally impressive fashion. The match turned at 3-3 in the deciding set, with Zweibler going on a 9-point run which was too big a gap for Lind Thomsen to catch back up.

Misaki Matsutomo played in her second final of the day against second seeded Yao Jie of Holland in the Women’s Singles. Both players took one of the two opening sets but 21 points to 14. The third set was a similar affair to the Men’s final, with Matsutomo leading 10-6 the dutch second seed won 8 consecutive points to turn the match in her favour, eventually winning 21-16 in the third.

The big local hope was in the Mixed Doubles, with second seeds Claes and Descamps against Heather Olver and Marcus Ellis, playing in his second final fo the day. The first set was dominated by the English duo, with the Belgians never having a lead in the opening set, losing it 21-9. The second set was a far more competitive affair at the start of the set, before the English couple stretched out another lead. Claes and Descamps managed to save the match at 20-17 down to make it 20-20. They manufactured a game point at 23-22, before losing the next three points to the unseeded English couple.

The next challenge event in the EBU calendar is in Bulgaria on October 1-4.

Belgian International 2009 Draws