KOREA OPEN QF – No one can Keep up with the Lees

KOREA OPEN QF – No one can Keep up with the Lees

Four Lees – one Malaysian and 3 Korean – booked their spots in the semi-finals in Seoul on Friday at the 2009 Yonex Korea Open Super Series. Lee Hyo Jung and Lee Yong Dae both did doubles duty by qualifying in both mixed and their other doubles disciplines. Lee Chong Wei (pictured), meanwhile, won his rematch with Park Sung Hwan, affirming his dominance over the Korean star. By Don Hearn, Badzine Correspondent live in Seoul. Photos: Badmintonphoto (live) Europeans Shut out of Mixed While the afternoon started off with Losses for both of Indonesia’s mixed doubles pairs, they were shortly to be joined on the sidelines by the remainder of the European mixed contingent. Shendy Puspa Irawati / Fran Kurniawan were the first victims of the day as Korea’s Lee/Lee put on a show for a crowd that had clearly gathered just to see them. It was all over in 23 minutes but the spectators had ample opportunity to cheer their darlings during the 21-11, 21-11 romp. Not far away, Meiliana Jauhari / Rendra Wijaya were playing like seeds for two games before the poise and precision of the Indian pair finally allowed them to take control in the decider and Diju V / Jwala Gutta finished it off 21-17, 16-21, 21-9. After trailing throughout their first game against Denmark’s Fischer Nielsen / Pedersen, Songphon Anugritayawon / Kunchala Voravichitchaikul (pictured) struggled to maintain the lead they had achieved in the second. As the Danes closed the gap late to 18-all, it looked as if the Thais might let it slip away but they finished it 21-18 and in the decider, they were the ones who effected the late comeback and it was enough to give them the 17-21, 21-19, 21-18 victory and there will be a Thai pair in the semi-finals for the second consecutive weekend. Shortly thereafter, it was Blair/Bankier’s turn to make promising but fruitless comebacks. In their first game against Chau/Wiratama of Hong Kong, the two Scots evened the score again and again but came up short in the end. In the second game, they were down 5-14 at one point but rallied to make it 17-all before giving up the ghost and allowing the Hong Kong pair to win it 24-22, 21-18. Another Lee, Another Week, Another Win On the centre court, Lee Chong Wei (pictured) continued his run of good form. He hasn’t lost to Park Sung Hwan in nearly five years and neither the skiff of snow that carpeted Seoul on Friday, nor the home court advantage, nor the line judges could end the streak. Park started very strong with the crowd, excited and captivated after the win by the Olympic champions, fully behind him. He maintained a comfortable margin throughout the opening game. He did get a little help when, at 19-16, Park smashed down the sideline on Lee’s forehand side. Lee protested in vain when the shot was called in and the small Malaysian cheering section joined in as the jumbo TV screen behind the chair umpire appeared to show Park’s smash landing a good 10cm wide. A hush seemed to come over the crowd when Lee blasted out to a commanding 11-3 lead in the second game, taking control at the net. Park lost two hairpin net duels in particular when Lee made the decisive tumble that Park could only return into the tape. Park took a 3-2 lead early in the third when another line call went in his favour. Lee stared in disapproval at the same line judge who called in Park’s favour in all 3 games despite the change of ends and Lee seemed visibly discouraged after that as Park continued on a 5-point run. The Malaysian soon pulled it together, however, and started to move Park to all four corners of the court, mixing smashes and drops with punch clears and surging back to a 10-8 lead. The last half of the game was all Chong Wei, though, as the Malaysian ran away with it and won 18-21, 21-7, 21-16. The world #1 goes on to face Poland’s Przemslaw Wacha, who won handily over Hong Kong’s Chan Yan Kit. Nothing but Doubles for the Home Team Korea's Hwang Hye Youn (pictured), too, started strong in her women's singles quarter-final but was unable to finish. She held a commanding lead in her first game with Hong Kong’s Wang Chen. The lanky veteran seemed to be very limited in her movement after seeking medical attention for her left knee just before the interval. Hwang took advantage and launched out to a 20-11 lead but Wang clawed back seven points to almost level before the Korean finally capped it off 21-18. The second game was neck-and-neck with Wang showing the better consistency and She kept the momentum to lead the entire third game and come away with the 18-21, 21-19, 21-16 victory. “I was very nervous today because she is such a strong player,” Hwang said after the match, “and it has been so long since the one time that I beat her. It’s just happened that on the days that I’ve beaten the top women, everything just seemed to come together. I was injury-free, I’d been doing well in training at the time and I was able to go into the matches with a positive attitude. “Even this month, I injured my lower back slightly in Malaysia and it seemed to clear up after a while but then it came back and when it’s bothering me, I find it difficult to relax and play with confidence.” Hwang admitted that she envied her teammates Lee Hyo Jung and Lee Yong Dae for their new-found fame as well as their gold medal and continued tournament successes. “I’d like to be famous, too,” she grinned. “When you’re famous, you have a lot of fans and you get presents.” Zhou Mi and Pi Hongyan both won their matches handily and will meet in the semi-finals for the second straight week. Zhou holds a slight advantage in the head-to-head record between the two and Saturday is the 10th anniversary of Zhou’s first Korea Open title. Chinese Women Weather the Storm from Korean Youths Korea is down to one women’s doubles pair – two more Lees, of course – as both veteran Chinese pairs won their encounters with up-and-coming Koreans. Gao Ling and Wei Yili (pictured) seemed to be absolutely on the ropes as Ha Jung Eun / Kim Min Jung beat them 21-13 in the first game and led 18-13 in the second. However, the Chinese pair exhibited some spectacular defense and the young Koreans were visibly frustrated at being unable to end the rallies. Gao/Wei’s patience paid off and they came away the winners by 13-21, 22-20, 21-18. Yang Wei / Zhang Jiewen looked similarly threatened by the much younger but perhaps more crafty Eom/Jung. The Chinese pulled off their comeback earlier than had their compatriots, however, and bounced back from 13-18 down in the first to win 21-19. They then dominated the dejected Koreans and won 21-16 in the second game to set up a repeat of last week’s final against Lee/Lee. For Eom Hye Won, a tiny 17-year-old who hails from the same hometown as Hwang Hye Youn and Jun Jae Youn, this was, no doubt, invaluable experience as she is expected to tear up the junior circuit this year. For now, though, the Koreans will have to look again for medals to Jung Jae Sung and the trio of Lees while the singles belong to another Lee and a handful of challengers. For complete quarter-final results from the 2009 Yonex Korea Open Super Series, please CLICK HERE