GROUP 1A CHINA 5 INDIA 0 Mixed Doubles : Men’s Singles : Men’s Doubles : Women’s Singles : Women’s Doubles :
Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei bt Tarun Kona-Ashwini Ponnappa Chen Long bt Parupalli Kashyap Liu Xiaolong-Qiu Zihan bt Akshay DewalkarPranaav Jerry Chopra Wang Yihan bt PV Sindhu Yu Yang-Wang Xiaoli bt Ashwini Ponnappa-Pradnya Gadre
MAY 20 2013
21-10, 21-13 21-11, 21-9
25-23, 21-18 19-21,21-16, 21-14 21-18, 21-11
ONE STEP IN
GROUP 1C CHINESE TAIPEI 3 MALAYSIA 2 Men’s Doubles : Lee Sheng Mu-Tsai Chia Hsin bt Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong Women’s Singles : Tai Tzu Ying bt Sonia Cheah Men’s Singles : Yang Chih Hsun lost to Lee Chong Wei Women’s Doubles : Chen Wen Hsing-Hsieh Pei Chen bt Woon Khe Wei-Vivian Hoo Mixed Doubles : Lu Ching Yao-Lai Chia Wen lost to Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying
China, despite not fielding their best line-up, showed why they are odds on favourites for the Sudirman Cup with a 5-0 demolition of India in their opening Group 1A match. While they did struggle in the men’s doubles and the women’s singles, China already have one step in the knockout stages.
21-18, 21-18 21-7, 21-13 8-21, 13-21 21-17, 21-19 23-25, 11-21
MALAYSIA STUNNED
In the opening mixed doubles match, China opted to field Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei instead of the higher ranked Xu Chen-Ma Jin. There were no jitters for the pairing as they easily overcame Tarun Kona-Ashwini Ponnappa for China’s first point. Chen Long avenged his defeat to Parupalli Kashyap at the Indonesian Open last year to put China on the road to victory.
PV SIndhu, who has stepped up after the late withdrawal of Saina Nehwal, also gave her Chinese rival a run for her money.
China also decided to rest their veteran pairing of Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun and send in Liu Xiaolong-Qiu Zihan in their men’s doubles encounter against Pranav Jerry Chopra-Akshay Dewalkar.
Li Xuerui, who was beaten by Sindhu at the China Masters, was rested and China fielded Wang Yihan instead.
They are currently ranked sixth in the world and are their best pairing, but their superior ranking did not match their performance.
It was another struggle for China as Sindhu fought tooth and nail before bowing out 21-19, 16-21, 14-21.
It was a struggle all the way for the Chinese players in the opening game, where they squandered game point before labouring to a 25-23, 21-18 win to give them an unassailable 3-0 lead.
China finished the rout by winning the women’s doubles through Wang Xiaoli-Yu Yang.
Hosts Malaysia are on the brink of an early exit from the Sudirman Cup after they were stunned 2-3 by Chinese Taipei in their opening match at the Putra Stadium. With the defeat, Malaysia must beat Germany on Tuesday or face the ignominy of watching the rest of the competition from the stands. Hope of repeating their 2009 semi-final appearance now looks precarious. Malaysia were expected to struggle in the women’s singles and doubles, but it was the failure to win their opening men’s doubles match that saw them succumbing to the embarrassing defeat.
Under-fire Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong were picked ahead of their conquerors at the Malaysian GP Gold Goh V Shem-Lim Khim Wah. It turned out to be the wrong choice as they were beaten in straight games by 26th ranked Lee Sheng Mu-Tsai Chia Hsin. Kien Keat-Boon Heong had beaten their rivals when they last met at the Hong Kong Open last year.
Sonia Cheah, who played instrumental role in Malaysia winning the Axiata Cup earlier this year, was a bundle of nerves in her match against Tai Tzu Ying. World Number 1 Lee Chong Wei gave Malaysia a glimpse of hope with an effortless 21-8, 21-13 win over Yang Chih Hsun.
In the women’s doubles Vivan Hoo-Woon Khe Wei were forced to play catch-up by Chien Yu ChinCheng Wen Hsing. The Chinese Taipei pair were marginally better and took the match 21-17, 2119 to earn their country a well deserved winning point.
In the dead mixed doubles Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying overcame a tentative start to beat Lu Ching Yao-Lai Chia Wen Malaysia now have a days rest to regroup before taking on Germany.