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Home challenge ends at S’pore Open

SINGAPORE — Rooted to the spot, mixed doubles pair Danny Bawa Chrisnanta and Vanessa Neo could only watch helplessly as Liu Cheng’s match-winning smash landed in the right corner of Court 1, dashing the Singaporeans’ dreams of a semi-final berth at the US$300,000 (S$374,000) OUE Singapore Open.

SINGAPORE — Rooted to the spot, mixed doubles pair Danny Bawa Chrisnanta and Vanessa Neo could only watch helplessly as Liu Cheng’s match-winning smash landed in the right corner of Court 1, dashing the Singaporeans’ dreams of a semi-final berth at the US$300,000 (S$374,000) OUE Singapore Open.

After ousting higher-ranked Thai pair Saralee Thoungthongkam and Sudket Prapakamol (World No 7) on Thursday to make their first ever Singapore Open quarter-final, the Singapore pairing had hoped to go through to tomorrow’s final.

But China’s Liu and Bao Yixin had clearly missed the memo, turning party poopers yesterday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, winning the first game 21-12 and surviving a see-saw second game 22-20.

Both pairs suffered early game jitters but it was the Chinese world No 17 duo who settled down faster to claim the first game. The 6,300 spectators also got in the act with cheers of “Come on, China” and “Singapura, Singapura”. Liu even drew laughter when he dashed off-court during play to retrieve a new racket and coming back to win the point.

Regrouping in the second, Chrisnanta’s quick-fire smashes saw the Singaporeans storming to an early 4-3 lead. The pair looked set to force a rubber game when they led 20-18 only to be undone by a flurry of unforced errors, to the frustration of the home fans.

Said Danny afterwards: “They managed to control the game, and we were always defending and they had more chances to attack.

“The second game was such a waste because they took two points when we were 20-18 up. I made too many simple mistakes ... They pushed us and put us under pressure.”

Neo took positives from the defeat, saying: “They were faster and more powerful than us today. We are disappointed with the loss, but we are also quite happy that we made the quarterfinals here for the first time. “We hope to do better and improve for the next tournaments — the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.”

The 2014 OUE Singapore Open also marked the start of the national badminton team’s road to recovery, after dismal outings at last year’s edition and the Myanmar SEA Games triggered a review by the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) and an eventual coaching revamp.

If last year saw only mixed doubles pair Terry Yeo and Yao Lei advancing to the second round, this year, Derek Wong (men’s singles) and Yao Lei and Shinta Mulia Sari (women’s doubles) made the second round, with Danny and Neo’s top eight finish the pick of the results.

SBA President Lee Yi Shyan rates his shuttlers’ performance as fair, though the outlook is encouraging, saying: “For the other players who did not clear the first round, we have much work to do. Under the new coaching structure, the team morale is high and there is an eagerness to excel. I hope this new energy will improve their collective performance in the many major games ahead.”

Meanwhile, crowd favourite Lee Chong Wei stayed on track for his fourth title this season, strolling to an easy 21-8, 21-14 victory over Thailand’s Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk and will meet India’s K Srikanth today’s semi-final.

Back after a three-year absence from the Singapore Open, the 31-year-old Malaysian said later: “I enjoyed the match and enjoy playing in Singapore. Singapore Open is a challenge for a lot of people and they don’t like to play here because of the draft. But I will try to win back-to-back titles here after the India Open this month.”

There were also two upset results of note: First with Thailand’s reigning world champion Ratchanok Intanon crashing 21-14, 21-12 to China’s Han Li, while the day’s final match saw world No 1 Indonesians and defending champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan losing 15-21, 21-13, 19-21 to South Koreans Kim Sa Rang and Yoo Yeon Seong.

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