China Cautiously Upbeat for Men's Title Race

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, February 14, 2003

China Cautiously Upbeat for Men's Title Race

A sting of big names have crashed out on the first day of the All England Open badminton championships, which seems to have cleared the way for China to retain the most-coveted men's singles title.

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China Cautiously Upbeat for Men's Title Race

A sting of big names have crashed out on the first day of the All England Open badminton championships, which seems to have cleared the way for China to retain the most-coveted men's singles title.

But Chinese head coach Li Yongbo remains cautiously optimistic, saying that the loss of China's major opponents can only suggest that the competition in men's singles could be never tougher. " Their loss cannot change the fact that there is a very tough competition in this event," said Li.

China has faced a tough draw in its pursuit of men's singles title defense, for which they are supposed to hold off the challenges from such big names as ruling Asian champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia and Wong Choong Hann of Indonesia.

Sony Dwi Kuncord of Indonesia and Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark also pose as challengers for China's title campaign.

But Taufik fell at the first hurdle Tuesday after losing 15-11 and 15-9 to Dicky Palyama of the Netherlands while his compatriot Sony lost 15-11 and 15-8 to Muhammad Hafiz Hashim of Malaysia.

Gade, who just won the Danish national championship two weeks ago, also went out after China's rising star Bao Chunlai staged an amazing comeback to beat him 9-15, 15-13 and 15-11.

Woo was also stopped in the second round when he bowed to his compatriot Yong Hock Kin 15-9 and 15-5.

But head coach Li said that their premature departure could only underline the fact that the race for the men's title is by no means an easy one.

"Every player is almost on the same level, and anyone could fall," he said.

"One will suffer loss as long as he fails to perform properly at one or two steps," he added.

His remarks were underscored by the fact that Chinese players did not all have easy journeys in the early rounds of the tournament which featured almost all the elite players in the world.

Defending champion Chen Hong had to take 91 minutes to survive the challenge by Ng Wei, who gave the title holder a scare in the second round match.

Chen lost the first set 17-15 before grinding out 15-7, 15-9 in the following two sets to have the last smile.

China, which fielded six players for the men's singles event here, also had two players going out in the first-day action.

Lin Dan, 10th seed here, was downed by South Korean Lee Hyun-II 15-11 and 15-6 while Wu Yunyong was outplayed 9-15, 15-13 and 15- 13 by fourth-seeded Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark in the second round.

What inspired China's in the title drive was 20-year-old Bao Chunlai, who rose to the occasion by rallying to beat Gade, who used to upset China's title campaign.

Though losing 15-9 in the first set, Bao, who met the Danish for the first time, managed to claw back, leaving Gade deploring the winning chances he had.

Gade said that he got tired after being forced to play the third set and failed to show his advantage in speed for victory.

"I am sure if my energy were not in trouble and I had enough power, I could beat the Chinese," he added.

The annual four-star Grand Prix event will run through Sunday, drawing as many as 145 players from 27 countries and regions.

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