Salakjit scalps Tine, Taufik in quarters

Posted by Peji Nopeles on October 30, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Tine Baun was the biggest name to fall while Taufik Hidayat inched closer to the final with a comprehensive win over local hope Joachim Persson in the Denmark Open Super Series in Odense.

With China’s World No 2 Wang Yihan, the top seed, the biggest name in the tournament, Tine was expected to go all the way to the final given her No 2 billing in Odense.

However, Thailand’s Salakjit Ponsana had different ideas.

The Thai player, who is the sister of Singapore Open runner-up Boonsak Ponsana, played a magnificent game to record her first triumph over the Dane, winning 21-16, 22-20.

“It wasn’t my day. I made some mistakes. I also had trouble with the draft, I don’t know if it was the wind or the shuttles that were too fast, but she was clearly playing her best,” said Tine to www.badmintondenmark.com

“She (Salakjit) can always put everyone under pressure even the Chinese, so I knew she could play at that level, I was just hoping to bring my good game up, but I was just fighting all the time.”

Salakjit Ponsana will now play Japan’s Ai Goto in the quarter-finals.

Goto beat Hong Kong’s Yip Pui Yin 21-8, 21-17 to book her place in the last eight.
Another player who is eager to qualify for the season ending VICTOR BWF Super Series Finals is Bulgaria’s Petya Nedelcheva.

Petya has made it known that she aims to qualify in both the women’s singles and women’s doubles in Chinese Taipei but on Thursday, she was made to work hard for her win by her Czech opponent, Kristina Ludikova.

Petya won 21-8, 17-21, 21-19 and will play Netherlands’ Yao Jie in the quarters.

The Bulgarian also made it through to the quarters of the women’s doubles with Russia’s Anastasia Russkikh when they beat Denmark’s Line Kruse-Mie Schjoett-Kristiansen 21-13, 21-10. The Bulgarian-Russian partnership currently are ranked No 4 in the Super Series Standing.

Germany’s Oliver Roth-Michael Fuchs also created a minor upset when they beat new pairing Mads Conrad and former world champion Jonas Rasmussen 23-21, 21-16 in the men’s doubles.

Rasmussen, who partnered Lars Paaske to win the world title in 2003, is partnering Conrad after the former’s retirement from the sport after the World Championships in Paris last August.

“A lot of things went wrong today and I didn’t feel comfortable at all. We had a very bad day and I don’t know what happened. I am very disappointed,” said Conrad to www.badmintondenmark.com

There were no such problems for Denmark’s top seed Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen as they brushed aside teammates Rasmus Bonde-Anders Kristiansen 21-15, 21-18 to qualify for the last eight.

The Danes will take on Malaysia’s Mak Hee Chun-Tan Wee Kiong in the quarter-finals.

In the men’s singles, Taufik was in his element as he stopped Persson in straight games to check into the last eight.

The Indonesian, who is also chasing valuable points to qualify for the VICTOR BWF Super Series Finals, a tournament for the top eight ranked players/pairs in the Super Series standings, won 21-15, 21-19 and faces a trick match against 2010 All England runner up Kenichi Tago of Japan in the quarters.

Taufik’s prospects of winning the tournament was given a boost when top seed Peter Gade withdrew from the tournament at the eleventh hour.

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