A DAY OF THRILLS AT THE FINALS OF THE AVIVA OPEN SINGAPORE 2009
It was a nail-biting match befitting of a Super Series Men’s Singles final. The enthusiastic crowd in the Singapore Indoor Stadium was behind both players as screams of Thai player Boonsak Ponsana’s name were echoed by shouts of Chinese player Bao Chunlai’s.
The two players lunged for every drop shot and leapt in the air for every smash and kept the audience glued to their seats in the last match of the day. Ponsana, who won the title here in 2007, took a while to get into the game and even though it was close, Bao took the first set. In the second set, Ponsana appeared to have picked up an injury after a long rally but he managed to stay collected to play some clever shots and after picking up some points from a few errors off Bao’s racquet, Ponsana took the second set. In the third set, Ponsana took the early lead but Bao hung on and chased after every point to give himself six match points. The Thai managed to save one of the six but was unable to catch up as Bao wrapped up the match with a smash right into Ponsana’s body to claim his first Aviva Open Singapore title (21-19 16-21 21-15).
The Chinese champion of the Aviva Open Singapore 2009 said after the match, “I think I played well today but Boonsak was in very good form especially towards the end of the second set where he really managed to control the tempo of the game. I’m also very happy with my overall performance and especially in the third set where I had to play catch up as I was trailing by quite a few points.”
In the Women’s Singles final, it was between world number two Zhou Mi of Hong Kong and former world number one Xie Xingfang, who is now currently ranked ninth. The first two sets of the match were very close and the finalists each picked up a set. In the third set, Zhou, who now plays Hong Kong after previously playing for China, lived up to her number one seed position to claim the set, match and Aviva Open Singapore 2009 title. This was a particularly significant win for the player from Hong Kong as this is her first title win this year while she continues to stage her comeback. She also proved that even at 30 years old, she was able to take on the young up and coming players to reach the peak and bring home the coveted Super Series title (21-19 18-21 21-10).
Zhou said after her win, “I am very happy to win in Singapore and I’m very thankful for the support I get from the fans here.” She also added, “It’s been almost three years after my comeback and I really treasure what I have now. I’m not sure how long I can continue with my badminton career but I really hope the fans will continue to support me and I hope I will be remembered as a player who gave spectators joy and happiness.”
The biggest upset of the day came in the Men’s Doubles final between the world number one pair from Indonesia Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan and the unseeded English players Anthony Clark and Nathan Robertson. The audience support was behind the Olympic gold medalists from Indonesia but the unfavoured Englishmen were unfazed as they won the match in just two sets (21-12 21-11).
The Women’s Doubles title went to the fifth-seeded Chinese pair of Zhao Tingting and Zhang Yawen who beat the Indonesian players Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii convincingly (21-14, 21-13).
Chinese player Zhang then returned to the court with mixed doubles partner Xie Zhongbo as sixth seeds against compatriots, fifth seeds Zheng Bo and Ma Jin. Zhang was unable to score two titles as she and Xie lost out to Zheng and Ma in a three set battle of the Chinese players (19-21 21-19 21-11).
The Aviva Open Singapore 2009 has attracted a crowd of close to 35,000 to catch some of the very best shuttlers in the world in action.
No comments:
Post a Comment