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The Star Online: Sports

An explosive match awaits Chong Wei vs Chen Long
Chong Wei storms into fifth straight final in Birmingham
Woods sinks 17 birdies in first 36 holes to grab two-stroke lead

An explosive match awaits Chong Wei vs Chen Long

Posted: 09 Mar 2013 04:27 PM PST

BIRMINGHAM: An explosive match is on the cards when World No 1 Lee Chong Wei and China's Chen Long cross sword in the men's singles final of the All-England at National Indoor Arena on Sunday.

On Saturday, top seed Chong Wei and second seed Chen Long had reached the final in contrasting fashion.

Chong Wei disposed of Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand with a 22-20, 21-8 win but Chen Long had to dig deep into reserve to beat a stubborn Jan O Jorgsensen of Denmark 21-19,22-20 in a 54-minute thrilling match.

On paper, the match in the final between the old and new star could go either way.

The 24-year-old Chen Long is strongly motivated to win his first All-England title and make up for the absence of two-time Olympic Games champion Lin Dan of China. His more famous senior is currently, enjoying a short break.

Chong Wei on the other hand wants to nail his third All-England title and keep his winning streak intact this year.

Chong Wei, the Korean and Malaysian Open champion, has vowed to save his best for Sunday's final.

"I am going all out to win my third All-England title here. I am not worried about my opponent. I am focused on bringing out the best in me," he said.

In the women's singles, Thailand made up for Tanongsak's defeat through Ratchanok Intanon when the 18-year-old stunned Saina Nehwal of India 22-15, 21-17 to become the first Thai women to reach the final of the All-England.

The three-time world junior champion Ratchanok takes on veteran of the game Tine Rasmussen of Denmark in the final today. Rasmussen is bidding for a perfect farewell to her career by winning the All-England for the third time.

Ratchanok however, is ready to spoil the party.

"Becoming the first Thai women's singles to reach the final is great but my dream will only come true when I win it. If I am calm and composed, I have a chance," she said.

The only other time that Thai made it to the final of the All-England was through mixed doubles pair Sudket Prapakamol-T. Saralee in 2011.

It was also a first for Japan in the men's doubles when Hiroyuki Endo-Kenichi Hayakawa stormed into the final after defeating Thailand's Maneepong Jongjit-Nipitphon Puangpuapech 22-20, 21-15.

They will take on China's Liu Xiaolong-Qiu Zihan in a bid to become Japan's All-England men's doubles champions for the first time.

RESULTS

SEMI-FINALS

Men's singles: Lee Chong Wei (Mas) bt Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (Tha) 22-20, 21-8; Chen Long (Chn) bt Jan O Jorgensen (Den) 21-19, 22-20.

Men's doubles: Liu Xiaolong-Qiu Zihan (Chn) bt Mohd Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) 21-12, 13-21, 21-17; Hiroyuki Endo-Kenichi Hayakawa (Jpn) bt Maneepong Jongjit-Nipitphon Puangpuapech (Tha) 22-20, 21-15.

Women's singles: Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) bt Saina Nehwal (Ind) 21-15, 21-19; Tine Rasmussen (Den) bt Sung Ji-hyun (Kor) 24-22, 19-21, 21-19.

Women's doubles: Yu Yang-Wang Xiaoli (Chn) bt Miyuki Maeda-Satoko Suetsuna (Jpn) 21-11, 21-16; Cheng Shu-Zhao Yunlei (Chn) bt Ma Jin-Tang Jinhua (Chn) 21-18, 21-7.

Mixed doubles: Tantowi Ahmad-Lilyana Natsir (Ina) bt Markis Kido-Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth (Ina) 18-21, 21-15, 21-19; Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei (Chn) bt Mohd Rijal-Debby Susanto (Ina) 21-17, 21-16.

Chong Wei storms into fifth straight final in Birmingham

Posted: 09 Mar 2013 03:20 PM PST

WORLD No. 1 Lee Chong Wei coolly marched into his fifth straight men's singles final of the All-England – with a promise that he's ready to nail his third title.

Yesterday, the 30-year-old Chong Wei held back his punches but his calm and cautious approach was still good enough to knock out feisty Tanongsak Saensamboonsuk of Thailand 22-20, 21-8 in 33 minutes in the semi-final.

It was his seventh win over Tanongsak in as many meetings.

He will face second seed Chen Long of China in the final. Chen Long defeated Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark 21-19, 22-20 in the semis.

Two-time All-England champion Chong Wei was pleased that his game plan worked against the 23-year-old Tanongsak, who had made heads turn with his amazing run from the qualifying tournament.

"He thrives on fast-paced attacking game and I didn't want to give him that pleasure ... I slowed it down," said Chong Wei.

"I just kept close to him and, when the time was right, I pulled away. He is a player with promise, though."

The match started with a subdued Chong Wei playing a cautious game – assessing what the left-handed Tanongsak had to offer.

And the Thai youngster, vowing to be the next Boonsak Ponsana, showed that he meant business when he dominated the baseline, slamming home winners at every opportunity and even playing cleverly at the net to reach 11-10.

But that probably was the only period that Tanongsak showed his superiority over Chong Wei.

While trying his best to subdue the Malaysian with his jumping smashes, it eventually wore him out and he lost 20-22.

In the second game, Chong Wei stepped up a gear – just enough to hold the Thai by the jugular – and the first-timer cracked.

He took advantage of Tanongsak's inexperience en route to his 21-8 win.

Chong Wei does not plan to hold anything back in today's final.

"I skipped the German Open and Swiss Open to give my unwavering focus to the All-England. I'm just one step away from doing it. Malaysians used to find it difficult to win here but, now, I want to win as many times as possible," he said.

If Chong Wei wins, it will be also his third Super Series title of the year. He had won the Korean Open and Malaysian Open in January.

But 18-year-old Thai sensation Ratchanok Intanon made up for Tanongsak's disappointment when she crushed Saina Nehwal's dream of a first All-England title with a sensational 21-15, 21-19 win in 40 minutes.

It was, by far, Ratchanok's most impressive achievement in her young career.

She'll take on the Tine Baun of Denmark in the final. The Dane beat Sung Ji-hyun of South Korea 24-22, 19-21, 21-19 in the semis.

Results

QUARTER-FINALS

Men's singles: Chen Long (Chn) bt P. Kashyap (Ind) 21-16, 21-10; Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (Tha) bt Tommy Sugiarto (Ina) 21-17, 21-11; Lee Chong Wei (Mas) bt Nguyen Tien Minh (Vie) 21-17, 21-19; Jan O Jorgensen (Den) bt Chen Jin (Chn) 21-7, 21-14.

Men's doubles: Hiroyuki Endo-Kenichi Hayakawa (Jpn) bt Kim Ki-jung-Kim Sa-rang (Kor) 16-21, 21-12, 21-19; Liu Xiaolong-Qiu Zihan (Chn) bt Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari (Mas) 21-12, 21-10; Maneepong Jongjit-Nipitphon Puangpuapech (Tha) bt Chen Hung-ling-Lu Chai-bin (Tpe) 21-11, 21-13; Mohd Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) bt Tan Wee Kiong-Hoon Thien How (Mas) 21-12, 21-16.

Women's singles: Saina Nehwal (Ind) bt Wang Shixian (Chn) 23-21, 19-21, 21-16; Tine Baun (Den) bt Lindaweni Fanetri (Ina) 21-7, 21-13; Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) bt Juliane Schenk (Ger) 13-21, 21-12, 21-8; Sung Ji-hyun (Kor) bt Eriko Hirose (Jpn) 21-13, 21-12.

Women's doubles: Wang Xiaoli-Yu Yang (Chn) bt Jung Kyung-eun-Kim Ha-na (Kor) 21-18, 21-14; Miyuki Maeda-Satoko Suetsuna (Jpn) bt Vivian Hoo-Woon Khe Wei (Mas) 21-16, 21-13; Ma Jin-Tang Jinhua (Chn) bt Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth-Rizki Amelia Pradipta (Ina) 21-13, 21-13; Cheng Shu-Zhao Yunlei (Chn) bt Duanganong Arronlesorn-V. Kunchala (Tha) 21-19, 21-19.

Mixed doubles: Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei (Chn) bt Fran Kurniawan-Shendy Puspa Irawati (Ina) 21-15, 20-22, 21-16; Tantowi Ahmad-Lilyana Natsir (Ina) bt Robert Mateusiak-Nadiezda Zieba (Pol) 12-21, 21-14, 21-18; Mohd Rijal-Debby Susanto (Ina) bt Xu Chen-Ma Jin (Chn) 16-21, 21-13, 21-18; Markis Kido-Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth (Ina) bt Sudket Prapakamol-T. Saralee (Tha) 18-21, 22-20, 22-20.

SEMI-FINALS

Men's singles: Lee Chong Wei (Mas) bt Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (Tha) 22-20, 21-8; Chen Long (Chn) bt Jan O Jorgensen (Den) 21- 19, 22-20.

Women's singles: Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) bt Saina Nehwal (Ind) 21-15, 21-19; Tine Rasmussen (Den) bt Sung Ji-hyun (Kor) 24-22, 19-21, 21-19.

Women's doubles: Yu Yang-Wang Xiaoli (Chn) bt Miyuki Maeda-Satoko Suetsuna (Jpn) 21-11, 21-16; Cheng Shu-Zhao Yunlei (Chn) bt Ma Jin-Tang Jinhua (Chn) 21-18, 21-7.

Mixed doubles: Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei (Chn) bt Mohd Rijal-Debby Susanto (Ina) 21-17, 21-16.

Woods sinks 17 birdies in first 36 holes to grab two-stroke lead

Posted: 09 Mar 2013 03:19 PM PST

MIAMI: Tiger Woods fired eight birdies on Friday to complete a personal-best PGA run of 17 birdies in his first 36 holes and seize a two-stroke lead at the World Golf Championships Cadillac Championship.

World No. 2 Woods, seeking his 17th WGC victory and 76th career triumph, fired a seven-under 65 in the second round to stand on 13-under 131 after the second round of the US$8.5mil event at Doral's Blue Monster course.

Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell fired a 67 to finish 36 bogey-free holes on 133, one stroke ahead of Americans Phil Mickelson and Steve Stricker with Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson and reigning Masters champion Bubba Watson on 135.

While Woods has produced lower scores over his first 36 holes at a PGA event, he has never fired so many birdies in the first two PGA rounds.

Woods, who won earlier this year at Torrey Pines, showed the form that has made him a 14-time Major champion with his next chance to close the gap on the record 18 Majors of Jack Nicklaus only a month away at the Masters.

"I probably hit the ball better at Torrey but I'm putting better here," said Woods. "With forecasts of wind on Sunday (today), hopefully I can feel my way around and get it done."

Woods has three career triumphs at Doral and six in this WGC event which has been hosted by several courses, but he has not won a WGC event in his past 10 attempts.

After nine birdies and three birdies in Thursday's first round of 66, Woods shared the lead with four rivals. But as the second round wore on, no one could match Woods for putting consistency or approaches that put him within 10 feet.

"I played better today," Woods said. "The first couple of holes weren't very good at all. My first good shot was at four. Once I hit that shot at four, I felt pretty good about it."

Woods put his tee shot at the par-3 fourth two feet from the cup to set up a birdie and followed with a birdie at five, then followed with two more back-to-back birdies at the par-4 seventh and par-5 eighth and par-5 10th and par-4 11th.

At the 10th, Woods was in a bunker but blasted out and sank a 10-foot birdie putt. After his birdie at 11, he followed by making his first birdie at Doral's par-3 13th hole since 2006.

After a bogey at the 14th, his lone blemish of the round, Woods made a clutch eight-foot par-saving putt at 15 and followed with a birdie at the 16th.

"I bounced right back and I'm right back where I left off," Woods said.

Woods closed his rounds with back-to- back pars, missing birdie putts from 20 feet at the 17th and 26 feet at the last hole. He has made only one birdie putt from beyond 20 feet in the first two rounds, a testimony to his approaches.

"Some holes we're allowed to flatten it out and roll the ball," Woods said. "Other holes you have got to just hit moon balls. It's a tough track.

"If the wind blows with the greens this firm, it becomes very difficult. They are going to push us and test us."

McDowell joined Jacobson, Watson, Woods and Sergio Garcia as co-leaders on day one and followed with four birdies on the front nine and another at 17.

"I'm hitting it pretty well off the tee," McDowell said. "I've controled my iron play well. I've chipped and putted when I've had to but I've really done well on the greens. They are in some of the best conditions I've seen."

Mickelson opened with three birdies in a row on his way to his second 67 in a row.

"The key for me is I've driven the ball well and given myself a chance on the greens," Mickelson said. "The greens are as fast and as firm as I've ever seen them."

World No. 1 Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland finished with a bogey after lipping out from two feet for par but birdied the five prior even-numbered holes and opened with a birdie on his way to a 69, his first sub-70 round of the year.

McIlroy ended the day 11 shots off the lead, tied for 32nd with eight others. — AFP

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Sabtu, 9 Mac 2013