The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Wozniacki swept aside by Spanish clay expert
- A stroll for Lee in New Delhi
- India Open badminton championships results
| Wozniacki swept aside by Spanish clay expert Posted: 24 Apr 2013 06:19 PM PDT STUTTGART, Germany: Denmark's former world number one Caroline Wozniacki exited the WTA Stuttgart Open on Wednesday, losing 7-6 (8/6), 6-1 to Spanish clay court specialist Carla Suarez in their first round clash. Wozniacki, seeded seven and a finalist in the tournament in 2011, had only herself to blame after letting a 3-0 lead in the first set slip away to lose in a hard fought tie-break. However, Suarez, ranked 27th in the world to Wozniacki's 10th, eased through the second set against a demoralised Danish opponent to seal victory on her first match point and claim the scalp of a top-10 ranked player for the sixth time in her career. Suarez, who has yet to win a WTA event despite reaching four finals, will meet Kazakh player Yaroslava Shvedova, ranked 10 places below her, in the second round. Fifth-seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic later enjoyed a 7-5, 6-7(0/7), 6-3 win over wild-card Annika Beck, but only after the German put up a tough fight in the second set. "I still don't feel really good on clay, but it's getting better," said Kvitova. "It's better than it was in Katowice, but I want to improve more before Madrid. "It's hard to keep the concentration high after the Fed Cup, but it's always fun to play with the girls," added Kvitova, who was part of the Czech team whose hopes of defending their Fed Cup title disappeared on Monday when they lost to Italy in the semi-finals. Australia's Samantha Stosur, a finalist here in 2010 en route to reaching the French Open final, crashed out in the first round as she lost in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 to former world number one Jelena Jankovic. "I knew that Sam is a very dangerous opponent, so I am happy to have beaten her," said Jankovic who plays Germany's Sabine Lisicki in Thursday's second round. "My self confidence is coming back and every win helps." Stosur was gracious in defeat but reproached herself for a lacklustre performance. "It was tough after a Fed Cup weekend, but that's not an excuse," she said. "Jelena played consistently well and it's pretty disappointing to lose. "I have a few things to improve, but there is a bit of time before the French Open." In Thursday's second round, top seed Maria Sharapova, who is using Stuttgart as preparation to defend her French Open title, will play Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic. Second-seed Li Na of China plays Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia in the other half of the draw. - AFP |
| Posted: 24 Apr 2013 04:04 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei barely broke sweat en route to cruising into the second round of the India Open badminton championships in New Delhi. The 30-year-old Chong Wei, who became a father last week, made sure that the sacrifice he was making was worthwhile with a thoroughly dominant performance in beating Ireland's Scott Evans 21-16, 21-5 in just 23 minutes in the first round yesterday. The win was also the perfect tonic for Chong Wei, following a surprising defeat in the Australian Open earlier this month. He will next face Japan's Kazumasa Sakai, who defeated Hong Kong's Wong Wing Ki 21-16, 18-21, 21-12, for a place in the quarter-finals. Young Malaysian back-up shuttler Iskandar Zulkarnian Zainuddin also pulled through after beating local qualifier Subhankar Dey 21-17, 21-11. Iskandar was lucky to have earned a free ride into the main draw following world No. 4 Sony Dwi Kuncoro's 11th hour withdrawal. Iskandar will face either Japan's world junior champion Kento Momota or another Indian shuttler B. Sai Praneeth for a place in the last eight. National singles coach Tey Seu Bock was happy with the way Chong Wei and Iskandar kick-started their campaigns. "Chong Wei was at his usual high standard and it was a good start. The shuttle was a bit fast and there weren't too many rallies, but it worked well in his favour," Seu Bock said from New Delhi. "As for Iskandar, he played very well too. He started off a little nervous but settled down and grew into the game." In the men's doubles, world No. 2 Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong stayed in the hunt for their first title of the year with a strong display against Thailand's Songphon Anugritayawon-Poodchalat Pisit. The second seeds were too strong for the Thais, winning 21-15, 21-18 to set up a clash against Indian qualifiers Surender Rathee-Neeraj Vashist next. In the mixed doubles, world No. 5 Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying enjoyed a first round bye and will face Japan's Hirokatsu Hashimoto-Miyuki Maeda today. |
| India Open badminton championships results Posted: 24 Apr 2013 04:05 PM PDT FIRST ROUND Men's singles: Lee Chong Wei (Mas) bt Scott Evans (Irl) 21-16, 21-5; Kazumasa Sakai (Jpn) bt Wong Wing Ki (Hkg) 21-16, 18-21, 21-12; Taufik Hidayat (Ina) bt P. Kashyap (Ind) 13-21, 23-21, 21-18; H.S. Prannoy (Ind) bt Suppanyu Avihingsanon (Tha) 21-17, 22-20; K. Srikanth (Ind) bt Jan OJorgensen (Den) 21-7, 18-21, 21-12; R.M.V. Gurusaidutt (Ind) bt Tommy Sugiarto (Ina) 21-16, 21-17; Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (Tha) bt Rajiv Ouseph (Eng) 21-17, 15-21, 21-9; Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka (Ina) bt Chen Yuekun (Chn) 24-22, 19-21, 21-14; Anand Pawar (Ind) bt Takuma Ueda (Jpn) 11-21, 21-13, 21-19; Sourabh Verma (Ind) bt Chetand Anand (Ind) 21-13, 21-8; Kenichi Tago (Jpn) bt Arvind Bhat (Ind) 21-9, 21-9; Iskandar Zulkarnian Zainuddin (Mas) bt Subhankar Dey (Ind) 21-17, 21-11. Men's doubles: Liu Xiaolong-Qiu Zihan (Chn) bt Raunaq Muradia (US)-Kamaldeep Singh (Ind) 21-14, 21-11; Maneepong Jongjit-Nipitphon Puangpuapech (Tha) bt Tarun Kona-Arun Vishnu (Ind) 21-17, 21-11; Chris Adcock-Andrew Ellis (Eng) bt Srujan Nandaluri-P. Vinay Kumar Reddy (Ind) 21-8, 21-14; Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda (Jpn) bt Alwin Francis-V. Diju (Ind) 21-18, 21-14; Surender Rathee-Neeraj Vashist (Ind) bt Jayan James-K. Dilshad (Ind) 17-21, 21-18, 21-16; Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong (Mas) bt Songphon Anugritayawon-Poodchalat Pisit (Tha) 21-15, 21-18. |
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