LI-NING Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships continued its quarterfinals action with home players featuring in three matches. In the MIXED DOUBLES, Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet moved a step forward by defeating Malaysian pair Goh Soon Huat/Lai Shevon Jemie but both MEN’S SINGLES players Lee Cheuk Yiu and Jason Gunawan suffered from defeat after losing in three games.
World number seven pair Tang/Tse returned to the home ground after losing in the final last year but support from the fans remained as strong as possible. Against the eighth seeds and world number 12 pair from Malaysia, they were slightly behind midway through the first game with a three-point deficit 8-11. But with the strong backing from the crowd, they levelled the score six times before taking three points in a row to win first game 21-18.
The second game was under similar situation with the Hong Kong, China pair trailing 5-11 before the break. But soon after that, they looked like pressing the winning button, coming strongly from behind to first level the score at 13-all before winning the game 21-17 and the match 2-0.
The pair still cherished the moment they came from behind to win the second game. “We felt a bit tired after consuming a lot of energy in the previous day and in fact our speed and physical level dropped in the second game. Therefore, we had to focus more on our defence and became a bit conservative. But we know the opponents well and even though we were several points behind, we were still confident of coming back point by point.”
Both players paid tribute to the fans for getting the required support to continue fighting. “We know a lot of people are supporting us and we want to play well every point and then every match to pay them back. Although our bodies are exhausting, we still give our best in every match.”
Home favourite Lee Cheuk Yiu ended his campaign in the quarterfinals, losing his battle to Lei Lan Xi of China. After a lengthy 67-minute encounter, Lee, who surrendered after three games, was hardly satisfied with his performance, saying he was still seeking the balance between excitement and calm which he hoped it won’t take too long to accomplish.
World number 15 Lee has never met his Chinese opponent before, who ranks 18 places behind him. The Hong Kong, China shuttler reached the last eight after beating another Chinese player Lu Guang Zu in the opening round, which was followed by a narrow victory over Leong Jun Hao of Malaysia. With huge backing from the fans, Lee was eager to move one step forward against Lei.
The first game saw Lee under pressure from the opening stages, but sooner and no later, he came from behind to level the sore at 9-all before gaining the lead 14-11. The power of home fans then helped Lee go all the way as he took the first game 21-16. But the jubilation was shortlived as Lei came back strongly in the second game with full confidence. Lee trailed 8-11 in the halfway mark and had little on hand to change the fate as Lei levelled the overall score to 1-all with a 21-15 win.
The match was taken to a rubber game to decide. Lei took the initiative first to lead 9-5 before extending his advantage to 11-6. Same as the previous game, Lee could do little to close the gap as his opponent moved further ahead with a 18-9 lead before closing the match with a 21-14 win.
Lee could hardly be satisfied after losing in the quarterfinals but would still look for improvement from the defeat. “I lag behind the opponent in every department, mentally, physically, I have to prepare myself better for future. In fact, Lei was able to make adjustments on the court quicker than me which proved he had fully prepared the match.”
Despite the result, Lee was still in great thankful for the support he received from the fans throughout the match.
Despite his defeat, youngster Jason Gunawan won the heart of the fans for his fighting attitude against veteran Anthony Ginting, a regular top 10 world ranking player from Indonesia. But the result was already the best for the 20-year-old in the home tournament after exiting in the second round last year as a qualifier.
Ranked 56th in the world, Gunawan showed no lack of courage of challenging his opponent despite losing the first game 17-21. The home player always went in front in the second game before scoring a comfortable 21-14 win to level the overall score and forced the match into third game.
Although Guanwan was once seven points behind his opponent, he never gave up his hopes with the support from the crowd and clawed back to level the score at 15-all. He once built up a slender 17-16 lead but that was the best he could offer in the match. Ginting then upped the tempo and won the match with 21-18 win in the deciding game.
Gunawan said he had learned a lot from the match against a quality player.
“He has more experience with a much longer history in high level competitions and therefore he can handle the big points far much better than me. I hope to improve in this area with a stronger mental preparation.
“I played against players with a higher ranking than me in all three matches but I am still happy with my performance. I look forward to playing better in the home tournament in future with the target of reaching the semifinals or even standing on the podium.”
