China’s chances of winning five All-England Open badminton titles for only the second time will be enhanced if Tine Baun loses her fight to be ready to defend the women’s singles title here this week.
The tall Dane has been battling a persistent heel injury which is threatening her bid to win the world tour’s oldest tournament for a third time in four years. It is due to begin at Britain’s national indoor arena today.
The hard-hitting and often inspirational champion has recently been the only woman capable of resisting a Chinese hegemony, which has brought seven of the last 10 All-England women’s singles titles.
If there were a repeat of the clean sweep, which the world’s most powerful badminton nation managed two years ago, it would send a strong message with the start of the qualifying period for the London Olympics only a month away.
Baun has been struggling for the past three weeks and her preparations have been badly restricted by an injury, which worsened during last month’s European team championships in Amsterdam.
Baun will make a late decision on whether or not to try for another title in what this year has become one of the five tournaments in the new BWF Premier Series — badminton’s equivalent to tennis’ four Grand Slams.
She may try to feed off memories of Paris where she bravely reached the semi-finals despite carrying a similar injury.
Baun thinks the favorite for the title is probably Wang Yihuan, who is only seeded second, but who beat Baun, then Tine Rasmussen, in the final two years ago.
“I think they all have difference styles,” Baun said of the leading Chinese players.
“Wang Shixian is very precise and very good at moving around the court, but she doesn’t have the power that the other two girls have [Wang Yihuan and Wang Xin],” she said. “I think Wang Xin is also good at moving, but also at exploding and very good at reading the game.”
Baun is the fourth seed, but when physically fit is capable of beating anyone with her fierce and steep attacking game, especially when helped by the big support she often gets from English crowds.
Baun knows that making the best of an imperfect situation is crucial to give her momentum as she moves into what may be the last 18 months of her career.
The 31-year-old hopes to continue until next year’s Olympics, but may plan to play a few tournaments afterward so she doesn’t have to cope with the fear that her efforts at the Games might be her last match. China is top-seeded in three of this week’s events — the women’s singles and doubles, and the mixed doubles.
However Olympic champion Lin Dan and world champion Chen Jin should be serious contenders for the men’s singles title, which is held by Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, while world champions Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng may be capable of winning back the men’s doubles title they have won twice here before.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set