Zhou Mi, the world No. 2 who had been hoping to gain revenge on All-England champion Tine Rasmussen for a loss in Malaysia two months ago, won’t get the chance after a startling defeat on Thursday.
The Hong Kong player led 19-15 in the final game against Wang Yihan, a rising 21-year-old from China, and even held a match point at 21-20 before going down 21-19, 18-21, 23-21 in a controversially dramatic finish in the second round of the All-England championships.
Zhou looked as if she might have reached her second match point when she struck a shot which landed so close to the baseline that the line judge began to indicate as though the shuttle had been in, before apparently changing his mind and swinging his arms wide.
PHOTO: AFP
Zhou drew the umpire’s attention to this, but the “out” decision stood, and Wang capitalized by clinching the match in the next rally.
Wang will next play Xie Xingfang, the sixth seed, who beat Adrianti Firdasari of Indonesia.
Later, Rasmussen carried the defense of her title into the quarter-finals with a 21-12, 21-13 win over Larisa Griga of the Ukraine, but elsewhere there were three other seeding upsets.
Nanna Brosolat, a qualifier who recently broke into the top 50 for the first time, scored the finest win of her career by beating Pi Hongyan, the world No. 4.
Xu Huaiwen — the eighth seed from Germany — playing her last All-England before retirement lost to Malaysia’s Wong Pei Xian, while Hong Kong’s Yip Pui-yin overcame Wang Lin, the seventh seed from China, by 21-15, 24-26, 21-19.
The only surprise in the men’s singles was the departure of Indonesian fifth seed Sony Dwi Kuncoro, who injured his back while practising and withdrew.
This allowed Ville Lang of Finland a walk-over into a quarter-final with Lee Chong Wei, the top-seeded Malaysian, who beat Marc Zwiebler of Germany 21-18, 21-16.
In the women’s doubles, No. 1 seeds Cheng Wen-hsing and Chien Yu-chin from Taiwan beat Japan’s Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa 21-18, 21-16.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
Omar Marmoush’s stunning long-range strike on Tuesday upstaged Kevin de Bruyne on the Manchester City great’s Etihad farewell. Marmoush let fly from about 30m to put City ahead in their 3-1 win against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League. The victory moved Pep Guardiola’s team up to third in the standings and left qualification for the UEFA Champions League in their own hands heading into the last round of the season. “It’s really important. To be in the Champions League after what happened [this season] will be really nice,” the City manager said. De Bruyne was making his final home appearance for City before
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
RSS