Chong Wei looking for first Hong Kong title

Lee Chong Wei trounced Bao Chunlai to enter the final of the YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Open on Saturday evening. He will meet Peter Gade on Sunday, for a clash which will give a first time Hong Kong Open winner as neither one have won the event before.

In spite of the home support, Bao Chunlai will not get his revenge of the French Open against Peter Gade. The tall Chinese was beaten in straight games by a boiling Lee Chong Wei, back at his best. The surprise came with the score – 21/17 – 21/12, which was explained by the amazing start from the Malaysian.

Picking the side of the court with the wind on the back, Chong Wei knew that the first game was going to be difficult. But he managed to keep ahead in spite of the court disadvantage.

“I knew I had to play at net level and not lift anything as I would get punished. I was ready to lose the first game, but once I managed to win it, I knew I would win as I was going to play on the easier side after,” said Chong Wei.

The second game, as expected was a one man show for the Malaysian, who looked sharp and very quick on his feet, while Bao was often late on the shuttles, and sending his clears way wide at the rear of the court.

Chong Wei was in full confidence and rolled on to an easy 21/12 victory in the second. “I didn’t expect such an easy victory, really. I feel good and my knee injury is gone. I will now meet Peter Gade in the final. I know it will be a tough match as he is also very experienced and knows to play in difficult conditions. It will be a mental game,” said the Malaysian, who had met Gade twice at the beginning of the year – he had won in Malaysia before losing in Korea.

Robert Mateusiak and Nadiezda Kostiuczyk were the other big winners of the evening session when they upset Taipei’s Fang Chieh Min and Wang Pei Rong.

The match was a delight to watch with its share of suspense towards the end, when the Poles saved three match points before turning into gold – or silver - their only one. They will be meeting Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir who had taken care of their compatriots Hendra Aprida Gunawan and Vita Marissa earlier in the day in what appeared to be a friendly and fun match rather than a Super Series semi-final.

The men’s doubles should be exciting as well, with Denmark’s Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen taking on Korea’s Jung Jae Sung and Lee Yong Dae, with quite a good record for the Europeans against the mighty Koreans.

Lee Yong Dae and Jung Jae Sung beat Indonesia’s Chandra and Alven Yulianto in straight games for the last match of the day. Before that, Ma Jin and Wang Xiaoli secured a final showdown against Du Jing and Yu Yang, and Wang Yihan beat Wang Xin in a very entertaining game.
Source : www.internationalbadminton.org