Yonex India Open Series 2011 Semi-final

The Semi-final matches of the Yonex India Open Series at the Siri Fort Indoor Stadium on Saturday set up a stage for an exciting Sunday, where all the finalist would be looking to record their names in the history of badminton by becoming the first player to be crowned the Champions of the first ever India Open Super Series.

In the list for the title contenders are World No. 6 Peter Gade who set up a final clash with World No. 1 Chong Wei Lee in the Men’s Single event while Thailand’s Porntip Buranaprasertuk defeated Hongkong’s tournament No.4 seed Pui Yin Yip to play Korea’s Youn Joo Bae in Women’s Single.

Denmark’s Peter Gade was the first to book his place for the final this afternoon after defeating Korea’s Sung Hwan Park 21-15, 21-19. It was a tough fight between the two but the much experience Peter used his knowledge to the best of his advantage and see through Park’s challenges. Peter will be meeting World No. 1 Chong Wei Lee who defeated Yun Hu with some fantastic display of skill and tactics. Lee dominated the proceedings right from the start and did not give much chance to Yun Hu and completed the match in 27 minutes with the scoreboard reading 21-11, 21-15.

For the Women’s single final berth, Youn Joo Bae and Sayaka Sato fought all the way to the third game with none of them letting loose over each other. Finally it became a match where the one with more stamina and endurance would win as both were exhausted and in this Youn Joo Bae of Korea stood out the winner. She defeated her Japanese counterpart with a score of 23-21, 15-21, 21-12. In another Semi-Final it was the unseeded Thai woman Porntip Buranaprasertsuk who stood tall against Pui Yin Yip of Hongkong defeating her in a straight game 21-13, 21-18. She will be facing Youn Joo Bae on Sunday.

In Men’s double, the no. 4 seed Hirokatsu Hashimoto and Noriyasu Hirata upset the No.1 seed pair of Kien Keat Koo and Boon Heong Tan 21-16, 21-19 to reach the final where they will have to face Angga Pratama and Ryan Agung Saputra of Indonesia who defeated their own countrymen Alvent Yulianto Chandra and Hendra Aprida Gunawan 21-23, 21-18, 21-14.

For the Women’s Double Miyuki Maeda and Satako Suetsuna had to wait long to know who they will face in the final as the match between Mizuki Fujii-Reika Kakiiwa and Lok Yan Poon-Ying Suet Tse stretch till the last game with the scoreboard readind 21-17, 16-21, 21-16. The Women’s double event will also be an all Japanese affair as Mizuki Fujii-Reika Kakiiwa will face Miyuki Maeda-Satako Suetsuna who defeated Indonesia’s Meiliana Jauhari and Greysia Polii 25-23, 21-8.

The mix double will be an all Indonesian clash between Fran Kurniawan-Pi Zebadiah Bernadeth and Tantowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir. Fran and Pi defeated Malaysia’s Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh in a straight game with a score of 21-12, 21-16 while the other Indonesian pair defeated their own mates Muhammad Rijal and Debby Susanto 21-17, 15-9 (Retired). The match could not see the end result as the pair decided to withdraw due to Rijal’s injury.