Lin Dan-Chong Wei final on the cards

LIN Dan will be the player to beat in the Japan Open in Tokyo.

The two-time Olympic champion safely negotiated past Japan's Sakai Kazumasa (12-21, 21-19, 21-17) and Liew Daren (21-18, 21-17) in the qualifying round yesterday. He plays compatriot Song Xue in today's main draw first round match.

The defeat to Lin Dan will serve as a good experience for Liew Daren, who is hoping to resurrect his fading career.

The World No 60 has failed to improve accordingly since winning the 2012 French Open. Liew Daren also failed to make an impression in the Thomas Cup last month.

The World No 35 Lin Dan has been exceptional in tournaments since his return from his Olympic success two years ago by winning three straight titles at the World Championships, China Masters GP and Asian Championships

Lin Dan, who will likely face Chong Wei Feng in the second round, is expected to upset the form book and play Chen Long in the semi-finals.

Fans could see a final between World No 1 Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan on Sunday.

Like Chong Wei, the China ace will be hoping to make amends after his country failed to retain the Thomas Cup in New Delhi last month.

Chong Wei will open against Taiwan's World No 102 Shih Kuei Chun today.

NST

Comments

Malaysian junior athletes are just too ‘lembik’

Saya setuju. We are working on more coaches! “ @ManOlimpik : Malaysian junior athletes are just too ‘lembik’ http://t.co/7D7wmHWaNy ” — Khairy Jamaluddin (@Khairykj) June 10, 2014 The benchmark. Can our junior athletes train as hard as Malaysia's world No.1 badminton player, Lee Chong Wei? “IT IS okay lah. The training is not too bad lah. I will try lah … Wah, so hard lah today.” These are some of the common statements I hear from our juniors nowadays. It is not only in badminton. It is the easy-going, laid-back attitude and lack of competitiveness at grassroots level that we have problems producing quality players. I have travelled quite a bit. After ending my decade-long career with the national team, I went to play in the league in Europe. It’s different there. The European athletes know what they want. And they do it with real focus. Even the young ones possess admirable self-control and show a high level of commitment. During my time in the ...

Badminton: Fans rooting for all-Malaysian semis

Reports: RAJES PAUL KUALA LUMPUR: The home fans will be rooting for an all-Malaysian men’s singles semi-final between Lee Chong Wei and Liew Daren. But Chong Wei is more fancied to advance than Daren in quarter-final matches against Indonesian Simon Santoso and Dane Peter Gade-Christensen respectively at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil today. Yesterday, Chong Wei defeated Vietnamese Nguyen Tien Minh 21-9, 18-21, 21-7 in a second-round match that saw the world number one struggling to adapt to the draught in the stadium in the second game. And Daren continued a fairy tale run in his home Open, blowing away a toothless Hsueh Hsuan-yi of Taiwan 21-14, 21-12. Although Choong Wei had to slog for the win over Tien Minh, the top seed and defending champion felt that he was playing better by the day. “I got off to a good start but found it hard to cope with the draught. I tried to catch up after losing my momentum but that did not happen and I decided to conserve energy for ...

Organising Major Sports Events Can Inspire Sports Culture Among The People - Khairy

PUTRAJAYA, June 5 (Bernama) -- Organising major sports events can help inspire sports culture among the people and ensure a healthy lifestyle said Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin. Khairy said the Tour of Malaysia cycling race organised since 1963, for example, can encourage more people to take the sport in a more competitive way or just for recreation purposes. "A study carried out by a world renown medical journal, The Lancet, revealed that 61 percent of adults in Malaysia do not engage themselves in active sports. "A study by the Health Ministry revealed that only 25 percent of Malaysians exercise," he said in his speech when launching the 2013 Tour of Malaysia (Jelajah Malaysia) at the Youth and Sports Ministry, here, Wednesday. "Cycling, though not as popular here as in countries like Denmark, the activity is becoming popular among the people as can be seen through an increase in sale of bicycles for recreation," he sa...

Malaysian Sports - Today's back pages!

Search This Blog