Sports

Sunday May 20, 2007

Badminton: Choong Hann in the final

By NG WEI LOON

AUCKLAND: Unseeded Andre Kurniawan Tedjono of Indonesia continued his giant killing run in the KLRC New Zealand Open at the Auckland Badminton Hall here by knocking out Malaysia’s Yeoh Kay Bin yesterday.

The 21-year-old Indonesian who trains under former Malaysia’s Project 88-90 coach Fang Kaixiang of China, packed off joint fifth-eighth seed Kay Bin 21-18, 21-15.

Andre meets Malaysian Wong Choong Hann in the final today.

On a roll: Wong Choong Hann will meet giant-killer Andre Kurniawan Tedjono of Indonesia in the final today.
Two days ago, Andre upset Nusa Mahsuri’s Roslin Hashim in the quarter-finals.

Choong Hann, making a return from a ruptured Achilles tendon, ended defending champion Lee Tsuen Seng’s campaign with a gruelling 21-11, 18-21, 21-12 win in 62 minutes.

World number 35 Choong Hann showed better match temperament to subdue a tenacious Tsuen Seng, seeded second in the tournament.

Despite trailing 9-11 in the second game, world No. 14 Tsuen Seng of KLRC came out charging with his smashes to force a rubber game with an intense 21-18 win.

In the rubber game, Tsuen Seng moved into the interval with a one point lead (11-10). However, Choong Hann only allowed Tsuen Seng to score only another point before wrapping up the match 21-12.

“I was too eager to finish off the match in the second game when I was in the lead. He (Tsuen Seng) caught me off guard when he came hard at me. In the decider, I kept the game under control because I knew that he was slowing down,” said the 30 year-old Choong Hann.

Tsuen Seng said: “I am satisfied with my game. I lost because Choong Hann was quicker and I could not sustain the fast tempo in the third game. My legs were giving up. I need to work on my physical condition,”

Tsuen Seng will be featuring in the World Championships in Kuala Lumpur from Aug 13-19.

Choong Hann, who was stretched to three games in the quarter-finals against Indonesia’s Alamsyah Yunus, is hopeful that he will recover in time to match the talented Andre.

His last major titles were last year's Taiwan Open and the Copenhagen Masters.

Meanwhile, the top two seeds in the women’s singles competition were also shown the exit.

Former China shuttler Zhou Mi, playing for Hong Kong, upset top seed Pi Hongyan of France 21-5, 19-21, 21-13. And Chie Umezu o Japan, seeded joint third-fourth, upstaged second seed Yip Pui Yin of Hong Kong 11-21, 21-17, 21-17.

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