Saturday November 17, 2012
A first for Wei Feng as he powers into Super Series semi-finals
Reports by RAJES PAUL
Back to you: Malaysia’s Chong Wei Feng returning the shuttle to Japan’s Takuma Ueda during their China Open quarter-final tie in Shanghai yesterday. — CHOW HOW BAN / The Star KUALA LUMPUR: It was a glorious day for Chong Wei Feng as he marched into his first Super Series semi-finals at the China Open in Shanghai yesterday.
The 25-year-old shuttler kept his cool to beat Takuma Euda of Japan 21-16, 21-13 in 37 minutes in the quarter-finals for his long-awaited breakthrough.
He will take on top seed Chen Long of China today. The world No. 26 is the second player to have stepped out of the shadows of world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei in recent weeks.
A fortnight ago, compatriot Liew Daren put up a commendable show to lift his first senior international title at the French Open.
Their breakthroughs are timely as many have questioned the ability of these players to take over the mantle from Chong Wei.
Wei Feng was clearly delighted to finally get past the quarter-finals in the Super Series circuit, describing it as the first big step towards greater things.
“This is my first major breakthrough. I mixed up my game with some good tactical moves against the Japanese and it paid off,” said Wei Feng.
“All the drilling and motivational talks we’ve received from our coaches and Chong Wei are bearing fruit.”
On his match against Chen Long, to whom he has lost once, Wei Feng said: “He is physically more superior. I’m going to use every trick I have against him. I’m hungry for more wins.”
The other men’s singles semi-final will be an all-China affair between former world champion Chen Jin and former world junior champion Wang Zhengming.
In the women’s singles, seeded players took a huge beating when top seed Wang Yihan of China and sixth seed Tine Baun bowed out.
In the men’s doubles, top seeds Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen of Denmark defeated Chai Biao-Zhang Nan of China 21-16, 21-16 to set up a date against winners of the match between Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong and Chen Hung-ling-Lu Chia-bin of Taiwan.
In the mixed doubles, Malaysia’s Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying overcame Indonesia’s Riky Widianto-Puspita Richi Dili 21-16, 21-18 to set up a semi-final clash against another Indonesian pair, Tantowi Ahmad-Lilyana Natsir.
Tantowi-Lilyana continued to show their prowess by blowing away Tao Jiaming-Tang Jinhua of China 21-17, 21-10 in the last eight.
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