Singapore's Fu Mingtian conquers China's great wall

Story by Jan Lin/Red Sports. Photos by Vanessa Lim and Marvin Lowe/Red Sports.

fu ming tian vs lu lan

Singapore’s Fu Mingtian returns a shot to seventh seed Lu Lan from China. (Photo 1 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Wednesday, June 10, 2009 – Singapore’s young shuttlers took a crack at China's great wall when they put the Chinese prowess to a stern test on the second day of the 2009 Singapore Badminton Open with 18-year-old Fu Mingtian registering the biggest upset at the annual tournament so far.

With four of the eight seeds in the women's singles event, China's reign in this event is irrefutable. But seizing on homeground advantage, Singapore's Fu Mingtian and Zhang Beiwen staged dramatic tiebreakers against their respective 7th and 3rd seeded Chinese counterparts, Lu Lan and Wang Lin.

A courageous, spirited effort by Fu Mingtian sent former world number 2 Lu Lan out of the door after a see-saw affair with scores of 8-21, 21-9, 21-19.

Zhang Beiwen, on the other hand, dominated most of the match against the current world number 4 Wang Lin but was edged out in the closing stages of the match.

Fu Mingtian, who was thrashed in the first game, gushed after the 48-minute tussle: "I had difficulty adjusting to the draft again in the first game and I had absolutely no idea what I could do to overcome that!"

"But in the second game, I saw that Lu Lan had as much difficulty as I did in adjusting to the court condition," explained Fu. "I could see that Lu Lan had a very firm grip on her racket and didn't appear very relaxed. I felt better, and it became a needed boost for me to have a shot at winning."

"Honestly, I didn't actually have much preparation before the match," admitted Fu, "that's because I prefer not to have too much going on in my mind during the game. I just want to be putting in my best effort in every match I play and I believe that's the key to my victory."

"This win is the biggest in my (singles) career so far and it will be a source of motivation to me as it has definitely deepened by desire to take my game further," concluded Fu, who will take on Netherlands' Judith Meulendijks in the round of 16 tomorrow.

Fellow qualifier Zhang Beiwen had victory slip through her fingers when she thrashed Wang Lin in the first game 21-10, but couldn't convert a 17-12 lead in the tiebreaker to score a momentous victory at home as the Singaporean was tamed 10-21, 21-18, 21-19.

"I was aware that Zhang Beiwen is strong in her attacks and I have done ample preparations to face her," said Wang, the 2007 World Junior singles champion. "But the windy conditions of the stadium affected my performance today and the first match is expectedly more challenging as always."

"I felt that I was able to control my nerves a lot better when I was trailing in the ending stages of the match, as I was more anxious when the score was going point-for-point in the earlier part of the tiebreaker. My coach, Zhang Ning, also reminded me of the strategies to employ," revealed Wang.

2-time Olympic champion Zhang Ning, who has won the Singapore Badminton Open crown 5 times, then coached Olympic silver medallist Xie Xingfang to secure a 21-16, 15-21, 21-17 victory over Hong Kong's Yip Puiyin ensuring that China remains well-represented in their pet event in Singapore.

N.B. The event is also known as the Aviva Open Singapore