Fu Mingtian and Zhang Beiwen to face off against China’s fortress in first round of Singapore Badminton Open

Story by Koh Yizhe and Jan Lin/Red Sports. Photos by Lai Jun Wei and Marvin Lowe/Red Sports.

fu ming tian vs nguyen nhung le ngoc

Fu Mingtian of Singapore avenged for compatriot Thng Ting Ting when she took 30 minutes to dispose of Vietnam’s Nguyen Nhung Le Ngoc in straight sets scores of 21-10, 22-20. (Photo 1 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Tuesday, June 9, 2009 – Singapore’s women singles shuttlers, Fu Mingtian and Zhang Beiwen, have set themselves up to take on the mighty Chinese women warriors, Lu Lan and Wang Lin, after squeezing into the main draw of the Singapore Badminton Open.

Fu Mingtian did what her compatriot Thng Ting Ting couldn't do as she overcame Vietnam’s Le Ngoc Nguyen Nhung in straight sets scores of 21-10, 22-20 in the second qualifying match of the women’s singles event.

Meanwhile, Zhang Beiwen had a much harder task, needing three games to dispatch Taiwanese Chang Hsin Yun, 21-12, 21-23, 21-17 in her second qualifying match.

For the 2008 World Junior doubles champion Fu, the first set was a breeze as she made light work of her opponent with her hard hitting shots. But the Vietnamese came back fighting in the second and almost won the set having reached game point first at 20-19, but Fu scored three straight points to take the match 22-20.

The match had started slow in the first game until Mingtian began to pull away with her aggressive smashes that was evidently causing trouble for Le Ngoc. It wasn't long before a huge smash gave Mingtian game point at 20-9 and a stylish net play won the game 21-10 for the China-born Singaporean.

It was deja vu for the 25-year-old Vietnamese as she started the second set on a high, the same way she did against Thng Ting Ting in the earlier qualification match. Similarly, errors and poor judgment on Fu’s part then plagued her game and she soon found herself threatened by an unfavourable score line of 16-19.

Fu held her composure and maintained her hard hitting ways and fluent footwork as she stepped up her game to bag the next three consecutive points. While Fu leveled the game 19-19 with a clinical cross court smash, she then sent the next point long to give Le Ngoc game point at 20-19 as the match appeared headed for a tiebreaker.

But the relentless Fu managed to hold out her opponent by forcing a long rally that saw Le Ngoc scrambling around the court with her accurate placements to the four corners of the court as she evened up at 20-20, bringing the game into deuce. Nerves got the better of Le Ngoc as she returned Fu’s service wide before sending the shuttle into the net for Fu to wrap up the tie 22-20.

The 19-year-old Zhang Beiwen then doubled Singapore’s joy when she took three games to beat her Taiwanese opponent and earn her ticket to the main draw despite suffering blisters on her foot.

Waiting for Zhang in the first round of the main draw is the world number 4 Wang Lin from China. Fu will also have a tough first round against world number 8 Lu Lan in the first round.

Fu Mingtian said after the match: “It will be my first time playing against Lu Lan, but I’m feeling ok as I didn’t have a difficult time in the qualifying rounds.”

“The second set (against Le Ngoc) was the only challenge I had faced in the qualifying rounds mainly because of the draft on the other side of the court, I had trouble keeping my shots in and I was attacking mindlessly,” admitted Fu.

“But my coach told me to stay patient and to open up the game as I attack more strategically and these were effective. Even if we had gone on to play the third set, I was prepared to give my all to win the match and I will adopt the same attitude in the rest of the tournament.”