By Jan Lin/Red Sports
Paris Pierre de Coubertin, Friday, August 27, 2010 — After defeating formidable opponents in the earlier rounds in the 2010 Badminton World Championships in Paris, Singapore’s youthful crop of shuttlers exited in the round of 16.
20-year-old Ashton Chen was first to bring cheers to the Republic’s camp on the opening day of the prestigious annual championships. A confident Ashton, who had just completed his national service recently, ousted Indian ace Chetan Anand 21-14 21-18 in 36 minutes.
This victory will prove to be instrumental in the lead up to the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi this October. While India’s Chetan was a bronze medallist at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, the Singaporean youngster will ride on this win to boost his medal chance.
“I’ve prepared quite well for the World Championships. As I’ve just finished my national service in Singapore, I was able to train on a daily basis,” said Ashton. “I think the National Service builds up my mental strength, I guess I am now stronger than I was three years ago.”
Ashton’s gallant run in his maiden World Championships was eventually ended by China’s 4th-seeded Chen Jin in the round of 16. The 2009 runner-up took 42 minutes to defeat the Singaporean 21-17 21-10.
There were also plenty of positives in the mixed doubles event where Singapore’s unseeded pair of Chayut Triyachart and Yao Lei eliminated the current world number 1 pair of Robert Mateusiak and Nadiezda Zieba of Poland 13-21 21-16 21-14 in their opening game.
Chayut and Yao Lei were then shown the exit by India’s world number 12 pair of V Diju and Jwala Gutta in the round of 16. The young Singapore pair was defeated 21-14 18-21 14-21 by the Indians, who will no doubt be one of the top seeds at the Commonwealth Games.
Yao Lei also teamed up with regular partner Shinta Mulia Sari in the women’s doubles. Seeded 11th in Paris, the young pair saw off Leisha Cooper and Ann-Louise Slee of Australia 21-10 21-7 in the opener, before losing 9-21 14-21 to the top seeds Ma Jin and Wang Xiaoli.
In the upcoming Commonwealth Games, Yao Lei and Shinta will likely enter the tournament as the top seed in the women’s doubles event and are the Republic’s best bet for a medal in badminton at the Games. The pair won their first Super Series title in Singapore in June.
Singapore’s seasoned campaigners in the men’s doubles event, Hendri Kurniawan Saputra and Hendra Wijaya, were eliminated in the round of 16 as well, while 21-year-old Derek Wong and Xing Aiying were unable to clear their first round hurdles against higher ranked opponents.
Hey there Les and Co.
I was in Paris to watch the shuttlers in action and I must say that Singapore are a team to watch in the near future.
I remember having the same conversation with Jan Lin, stressing that although Malaysia has two World No 1s (Lee Chong Wei and doubles pair Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong) the Singaporean’s percentage of participation in the critical stages is better than ours.
Yes there are talks of Singapore pinching talents and that they are mostly neutralised players. Nevertheless, this debate is even seen in football and table tennis not only in Singapore but other parts of the world.
That aside, I strongly believe that despite the Singapore BA (SBA) facing woes of their own, they have a handful of potential players that could be a threat – even to the Malaysian contingent – at the coming Commonwealth Games in India.
I’m really eager to see how far Singapore will progress despite the limited funds by SBA. This is certainly healthy for badminton.
Cheers!
Hey thanks for stopping by Haresh. Good to hear that Singapore badminton has potential to challenge Malaysia in the near future. I look forward to the Commonwealth Games!