Singapore Open Badminton: Singapore’s Gu Juan progresses into the women’s singles quarter-finals

Story by REDintern Stefanus Ian. Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Thursday, June 16, 2011 — Singapore’s Gu Juan progressed into the quarter-finals of the women’s singles badminton competition at the Li-Ning Singapore Open after beating Ai Goto 16-21, 21-16, 21-15.

In winning her round-of-16 match, Gu kept the Singapore flag flying after the last-surviving Singapore doubles pair were knocked out in the round-of-16. The team of Xing Aiying and Chen Jiayuan were defeated comprehensively by the tournament’s fourth seeds, Shizuka Matsuo and Mami Naito of Japan, 21-12, 21-15.

In the singles match, Gu made an unconvincing start, losing the first game 21-16. She was unable to cope with Goto’s drop shots through the first game, especially to the right half of the court. Goto, who had knocked out the Thai seventh seed, Porntip Buranaprasertsuk, in the previous match, easily wrapped up the first game with four straight points when the scores were 17-16.

Gu recovered her composure in the next game and raced to an early 4-0 lead. With the momentum clearly in her favour, Gu played much more aggressively, forcing Goto to make several unforced errors. The Japanese grew frustrated, shaking her head in disbelief at some of the mistakes she made. The early lead proved too much for the world 23rd-ranked player as Gu closed out the second set 21-16.

With the match poised at 1-1, neither player was able to surge ahead in the third set as fatigue set in.

Both players were visibly spent and every point was a battle. However, spurred on by the vocal local supporters, Gu managed to pull away, scoring five consecutive points to tighten her grip on the match. Goto made a late charge towards the end, closing to within two points at 17-15. That would prove to be the closest she would get as Gu held her challenge off to win the rubber game 21-15, and the match.

Gu will next face the tournament’s third seed, China’s Wang Xin, in the quarter-finals on Friday.

In the doubles match, the Japanese pair of Matsuo and Naito were quick to impose their control, scoring four successive points from the start. The Singapore duo of Chen and Xing could not get a decent run going, failing to obtain back-to-back points.

The Singapore girls, dressed in red, were making too many unforced errors. The Matsuo–Naito pairing ruthlessly stamped their dominance, at one point scoring six consecutive points. The Japanese girls, dressed in blue, closed the first set 21-12.

Staring defeat in the face, Xing Aiying and Chen Jiayuan started the second set throwing caution to the wind to lead 5-3. However, it proved to be the last time they saw themselves in the lead. The Japanese then surged ahead by scoring five successive points. Thereafter, there was no looking back for them as they closed out the set 21-15 to win the match 2-0.

In other matches, China’s Lin Dan, the tournament’s second seed, cruised into the quarter-finals after brushing aside Dane Jan O Jorgensen 21-17, 21-11.

However, the tournament’s top seed, Taufik Hidayat from Indonesia, crashed out after losing to China’s Wang Zhengming 21-16, 20-22, 21-13.

Wang will face Danish youngster Viktor Axelsen in the quarter-finals on Friday. The latter is turning out to be the underdog story of the competition. After battling past England’s Carl Baxter and Poland’s Przemyslaw Wacha in the qualifiers on Tuesday, the 17-year-old raised his profile further by claiming the scalps of Malaysian Wong Choong Hann and the tournament’s seventh seed, Bao Chunlai of China. The latter was beaten in straight sets, 23-21, 21-15.