Top seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia stormed into the semi-finals of the Indian Open Super Series badminton with a clinical rout of Indian giant-killer Sourabh Verma on Friday. Lee, the world number one, displayed top form on his way to a 21-7, 21-8 win over the unseeded qualifier who had shocked former Asian champion Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the first round and Japan’s seventh seed Kenichi Tago in the second.
“I am disappointed as I did not play to my potential,” said Verma. “I know I can play better but I couldn’t just adjust to the court and pace of the game. “Lee had a lot of variations and he was using the drops and smashes very well. I need to work harder on my game,” said the 20-year-old. Lee praised Verma for standing up to the challenge against much higher-ranked players. “He (Verma) is a strong player,” said Lee. “He has beaten some top players here. He will learn with experience and will do well in future.”
The Malaysian will next take on eighth seed Yun Hu in the semi-finals after the Hong Kong shuttler thrashed India’s upcoming talent Gurusai Datt 21-10, 21-16. World number three Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia however failed to live up to his billing, going down 21-17, 21-17 to Korean sixth seed Park Sung-Hwan. Hidayat, seeking his first title of the year, looked low on confidence despite having never lost to Park in 10 previous meetings.
The former Olympic champion could manage just 11 smash winners while Park counted an impressive 22 at the $200,000 event, the fourth stop in the World Super Series. Hidayat blamed his defeat to issues with food and nutrition. “I have been facing problems with the food here and I haven’t been eating properly. I was low on energy and that is why my shots lacked power. I hope to do better in the upcoming Malaysian Grand Prix.”
Third-seeded Dane Peter Gade also made it to the last four, registering a 23-21, 21-10 victory over Japan’s Takuma Ueda in the first quarter-final of the day. Gade was tested by the unseeded Japanese in the first set which saw a few breathtaking rallies, but found his bearings in the second to race to a fine win in 43 minutes. In the women’s singles, Korean third seed Bae Youn-Joo posted a 21-13, 21-18 victory over the Dutch seventh-seed Jie Yao and will next meet Japanese Sayaka Sato for a place in the final.
Sato was stretched to three sets before carving out a hard-fought 18-21, 21-15, 21-15 over Chen Jiayuan of Singapore. In other quarter-final action, Hong Kong’s fourth seed Yip Pui Yin beat Inthanon Ratchanok of Thailand 21-17, 21-15 and Porntip Buranaprasertsuk, also of Thailand, defeated Singaporean Juan Gu 21-16, 23-21.
