Lin Dan and Bao Chunlai have taught their elder opponents that they can be counted on in coming years to rise to the top of the badminton world. They both secured a place in Sunday’s final of the Realkredit Denmarkin the most impressive way.

Guangzhou, November 2000: two 17-year-old boys are playing against each other in the semi-final of the World Junior Championships, far away from the international spotlights. Not even one year later, they are to meet in the final of one of the biggest Grand Prix event in the world – on the senior circuit. This proves how strong the Chinese new talents are today.

Lin Dan was the first one to qualify for Sunday’s final, when he beat compatriot Chen Yu in three games. His net play was just amazing, and so was his vision of the game. The left-hander found good angles, in spite of his average height, but as many left-handers, he surprised his opponents on smart deception shots. Not to mention his reflex cross-court defences, which left Chen Yu quite incredulous. Lin Dan, putting his fist up in the air each time he scored, won easily 7/3, 7/3, 7/0 in just 24 minutes.

He was to be joined by compatriot Bao Chunlai (pictured) a few hours later. The tall Chinese had another left-hander for an opponent - Wong Choong Hann, who has had a very good season after returning from injury. But as the Malaysian said after the match his legs “were just saying: no!” And one must be playing at 100% to beat this Chinese player. Wong had a good start, winning 7/4, and fought hard to keep up in the second game, barely losing 8/6, but from then on Bao was the boss on court.

“There is a high probability that one of these boys will be within the very top players in the world, maybe in one year,” said Chinese team manager Bao Tong. It might be true even quicker than that, with the kind of game both players have shown. If tomorrow’s final is of the high quality it promises to be, one should be looking forward to matches between these two and other players such as Hendrawan or Peter Gade.

Sweet revenge for Camilla

After her dramatic loss in last year’s final of her home event, Camilla Martin broke the Chinese curse and played her best badminton to beat Zhou Mi in five hard fought games.

Slowly, very slowly, Camilla came back to the net, out of breath, with hardly any energy left to shake her opponent’s hand. She couldn’t even show how happy she must have been after defeating the top seed and current world number one, because she had given her all during the match. And what a match it was!

Both players were even with 3 victories each before this Realkredit Denmarksemi-final. Zhou Mi (pictured) had won the last two meetings. Maybe a psychological advantage which led the Chinese to have a very fast start, leading 5/1. On the other side of the court, Camilla Martin was playing in her own backyard and was also very strong mentally, which helped her level up in the first game, eventually winning it 7/5.

The difference in style was obvious. Zhou Mi’s legs are twice the size as Camilla’s, she moves on court with perfect timing, her shots are precise and sharp, with a quite regimental tactic. On the contrary, Camilla’s game is more creative, but sometimes more risky. Yet today, her deception shots worked well, and her patience was the key to this match.

After the second and fourth games lost by the Dane, the public could rejoice when their hero reached 6/2, only one point away from leveling up to 2 games all. But the Chinese hung on, fighting all she could to come back 6/6. After two very long rallies, Camilla scored on one of her magic drop shots to break it even. The crowd was ecstatic, and the journalists even stopped writing on their laptops to clap and cheer.

The last game was to be won by the fitter and mentally stronger player. And Camilla was the one, winning 7/2 thanks to patience and inspired kills. “I don’t think I have ever been that tired after a match. Of course, I have played many long matches before, but with this new scoring system, the pressure is on all through out the game, and there is no time to relax,” said the Dane (pictured).

At the post-match press conference, both players were joking at each other, holding each other’s shoulders like best friends. Quite a different atmosphere than the one on court, where it was a war. “Of course, on court, there is no friendship anymore, everybody reacts this way, we just want to win, but even if we look at each other in the eyes, it’s all gone when the match is over,” added Martin.

“This was probably the final before the final, and whoever would win this match would probably win the tournament,” said Zhou Mi, before trying to get up from her chair. She had many difficulties reaching the bus to get back to the hotel. Rarely had such an impression of tiredness struck for both players. This could be a key for tomorrow’s match, when Camilla meets with Pi Hongyan in the final. The young Chinese lives in Denmark and trains with Camilla twice a week at the national training centre in Brondby. An arrangement both have enjoyed so far, until the match kicks off….

Danes all over in the doubles events

It will be a 100 per cent Danish final both in the men’s and women’s doubles in Sunday’s finals. In an all Danish affair already, Jim Laugesen and Michael Sogaard beat Jens Eriksen and Jesper Larsen in four hard fought games. “When we entered the court, after yesterday’s match when we saved two match points, I thought that we would win again today, but we didn’t move forward enough, and we waited for victory to come to us, instead of going for it, which was inexperienced of us,” said Jesper Larsen (pictured). The chairman of the Badminton Player’s Federation also revealed that he and Jens had played their last match as partners (World Badminton will bring you more on that in the coming days….)

A little earlier, on the “TV court”, Lars Paaske and Martin Lundgaard Hansen had beaten Flandi Limpele and Eng Hian; It seems like they meet only at the Danish and take turns in victory. The Danes had won in 1999 in Vejle (the same year they had been crowned champions), then last year, the Indonesians beat them. But with the help of an incredible crowd, the Danes took it away, playing one of their best matches ever, 3/7, 8/6, 7/2, 7/5.

The logical order was respected in the women’s doubles event, where the top two seeds will meet in tomorrow’s final. The Indonesian pair of Marisa Vita and Deyana Lomban couldn’t do much against Rikke Olsen and Helene Kirkegaard, while Ann-Lou Jorgensen and Mette Schjoldager didn’t spend much more time on court either against Germans Pitro and Grether. The Danes can enjoy the absence of the Chinese women’s doubles to get a big pay cheque and some well-deserved world ranking points.

Results:
MS semi-finals :
Bao Chunlai (CHN) beat Wong Choong Hann (MAS) : 4/7, 8/6, 7/1, 7/1
Lin Dan (CHN) beat Chen Yu (CHN) : 7/3, 7/3, 7/0
WS semi finals :
Pi Hongyan (CHN) beat Hu Ting (CHN) : 3/7, 7/5, 7/5, 7/3
Camilla Martin (DEN) beat Zhou Mi (CHN) : 7/5, 3/7, 6/8, 8/6, 7/2
MD semi-finals :
Lundgaard/Paaske (DEN) beat Limpele/Hian (INA) : 3/7, 8/6, 7/2, 7/5
Sogaard/Laugesen (DEN) beat Eriksen/Larsen (DEN) : 7/8, 8/6, 7/0, 8/6
WD semi-finals :
Olsen/Kirkegaard (DEN) beat Marissa/Deyana (INA) : 7/4, 7/1, 7/3
Jorgensen/Schjoldager (DEN) beat Grether/Pitro (GER) : 7/0, 7/1, 7/5

report and pictures by Raphael Sachetat