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Good Morning Malaysia!
August 16, 2001 - Source : IBF
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Three seeds didn't survive the second round of the Yonex Sunrise Singapore among them Chen Hong, World number one. And behind this great upset, the flag of Malaysia.
Hafiz Hashim, Sairul Amar Ayob and Ismail Saman were the three Malaysian heroes of Thursday''s morning session in the Singapore Indoor Stadium. They beat respectively Rony Augustinus of Indonesia (number 6 seed), George Rimarcdi of Sweden (12th seed) and Chen Hong, top seed of the event.
 It was Ismail Saman (pictured here facing Chen Hong) who first sent his team mates on the right tracks. After a clean victory over Indonesia''s newcomer Sony Dwi Kuncoro, Saman was facing Chen Hong, the number one Chinese player, who also happens to be the number one player in the world. With a style similar to Chen''s, the 24 year old Malaysian fought his way through. He started off really fast, with a 7/2 - 6/0 lead. «I had watched Chen play, and I could anticipate his moves. But then, after I reached 6/0 in the second game, I tried to score the last point too quickly instead of concentrating on the game just like a normal point. I put too much pressure on me, then he caught back to win the game» said Saman.
Yet, Chen''s confidence was not at its peak, as the Chinese faced an opponent just as fast, with great net play, and able to anticipate to pull well placed defences. Not to mention Saman''s high jump smashes which found the lines on many occasions. The third game went to Saman, 8/7, then Chen got even at two games all. It was to be decided in the fifth game.
Chen lead 5/4, but Saman didn''t want to waste such a great opportunity: he fought his way back to score three points in a row. «I like to play against attacking players, they fit my style: the speed of the game goes up, and I feel more comfortable» explained the world 58th Malaysian, who admitted this was his biggest win so far. Saman is to play Thai''s number one Boonsak Polsana in the next round.
Malaysia''s good day was to go on as Hafiz Hashim (pictured) - Roslin''s younger brother - created another surprise, beating Rony Agustinus of Indonesia, in three easy games. Roslin had said previously that his brother was a natural talent, and that with more training and discipline, he could be within the very best players. Hafiz proved him right, with a 7/2 - 7/3 - 7/1 victory. He will play Richard Vaughan of Wales later tonight. The latter had booked his plane ticket for today, being pessimistic about his actual form.
Last but not least, Sairul Amar Ayob beat George Rimarcdi, world number 20 in three games as well. It looks as if Malaysian badminton is getting stronger and stronger in men''s singles. The training provided by the Badminton Association of Malaysia on one end and the Nusa Mahsuri Club on the other seems to be of benefit to the country.
Tonight''s third round matches will also feature Taufik Hidayat against Chen Yu, Mainaky against Jonassen, while another Malaysian, Wong Choon Hann will try to keep his team''s spirit up against Bao Chunlai, the World Junior Champion.
In the ladies'' event, all seeds went through, except for Lydia Djaelawijaya, who was trounced by Tang Chunjue (pictured) of China. The world 37th left no chance to the Indonesian, seeded number 4 for this event. Tang used long clears and fast drops to outplay Djaelawijaya, finding great angles thanks to her left hand grip. Tang is to meet compatriot Dai Yun in tomorrow''s quarter final.
Camilla Martin will face Zhang Ning in the quarter finals, after a three game victory over Atu Rosalina of Indonesia. The other two matches will feature Yuli Marfuah against Malaysian''s Ng Mee Fen, while Gong Zhichao is to play Japanfinalist, Kaori Mori.
(Report and pictures by Raphael Sachetat)
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Other news:
» Hafiz to take three-week break
» Memories of… the 2002 Thomas and Uber Cup Finals
» Gopi to lead India in Commonwealth Games
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