India Open 2014 – Day 3: Great Comeback by Vittinghus

India Open 2014 – Day 3: Great Comeback by Vittinghus

Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Vittinghus recovered from a hopeless position to enter the quarter-finals of the Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2014 today.

Vittinghus (featured image) was down by a game and 16-20 in his Men’s Singles second-round match against Indonesia’s Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka, but the valiant Dane’s never-say-die spirit came to the fore as he pulled off an improbable win. Clawing level at 20-all, he then saved another match point before taking the game. The deflated Rumbaka could not muster much resistance in the third game as Vittinghus celebrated a 18-21 23-21 21-13 victory in 69 minutes.

It was a good day for Denmark as all three of their Men’s Singles contenders progressed into the quarter-finals; Viktor Axelsen and Jan O Jorgensen accompanying Vittinghus with straight-games successes. While Axelsen held off trouble from Suppanyu Avihingsanon of Thailand in the second game (21-13 23-21), Jorgensen was more authoritative over Korea’s Lee Dong Keun, wrapping up the match 21-16 21-11 in just 35 minutes.

Kashyap Parupalli triumphed over Guru Sai Dutt in an all-India encounter and now takes on top seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia. In the lower half of the draw, second seed Chen Long of China ensured his place in the quarter-finals beating Frenchman Brice Leverdez 21-16 21-15. He next faces Vittinghus.

China’s badminton machinery powered on in Women’s Singles, with four of their players advancing to the quarter-finals. However, it wasn’t easy for them, with top seed Li Xuerui, second seed Wang Shixian and Wang Yihan (3) all dropping a game before powering ahead. Wang Shixian was comfortably placed with two match points in the second game against Sayaka Takahashi, but the Japanese forced a decider in which Wang eventually won in 74 minutes: 21-17 20-22 21-12.

Compatriot Liu Xin had less trouble quelling the challenge of Yao Xue in an all-China tussle, 21-16 21-15. Meanwhile, local hope Saina Nehwal (above) booked her quarter-final against Wang Yihan, breezing past Thailand’s Natcha Saengchote 21-15 21-12. Korea’s Bae Yeon Ju and Sung Ji Hyun were straight-games winners over India’s Sayali Gokhale and Japan’s Minatsu Mitani respectively.

HIGHLIGHTS:

* Men’s Doubles saw several thrillers. Perhaps the closest was between Chinese Taipei’s Chen Hung Ling/Lu Chia Pin and Japan’s Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda, with the former edging through: 21-13 20-22 21-19. Another close encounter was between Korea’s Kim Sa Rang/Yoo Yeon Seong and qualifiers Zhang Nan/Fu Haifeng. The Chinese held off the Koreans 27-25 19-21 21-15. Top seeds Hiroyuki Endo/Kenichi Hayakawa of Japan found themselves entangled in their second straight three-game battle. Yet again they found the resources to prevail. The Japanese beat Indonesia’s Wahyu Nayaka Arya Pankaryanira/Ade Yusuf (above; right) 21-15 17-21 21-16.

* Among today’s impressive performances in Women’s Doubles was that of Malaysia’s Vivian Hoo/Woon Khe Wei – the pair staged a comeback from a game down against Duanganong Aroonkesorn/Kunchala Voravichitchaikul of Thailand, 14-21 21-18 21-14. China’s Yu Yang/Tang Yuanting were taken the distance by Japan’s Misato Aratama/Megumi Taruno, 20-22 21-10 21-18, but two other Chinese pairs – Tian Qing/Zhao Yunlei and Ma Jin/Wang Xiaoli (above) – progressed into the quarter-finals with little bother.

* Malaysia also had good news in Mixed Doubles as Chan Peng Soon/Lai Pei Jing progressed. The qualifiers thoroughly dominated Korea’s Shin Baek Choel/Eom Hye Won, 21-15 21-10, to earn the right to play Asian champions Ko Sung Hyun/Kim Ha Na (below) in the quarter-finals. Ko/Kim faced a stern test from Denmark’s Anders Kristiansen/Julie Houmann but the Koreans prevailed 21-10 18-21 21-18. Second seeds Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir, in their quest for their fourth straight India Open title, stumbled against the young Chinese Kai Lu/Yaqiong Huang before rebounding to post a 21-18 11-21 21-13 result.

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