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Saina Nehwal Slams Commonwealth Games Organizers Preparations

webmaster@BadmintonPlanet.com (Badminton News) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 21:28:57 +0000

Saina Nehwal slams Commonwealth Games organizers preparations she regretted that the country was not yet ready to host such a big sport tournament like Commonwealth Games.

India’s badminton star Saina Nehwal is one of the brand ambassadors of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) concerns about the completion of stadiums with less than a month to go for the event.

“Looking at the stadiums and looking at the progress, I don’t really think we are capable of holding such big tournaments because you know, I have seen many Games like the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne (in 2006) and Olympic Games in Beijing (in 2008). Compared to that its not upto the mark,” Saina told reporters on the sidelines of a function at Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy.

The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award winner Saina Nehwal thought that everything would be ready before the Games’ opening ceremony of Commonwealth Games on October 3.

Saina Nehwal comment on the lack of preparation in Commonwealth Games was as surpries to everyone as she is one of the six sportspersons chosen as the Games’ brand ambassadors.

Top shuttler Zhou Mi banned for two years (pic)

webmaster@BadmintonPlanet.com (Badminton News) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 21:18:59 +0000

Former women world number one shuttler Zhou Mi of Hong Kong has been suspended for two years for failing a drug test, World badminton Federation said on Saturday.

During one of BWF's out-of-competition testing programme, Zhou tested positive for Clenbuterol, a Class 1 Anabolic Agent on the WADA Prohibited List of substances, BWF said in a release.

After that a BWF doping hearing conducted in Copenhagen on August 23 decided "that a period of two years ineligibility is imposed upon Zhou Mi for the first violation of the BWF Anti-doping Regulations.

The period of ineligibility commences from the date of the provisional suspension, 4 August 2010."

"BWF is fortunate that this is the first case that the BWF has ruled on for a number of years. The case sends a strong message to elite athletes in the sport who need to be aware of Prohibited Substances and the consequences of taking these either deliberately or inadvertently," said Thomas Lund, BWF COO.

Zhou Mi acknowledged that she had taken some common over-the-counter medication but was unaware whether or not it had contained any prohibited substance.

"The BWF together with WADA conduct both out-of competition and in-competition testing on a regular basis and athletes need to be aware that they are ultimately responsible for everything they ingest whether it is taken deliberately or inadvertently," Lund added.

"And this case shows that for a first offence, the punishment is severe." The sanction means that Zhou Mi cannot participate in any badminton tournament at the international, national and local level for a period of two years.

China sweeps five golds at badminton worlds

webmaster@BadmintonPlanet.com (Badminton News) — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 21:59:58 +0000

PARIS, Aug. 29 -- The powerhouse China bagged all five golds at the Badminton World Championships on Sunday, repeating its sweeping triumph 23 years ago.

In the first final on Sunday, Zheng Bo/Ma Jin clinched their first world champion titles in the mixed doubles by beating teammates He Hanbin /Yu Yang in straight sets.

The eighth seeds Zheng/Ma took control of the whole match, defeating the sixth seeds He/Yu 21-14, 21-10 after 42 minutes.

This is China's first gold in the event at the World Championships since 2001.

The men's singles shuttler Chen Jin followed Zheng/Ma's triumph to clinch his maiden world champion title by smashing Indonesian ace Taufik Hidayat also in straight sets.

China's Wang Lin edged out teammate Wang Xin to take the women' s singles title at the Badminton World Championships on Sunday.

The fourth seed Chen overplayed the former world and Olympic champion Hidayat 21-13, 21-15, marching one step further to the top as he lost to teammate Lin Dan in last year's final.

Chen Jin wins world title (pic)

webmaster@BadmintonPlanet.com (Badminton News) — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 21:57:31 +0000

Chen Jin, the man who has lived for years in the shadow of the greatest player of all time, suddenly emerged into the spotlight to become a surprise World champion on Sunday.

The third-seeded Chinese player did that with a convincing 21-13, 21-15 win over Taufik Hidayat, the gifted but unpredictable former World and Olympic champion from Indonesia.

Chen thus kept his promise to himself that he would go one better than last year, when he finished runner-up to Lin Dan, the compatriot who had become the first player to win a singles title three times in a row.

Koo-Tan show nerves of steel to storm into final (pic)

webmaster@BadmintonPlanet.com (Badminton News) — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 11:13:28 +0000

WORLD number one pair Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong made it a lovely day in Paris for Malaysia when they stormed into the country’s first men’s doubles final in 13 years at the World Championships in Pierre de Coubertin Stadium yesterday.

The duo continued to show their strong determination and ambition to be the first world champion when they clawed back from 10-16 in the second game to beat China’s Guo Zhengdong-Xu Chen 21-14, 21-18 in 40 minutes.

Today, they will take on the winner of the other semi-final match between two previous world champions – Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng of China and Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia.

It was the duo’s first final appearance in three outings after their failure to live up to expectations in the Kuala Lumpur in 2007 and Hyderabad last year.

Boon Heong was happy with the win but vowed to keep his feet firmly on the ground.

Former champion Hidayat rolls back the years (pic)

webmaster@BadmintonPlanet.com (Badminton News) — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 11:10:55 +0000

Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat rolled back the years to reach the final of the world badminton championships with a 21-10 22-20 victory on Saturday over South Korean 13th seed Park Sung-hwan.

Hidayat, Olympic gold-medal winner in 2004 and world champion in 2005, has not hit those heights since for a variety of reasons, on and off court.

He signalled he was back on track by disposing of world number one Lee Chong Wei in the quarter-finals on Friday, then beat Park, a giant-killer himself after beating titleholder Lin Dan in the last eight.

Hidayat, 29, breezed through the first game but trailed 20-18 in the second as Park battled on but once he saved game points and levelled at 20-20 the Indonesian was not to be denied.

The fifth seed told a media conference: "When it was 20-18 I knew I had to go on and when it was 20-20 I was confident I would win."

Park's cause was not helped by a battle against "drift" -- a slight breeze in stadiums which can carry the shuttle just out of play.

He suffered at least four such errors in the second game, including, critically, on the first match point he faced.

Wang Lin ensures China's gold of women's singles at badminton worlds (pic)

webmaster@BadmintonPlanet.com (Badminton News) — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 11:09:24 +0000

Wang Lin's straight-set victory over Danish veteran Tine Baun in the semifinals here on Saturday ensured China's win at the women's singles of the Badminton World Championships.

Wang Lin dominated the match on Saturday, giving the 33-year-old All England Championships winner Baun a blow with the result of 21-11, 21-8.

"I made preparation for a tough match today and thought about all the difficulties in advance," said the 21-year-old. "I knew clearly about how to play and I stick to my strategy all along."

Baun said she was ready to leave the competition but couldn't refrain from shedding tears in the mixed zone.

"It was definitely a good improvement (for her)and she played well, but I think she made got it a little easy today," said Baun. "I really have a lot of pain in my elbow and it was mistiming, misjudgement."

"I have to be at my highest level to against her, to go against China," said Baun who caught the elbow injury in this tournament and said it aggravated slowly.

The women's singles defending world champion Lu Lan of China was not included in the squad this year.

Chen Jin grabs back-to-back semi win at badminton worlds

webmaster@BadmintonPlanet.com (Badminton News) — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 11:07:03 +0000

PARIS, Aug. 28, 2010 -- The fourth seed Chen Jin of China romped into the men's singles final at the Badminton World Championships for the second year in a row after beating world No. 2 Peter Gade from Denmark on Saturday.

Chen lost the first set 19-21, but managed to win the following two 21-8 and 21-11.

"I was ready to play three sets," said the 24-year-old Chen. "He is a seasoned player and I admire him a lot."

Chen believed that he used the right strategy since the beginning but Gade played too well in the opening set.

"He played very fast in the first set and lost too much energy," Chen commented on the European top player who is nine years older than him. "I didn't change my strategy in the following sets. It's just because that he was too tired to keep his speed."

Chen is going to meet the winner between South Korea's Park Sung Hwan and Indonesian ace Taufik Hidayat on Sunday.

Park smashed three-time world champion and Olympig gold medallist Lin Dan in straight sets in the semifinals while Hidayat edged out world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei from Malaysia to reach the final.

"I have reached my goal of advancing into the final, and I just want to perform well tomorrow," said Chen who lost to teammate Lin Dan in last year's final.

Badminton-Lin Dan and Chong Wei exit world championship

webmaster@BadmintonPlanet.com (Badminton News) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:02:30 +0000

* Nervy Chong Wei loses at major tournament again

Lin Dan stopped from winning four world titles in a row

Women's second seed, India's Nehwal, also out

PARIS, Aug 27 - Malaysia's world number one Lee Chong Wei exited the world badminton championships on Friday, beaten 21-15 11-21 21-12 in the quarter-finals by former world and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat.

Less than an hour later, in another big surprise, titleholder Lin Dan succumbed 21-13 21-13 to 13th seeded South Korean Park Sung-hwan.

Lin won the world title in 2006, 2007 and 2009 and the Olympic gold medal in Beijing in 2008 when there is no world championship.

Park told a media conference: "I've gone to the next level in badminton with this result."

Saina Nehwal crashes out of Badminton World Championship (pic)

webmaster@BadmintonPlanet.com (Badminton News) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:46:24 +0000

Paris: Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Badminton World Championships in Paris on Friday, losing 21-8, 21-14 to Chinese sixth seed Shixian Wang.

This was the first Chinese opponent that Saina was facing in the tournament and she was completely outclassed.

The Indian fell behind from the start of the match and could never stage a comeback.

Speaking to NDTV Saina said, "My opponent has improved a lot. I did not move well at all. It is sad that I'm out of the World Championship".

This comes as a great disappointment for Indian fans who were expecting the World No 2 to win this title after her great performances in the international circuit.

Saina came into the tournament on the back of three successive international wins.

Saina had crashed out of the World Championships last year in Hyderabad at the same stage.