13th WUC Badminton – First Day of the Individual Tournament

CORDOBA – On Sunday July 27^th in the Municipal Sport Palace Vista Alegre of Cordoba (ESP) spectators could come and observe the first day of the individual tournament of the 13^th WUC Badminton 2014. After the three days of the Team Event it was the occasion for many players to play their own card in five individual disciplines, namely Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Double, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles.

With close to 120 matches played it was a busy day that took place in the hot city of Cordoba (Andalusia, Spain) and all eyes were focused on the seeded players wondering whether surprises would take place on this first day. It’s in the mixed doubles – first discipline where seeded teams were engaged – that the first surprises took place. It is first the Russian pair Fistin/Golobeva, seed N°5 who have been wiped out by the power of the Korean pair Kim/Kang 21/9 21/16. Shortly after this match, one of the most interesting and intense matches of the day offered a huge surprise to the audience when the Korean pair Kim/Kim (N°4) lost to the Japanese Matsui/Shinoda 18/21 22/20 22/20.

In the women’s singles tournament, the competition lost within ten minutes its seeds 6 and 7. Shih-Ying Chen (TPE – N°7 – world N°166) faced a tough defeat 21/11 21/13 against the Korean Soyeon Han while Ana Paula Santos (BRA – N°6 – world N°145) was a victim of Ayla Huser 21/12 25/23, member of a surprising Swiss team having already achieved excellent performances in the team event.

In the men’s singles competition, Mohammad Arif Abdul Latif (MAS) beat the N°3 seed Yu-Hsien Lin (TPE – N°3 – world N°53) 21/12 21/14. Few instants later Sitthikom Thammasin (THA – N°6 – world N°135) lost his second round match against Korea’s Hongje Lee 22/10 21/17 opening this part of the bracket for outsiders. May those two players win their next game they would meet each other in the quarter finals.

In the women’s doubles, the Swiss pair Jaquet/Huser (N°3) did not have the time to show their skills losing in two sets to the Japanese Shinoda/Uratani 21/9 21/16. Second seed beaten by Shinoda after her mixed doubles performance of the morning. The home team Molina/Ojeda (N°6) had an unfortunate first match in this tournament as well losing to Korea’s Kim/Kim 21/8 19/21 21/8. Women’s doubles have finally seen another surprise of importance with the German pair Kattenbeck/Volkmann (N°4 – world N°81) losing against Canadian surprise Wong/Wu 21/19 14/21 21/13 in a dramatic ending.

Finally in the men’s doubles two seeded teams lost in their first match. The Brasilian pair Alkimin/Dos Santos (N°4 – world N°110) lost to the Chinese Taipei pair Jen-Hao Hsu/Yu-Hsien Lin 12/21 21/14 21/19 while the Thai pair Cholprasertsuk/Tovannakasame (N°7) lost to the Chinese pair Guo/Zhang 21/16 21/19

The competition will continue today with the 3^rd round and quarter finals.

(Source: Julien Buhajezuk, FISU WUC. Dept.)