Anthony slays Chen Long, Chong Wei to remain No.1
SYDNEY: Indonesia's three rising stars – Ihsan Maulana, Jonatan Christie and Anthony Ginting, have been taking turns wreaking havoc in the men's singles tournaments of late. They started making the headlines at the Malaysia Open, then in Singapore and the Thomas Cup, in Indonesia and now in Australia.
Ihsan, Jonatan and Anthony, world ranked 19th, 20th and 31st respectively, have gained so much attention that even world No.1 Lee Chong Wei warned that the trio would soon be a force in men's singles and be a major threat in the next Thomas Cup. Chong Wei said they would improve and gain more experience with more top level matches.
At the Australian Open today, it was the turn of Anthony to steal the limelight. His victim was topseed and world No.2, Chen Long. Last week in Jakarta, Jonatan stunned world No.3 Lin Dan in the quarterfinals.
Anthony, with his wide array of strokes, showed little respect to the former world No.1 and the event's defending champion as he whipped his way through.
Chen Long, who had a tough match against Jonatan in the semifinals of the Malaysian Open, was surprised in the first set 21-14 but he was expected to recover quickly. He did recover, but only in bits and pieces. Anothony shot to a 5-0 lead but Chen Long leveled. It was a close battle all the way but after 11-all, Anthony began to pull away and eventually sealed it at 21-17 after 42 minutes.
Anthony, 20-years, will follow in the footsteps of his two other buddies when he plays in the semifinals of a Superseries event tomorrow where he will face young South Korean Jeon Hyeok Jin, who is ranked No. 26.
Chen Long's exit has left the men's singles semifinals without any seeded players. The other semis will pit Denmark's Hans Kristian Vittinghus and K. Srikanth from India.
Chen Long's premature departure has also ensured Lee Chong Wei will remain as the world No.1. Chong Wei regained the No.1 spot yesterday for the first time since his suspension was lifted.
In the men's doubles, Indonesia's Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, the seventh seeds, surprised second ranked Fu Haifeng-Zhang Nan of China 21-13, 21-18.
Thailand's Ratchanok Inthanon, the world No.4, hopes of advancing was cut short by the seventh seeded Saina Nehwal. The Indian lass won 28-26, 21-16. Another surprise was the exit of Indonesian Open winner, Tai Tzu Ying, who crashed out at the hands of Wang Yihan today.
Men's singles
Anthony Ginting (Ina) bt 1-Chen Long (Chn) 21-14, 21-17
K. Srikanth (Ind) bt Heo Kwang Hee (Kor) 21-18, 21-17
Hans Kristian Vittinghus (Den) bt Sho Sasaki (Jpn) 21-14, 21-18
Jeon Hyeok Jin (Kor) bt Hu Yun (Hkg) walkover
Men's doubles
Liu Cheng-Zheng Siwei (Chn) bt 4-Hiroyuki Endo-Kenichi Hayakawa (Jpn) 21-6, 21-17
7-Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (Ina) bt 2-Fu Haifeng-Zhang Nan (chn) 21-13, 21-18
6-Angga Pratama-Ricky Karanda Suwardi (Ina) bt Chen Hung Ling-Wang Chi-Lin (Tai) 21-17, 21-9
Berry Angriawan-Rian Agung Saputro (Ina) bt Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong (Mas) 21-18, 21-18.
Women's singles
7-Saina Nehwal (Ind) bt 2-Ratchanok Inthanon (Tha) 28-26, 21-16
Sun Yu (chn) bt Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) 21-18, 21-9
3-Li Xuerui (chn) bt 6-Wang Shixian (Chn) 21-19, 21-17
4-Wang Yihan (Chn) bt 8-Tai Tzu Ying (Tai) 21-19, 21-15
Women's doubles
Bao Yixin-Chen Qingchen (Chn) bt 1-Misaki Matsumoto-Ayaka Takahashi (Jpn) walkover
3-Tang Yuanting-Yu Yang (chn) bt Huang Yaqiong-Tang Jinhua (Chn) 21-10, 21-19
2-Nitya Krishinda Maheswari-Greysia Polii (Ina) bt Maiken Fruergaard-Sara Thygesen (Den) 21-12, 21-12
7-Naoko Fukuman-Kurumi Yonao (Jpn) bt Chae Yoo Jung-Kim Ji Won (Kor) 22-20, 21-12
Mixed doubles
7-Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (Mas) bt Liu Yuchen-Tang Jianhua (Chn) 21-15, 21-15
8-Lu Kai-Huang Yaqiong (Chn) bt 4-Liu Cheng-Bao Yixin (Chn) 21-9, 21-16
6-Praveen Jordan-Debby Susanto (Ina) bt Riky Widianto-Richi Puspita Dili (Ina) 21-19, 21-16
Zheng Siwei-Chen Qingchen (Chn) bt Kenta Kazuno-Ayane Kurihara (Jpn) 21-17, 21-12
