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Lin shows why hes No. 1

Jumat, 15 Juli 2005 08:48:59
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Lin shows why hes No. 1

Chinese ace crushes Oppien, keeps Asia ahead of Europe NOW German Bjoern Oppienand Filipino sports fansknows why Chinas Lin Dan is the No. 1 rated male badminton player in the world. In an awesome display of power and precision, Lin crushed a lackluster Oppien, 15-2, 15-3, Wednesday night in the MVP Cup Asia vs. Europe Badminton Championships before a spellbound crowd at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

I kept on searching and searching for a weakness, but could not find any, said the morose-looking world No. 16 at the post-match briefing after the 30-minute demolition job he got in his maiden meeting with Lin. But the impressive victory was the lone triumph of the night for Team Asia after Team Europe finally broke through by sweeping the second ladies singles and doubles matches. Pretty Pi Hongyan, who was born in China but now plays for France, struck the first blow for the Europeans in subduing ailing South Korean Seo Yon Hee, 11-4, 11-3, in the three-day series presented by Smart and PLDT myDSL.

Mia Audina Tjiptawan of the Netherlands then teamed up with Englands Gail Emms, a last-minute replacement for Mias sick compatriot Yao Jie, and the first-time partnernship produced a rousing 15-12, 15-8 win over Thailands Saralee Thungthong-kam and Sathinee Chankrachangwong. With the four pointstwo per matchearned from those twin wins, the Europeans were just one point behind their Asian rivals, 4-5, entering the final day of the event held in honor of PLDT boss Manny V. Pangilinan.

With each win worth 3 points in the mixed doubles, ladies and mens singles matches to be contested Thursday, it was still a tossup for the top team pot of ,000 in the tourney also sponsored by Solar Sports, Nokia, JVC and Yonex, among others. So this left the Filipino tandem of Kennivic and Kennevic Asuncion with the daunting task of upending the English pair of Emms and Nathan Robertson, who are merely the No. 1 mixed doubles duo in the world and Athens Olympics silver medalists, when they tangled last night.

On the other hand, Europe captain Martijn van Dooremalen picked Pi, the world No. 4, to play Chinas Zhang Ning, the reigning Olympic badminton queen and world No. 2, in the ladies singles. Lin was expectedly picked by Asia captian Dato Punch Gunawan in the mens singles against Danish underdog Anders Boesen in the final mens singles match. And from the way he roughed up Oppien Wednesday night, there seemed to be no way that the 22-year-old Fujian native could loseplus the fact that he has only lost once to a European in his short but outstanding career.

In a battle of southpaws, Lin proved to be superior in every department against Oppien, who most of the time reacted a split-second late to the lightning-quick strokes of his rival. When the rangy German tried to attack near the net, the Chinese would often just lob over him, the shuttlecock landing just landing a few inches within the baseline. Lin also exploited his catlike quickness to catch his rival offguard with either passing shots or drop shots that were irretrievable. For a while, it looked like Oppien would offer some resistance in the second set when he battled Lin to a 3-all standoff early on, but eventually bowed to the inevitable as the Chinese cranked up his game a notch.

(source: manilatimes)
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