Latest opdate: 14/02/2003 - 11:24 (CET)

[ Dansk version ]

2003
ALL ENGLAND BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIPS
- 11.-16. February, National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England

Thursday, 13. February

by Leif Adersen in Copenhagen

Mixed Double

With only 2 round to play - one on each of the two first days - the pairs had an easy program. 4 danes made it to 2. Round - 2 came out. England had 3 - but only 2. seed Nathan Robertson/Gail Emms made it to the 1/4 Finals. None of the seeds lost in the 2. round.

Ladies' Singles

2. and 3. round was played today. Last years champion, Camilla Martin had an easy 2. round, but in the 3. round she was up against Pi Hongyan, France. Pi Hongyan is born in China, but have played for Denmark, before going to France. Not only is she still a player in the danish club Greve - she is also a very good friend and training partner with Camilla. But she has never won an tournament match against Camilla Martin - until today, that is. "I think Pi Hongyan played an incredible good match," Camilla Martin said to danish press afterwards - "She was simply better tonight!"

3. Round also had Kanako Yonekura, Japan, (8) exiting, loosing to Kim Keyung-Ran, Korea.

Men's Singles

Only Kenneth Jonassen (4) out of the 7 danes starting - 3 af them seeded - made it to the 1/4 Finals. The 3 seeded entered the 3. Round - but Niels Chr. Kaldau (11) had to beet Kenneth Jonassen to succeed - but failed this time. Anders Boesen (6) lost to Muhammad Hafiz Hashim, Malaysia. Top seed Chen Hong, China, looks very strong, and on track for reclaiming the championship.

Men's Doubles

Danes lost big time during the 2. round - 4 out of 7 did not make into round 3. But they fought hard - 3 of the 4 matches took 3 games and around 70 minutes! Englands Anthony Clark/Nathan Robertson eliminated no. 5 seeds Mathias Boe/Micahel Lamp, Denmark. But the 2. rounds biggest upset may be Chan Chong Ming/Chew Choon Eng, Malysia, who had the match in control, but was forced to retire in the second game.

Only top seeded Jens Eriksen/Martin Lundgaard is left after 3. round of the 8 danish pair in this draw. 4. seed Lars Paaske/Jonas Rasmussen lost to unseeded pair Sang Yang/Zheng Bo, China, while last years runner up, Eng Hian/Flandy Limpele, England, had it fairly easy with the reestablished partnership Jime Laugesen/Michael Søgaard. The latter did come from at long, gruelling 2. Round match against the younger danish pair of Thomas Laybourn/Peter Buur Steffensen. Other 3. Round upsets: The only seeded pair from USA, Tony Gunawan/Khan Bob Malaythong (6) and indonesian Halim Haryanto/Trikus Haryanto (8) also failed to reach the 1/4 Finals.

Ladies' Doubles

1. and 2. round was both played thursday, and the draw proceeds with 1/4-finals tomorrow. A major upset in the 1. round was danes Pernille Haarder/Mette Schjoldager, seeded 2, loosing to indonesian Eny Erlangga/Lilyana Natsir. But maybe more interesting was, the the indonesian lost in 2. round to a qualifying pair from Poland, Kamila Augustyn/Nadia Kostiuczik. They are the only qualifier in this tournament to reach a 1/4 Final.

2. Round also so the other seed loose out: Chikako Nakayama/Keiko Yohsitomi, Japan (8) bowed to the host nations Gail Emms/Donna Kellogg, the only unseeded englishmen to reach af 1/4 Final.

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