One of the tournament’s major favorites is out. Danish hope Tine Baun lost in two games against Salakjit Ponsana. The Thai has never beaten the Dane before but nevertheless she was capable of controlling the match from the very beginning.
Tine Baun committed a lot of mistakes at the back line while she was under heavy pressure from the little Ponsana. Salakjit Ponsana – little sister of Boonsak Ponsana – won 21-16 and was cruising in the following game. But somehow Tine Baun fought back and equalized to 20-20 before Ponsana took two in a row and ended the Dane’s hope. Tine Baun was truly disappointed after the match:
- It wasn’t my day. I made some mistakes. I also had trouble with the little wind, I don’t know if it was the wind or the shuttles that were too fast, but she was clearly playing her best, says Tine Baun.
Despite her favorite role Tine Baun did not underestimate Salakjit Ponsana. She knew before the match, it would be a tough one:
- She can always put everyone under pressure even the Chinese, so I knew she could play at that level, I was just hoping to bring my good game up, but I was just fighting all the time, she continued.
Salakjit Ponsana proceeds to the quarters where she will play another favorite killer, Ai Goto.
Petya avoided another surprise
During the upset on court three a lot of the home crowd’s focus was on the court beside. The Odense-player Petya Nedelcheva was struggling to defeat her Czech opponent, Kristina Ludikova. Ludikova got her own crowd with her this day, as she normal represents Ikast.
The battle off court sounded like a tie, but on court it was the favorite Petya Nedelcheva who pulled it. After one of the tournament’s most exciting games, the Bulgarian could celebrate her 21-19 win in the last game. She will now meet Dutch Yao Jie who had no trouble finding her way into the quarter finals. She beat easily Anastasia Prokopenko 21-15 and 21-17. Watch live stream, click her |