HYDERABAD: It requires a diamond to cut another. On a day when the BWF World Championships moved into the semifinal stage, the packed Gachibowli Indoor stadium witnessed a clash of titans.
It was a fight between an ageing warrior, who lost his kingdom long back, and the reigning emperor. In the end, the 33-year-old Peter Hoeg Gade, who held the No.1 ranking for several months, bowed to the hegemony of Lin Dan, fondly called Super Dan by fans.
The defending World and Olympic champion withstood the stiff opposition of Gade and prevailed with a 22-20, 21-16 victory in the quarterfinals. Gade played as if he was fighting for survival and made the Chinese struggle hard for each point. The long rallies, power packed smashes and deft drops made it the best match of the tournament so far.
There were also two upsets and two heartbreaks. While the World No.1s in the men's and women's singles, Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei and Hong Kong's Zhou Mi, lost, India's challenge in the tournament ended too as Saina Nehwal and mixed doubles pair of V Diju and Jwala Gutta failed to progress.
But considering the reputations of the rivals, the upsets in the singles events shocked none. While Wei lost to the finalist of last World Championships, Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia 21-16, 14-21, 21-12, Zhou lost to two-time World champion Xie Xingfang 21-15, 21-18.
Saina, who became the first Indian to reach the quarters on Thursday, suffered a straight-game loss to Wang Lin of China 21-16, 21-19.
Before the Indian could get off the blocks, Wang surged ahead to a 9-2 lead in the first game. Saina, who fought back and reduced the deficit (11-11), failed to carry on the momentum and lost it rather meekly 21-16.
With the crowd rooting for her, Saina got off to a brilliant start in the second and was 10-2 before Wang began to catch up.
The Chinese girl, who lost to Saina in the final of Indonesian Super Series, defended well and frustrated Saina by pushing the dribbles back. Saina found it difficult to manage her backhand drive and conceded several unforced errors.
Saina complicated the situation by conceding eight points on the trot. and then, leading at 17-15, Saina failed to hold the nerve.
Wang collected two points and at 17-17 the net chord helped Wang take the lead. Once Wang surged ahead Saina lost her confidence and succumbed.
"She played a good match. When I beat her in Indonesia she confined herself to lifting the dribbles but now she has started pushing them. She defended very well. I am not too disappointed with the loss," Saina said.
Earlier in the day, Diju and Jwala proved no match for defending champions Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia. The Indian pair lost 21-16, 21-14.
"It was very disappointing. I don't know why but we played according to their plans," Jwala said later.
Former world champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia and World No.2 Chen Jin of China made it to the semifinals in men's singles, while Lu Lan of China and Pi Hongyan of France reached the last four stage in women's singles of the competition.
TOI
It was a fight between an ageing warrior, who lost his kingdom long back, and the reigning emperor. In the end, the 33-year-old Peter Hoeg Gade, who held the No.1 ranking for several months, bowed to the hegemony of Lin Dan, fondly called Super Dan by fans.
The defending World and Olympic champion withstood the stiff opposition of Gade and prevailed with a 22-20, 21-16 victory in the quarterfinals. Gade played as if he was fighting for survival and made the Chinese struggle hard for each point. The long rallies, power packed smashes and deft drops made it the best match of the tournament so far.
There were also two upsets and two heartbreaks. While the World No.1s in the men's and women's singles, Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei and Hong Kong's Zhou Mi, lost, India's challenge in the tournament ended too as Saina Nehwal and mixed doubles pair of V Diju and Jwala Gutta failed to progress.
But considering the reputations of the rivals, the upsets in the singles events shocked none. While Wei lost to the finalist of last World Championships, Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia 21-16, 14-21, 21-12, Zhou lost to two-time World champion Xie Xingfang 21-15, 21-18.
Saina, who became the first Indian to reach the quarters on Thursday, suffered a straight-game loss to Wang Lin of China 21-16, 21-19.
Before the Indian could get off the blocks, Wang surged ahead to a 9-2 lead in the first game. Saina, who fought back and reduced the deficit (11-11), failed to carry on the momentum and lost it rather meekly 21-16.
With the crowd rooting for her, Saina got off to a brilliant start in the second and was 10-2 before Wang began to catch up.
The Chinese girl, who lost to Saina in the final of Indonesian Super Series, defended well and frustrated Saina by pushing the dribbles back. Saina found it difficult to manage her backhand drive and conceded several unforced errors.
Saina complicated the situation by conceding eight points on the trot. and then, leading at 17-15, Saina failed to hold the nerve.
Wang collected two points and at 17-17 the net chord helped Wang take the lead. Once Wang surged ahead Saina lost her confidence and succumbed.
"She played a good match. When I beat her in Indonesia she confined herself to lifting the dribbles but now she has started pushing them. She defended very well. I am not too disappointed with the loss," Saina said.
Earlier in the day, Diju and Jwala proved no match for defending champions Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia. The Indian pair lost 21-16, 21-14.
"It was very disappointing. I don't know why but we played according to their plans," Jwala said later.
Former world champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia and World No.2 Chen Jin of China made it to the semifinals in men's singles, while Lu Lan of China and Pi Hongyan of France reached the last four stage in women's singles of the competition.
TOI
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