WD - First round - Nothing can stop the best from moving forward

 The Chinese pair held a pretty head-to-head record 6-1.  Currently world number 2, the Chinese are well known for their powerful attacks while the STOEVA sisters are more about having a large capacity in defending their territory. CHEN progressed much in her smash, which added even more aggressiveness to their game. On the other side, the STOEVA tried to seek their way to rebalance the match.  21/13, it took the Chinese 20 minutes to wrap up the first game.  JIA’s monstrous smashes and CHEN’s meticulous upfront follow-up shots kept shaking the Bulgarian sisters’ solid guard and they entered the interval with a 5-point advance.

The other match between the Koreans BAEK Ha Na / LEE So Hee and the other Chinese pair ZHANG Shu xian/ ZHENG Yu did not last that long. The Korean top players used two of their games to eliminated their Chinese badminton rivals. The scores 21/17, 21/12. The Koreans safe through next round.  

The Japanese top players finally reunited after HIROTA’s injuries and they were eager to show their fans they were ready for more adventures in their world tour journeys.  Even though they fell out of World Top 10,  the Japanese did not get any weaker in their games.  Very quickly, they took the up side of the first set, a steady 5 points advance kept growing and they didn’t waste any time pocketing the first win.  It seemed the upwind kept its direction: FUKUSHIMA / HIROTA accelerated at the second game and they only let their opponents score 9 points before they put an end to this match.  34 minutes, 21/11, 21/9. Another Japanese pair got into next round.  

French public’s enthusiastic cheering obviously heated Coubertin Stadium up even before the match started. It was a piece of white paper these two pairs historical battle record. The French young players showed great stamina and enthusiasm in this match. They kept the score close and would not miss any chance to keep up with their opponents. The Korean pair has a very traditional game style: KONG’s hard smashes disable their rivals and KIM’s smooth slices always finish the job. Anne and Margot were not intimidated by the Koreans for the first half of the game, however, they could not help losing points when the Koreans speed up after the interval. The French lost 15/21 16/21

This may not happen very often, but the two German players had to fight each other in the Mixed Doubles yesterday and they were ready to fight together against the Thai sisters.  The first game was very tight before the interval and the Thai started to take control thanks to their ruthless smashes. 21/15 for the Thai sisters in the first match and 21/15 in the second.