Shon Wan Ho has taken the scalps of top players from different countries in succession

After months of racket string-like tension players were at last able to relax at the end of April

At the end of the last Olympic qualifying tournament, the Indian Open, at the end of April, no matter if a player actually qualified for the London Olympics or missed the cut, they were all able to heave a sigh of relief and, after a bit of mental and target adjustment, they will soon be ready to start afresh.

he BWF rankings released on May 3, 2012 showed that, after the top ranked players all played well in April, they all stayed in their respective top spots in the world rankings (men’s singles:Lee Chong Wei, men’s doubles: Cai Yun/Fu Hai Feng, women’s singles: Wang Yi Han, women’s doubles: Wang Xiao Li/Yu Yang and mixed doubles: Zhang Nan/Zhao Yun Lei)

Unbelievable in New Delhi   South Korean players show their mettle

Shon Wan Ho faced top Danish player Peter Hoeg Gade, a player he has lost to in each of their previous six meetings, in the last eight at the Indian Open. Shon knew that his chances of playing at the London Olympics depended on playing his best and beating a player he had never managed to overcome before.

Shon’s desire to play at the Olympics inspired him to raise his game in terms of power speed and maturity, and he was able to beat the Dane.A player on fire, he kept up this momentum and not only made it to the final, he beat the world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei to take the men’s singles title. The success won by this young player’s skill and never-say-die fighting spirit took his world ranking to 14th in one fell swoop, and also booked him a seat on the plane to London with the South Korean team.

Kim Ha Na/ Jung Kyung Eun, the winners of the women’s doubles title at the Indian Open 2012

Kim Ha Na/ Jung Kyung Eun faced an even more difficult situation. They had to win at least second place at the Indian Open to qualify for the Olympics. They faced two tough Japanese pairs in the quarter finals and semi-finals; both matches were long games that were hard won victories for the Koreans. Their desire to win strengthened their ability to resist pressure and made them tougher, not only allowing them to reach the final and quality for the Olympics ( their world ranking rose to 8th) they were able to go on to win their first Super Series title ever.

The South Korean team for the London Olympics 2012.

Such outstanding results obviously won the players a bunch of points; men’s doubles pair Lee Sheng Mu / Fang Chieh Min leaped up three spots in the rankings to seventh, while mixed doubles pair Chen Hung Ling / Cheng Wen Hsing kept their impressive fifth spot in the world rankings!

In the women’s singles, Tai Tzu Ying also saw her ranking rise to 12th. There are high hopes for the youngest player in the Chinese Taipei team at the London Olympics.

Chinese Taipei team for the London Olympics 2012

Vietnam team for the London Olympics 2012

Men’s singles: Nguyen Tien Minh