South Korea take first and second place in the men’s doubles

[VICTOR news] In the final of the Wilson Badminton Swiss Open 2011, the South Korean team took first place in the men’s singles, men’s doubles and women’s doubles events.

In addition, in the women’s singles, Sung Ji-hyun made it to the final but lost to Saina Nehwal of India in the final, taking the South Korean haul in this tournament to three first places and one runner-up place, making them the biggest winners.

The final of the men’s doubles was contested between South Korea’s Lee Yong Dae and Jung Jae Sung, who are ranked World No.2 at present, and their teammates Ko Sung Hyu and Yoo Yeon Seong, both who are ranked No.4. This was expected to be a closely fought contest but, from the start, Ko / Yoo attacked, going to the net aggressively and putting their opponents under pressure, and taking point after point with powerful smashes. Lee/ Yong tried to counterattack but their opponents defended outstandingly, preventing Lee from being as effective as usual in winning points by smashing from the back of the court. In the end Ko/Yoo took the title 21-17,21-16, their first title of 2011. As for the women’s’ doubles, Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung swept aside Kyung Eun-jung and Kim Ha-meul from the same team with ease.

This was the first time the Ha/Kim have won a title since they began playing together as a pair. High hopes have been held for the pair by the South Korean team since the retirement of veterans Lee Hyo-jung and Lee Kyung-won at the end of 2010. Ha/Kim will take the momentum they have gathered with this win to the South Korean Olympic qualifiers starting in May, hoping to be able to represent their country at the 2012 London Olympics.

Park Sung-hwan fights off a strong challenge from compatriot Lee Hyun-iI

In the men’s single’s, current South Korean No.1 Park Sung-hwan, played veteran Lee Hyun-il. Lee took the first game 21-17, however, Park adjusted his tactics for the second game and went on the attack, using long shots on both sides of the court to drain his opponent’s energy, quickly taking the second game 21-9.

In the third and deciding third game, Lee Hyun-iI began to tire obviously and this prompted Park to take the offensive, and he took points with a series of strong smashes, in the end taking the tile 2-1 after 68 minutes.

This was his first title since 2009. In the women’s singles, Sung Ji-hyun of South Korea lost to Saina Nehwal of India. Sung Ji-hyun, who had beaten Germany’s Juliane Schenk in the semis, was put under a lot of pressure by the Indian, who won a succession of points with drop shots at the net. The final score saw Saina Nehwal win 13-21,14-21.

After reaping a rich harvest in the Swiss Open the South Korean team’s head coach said “The South Korea team played very well in this tournament. After three weeks of battle overseas everyone is tired so, when we return home, we will first let the players relax for a while and then begin preparing for the next tournament.”