Danish veteran Peter Gade carved out an impressive 21-15 21-19 victory over South Korea’s Sung Hwan Park to set up a final clash with the top seed Lee Chong Wei in the inaugural India Open Super Series here on Saturday.
Chong Wei looks set for his third Super Series title this year after breezing past Hu Yun 21-11 21-15.
In the women’s singles, Porntip Buranaprasertsuk stole the hearts of badminton aficionados. The 19-year-old Thai entered the final after tying the attacking Yip Pui Yin in knots with an immaculate display of deceptive badminton. Porntip will take on Bae Youn Joo of Korea in the final on Sunday.
If the Gade-Park match was about power, pace and supreme athleticism, Porntip’s match against Yip featured two very different styles. The Hong Kong player is almost masculine in the way she jump-smashes, and her relentless attacking play makes her a formidable rival. She brought these qualities to the match early, attacking and smashing at every opportunity.
Porntip stayed level with her intelligent placements, forcing Yip to scurry around. From 10-all, suddenly the Thai hit a high, taking eight points on the trot as the Hong Kong player began to get desperate and errors flowed from her racquet. Yip kept glancing anxiously at her coach, but there was no respite as the elegant Thai outfoxed her with deft touches and deceptive half-smashes that kept her scrambling. Yip fared even worse in the second game as Porntip had her on a leash. The Thai girl’s control, variety and intelligent shotmaking would’ve warmed the hearts of the small but noisy crowd.
Earlier, Peter Gade held off a strong challenge from fellow-veteran Park Sung Hwan in the second game, to nose through in straight games, 21-15 21-19. Everything went the Dane’s way in the firs game, catching the Korean frequently with his cross-court placements. Park tried to up the pace in the second game, and Gade was in trouble as Park strung up a 12-6 lead. The Dane fought desperately and managed to catch up, and then Park erred with the court at his mercy. Gade went up for the first time in the second game, and even though Park made a belated charge, the Dane wrapped things up quickly.
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