China Open 2011

The results from Hong Kong last week was a warning ahead of this week that China were back to their best. The opening day in Shanghai was yet another reminder as the top Chinese players as well as the future stars of this nation are set to dominate this week.
Gade Survives Scare
It was Peter Gade who came within a point of going out in a stunning upset to Shon Wan Ho of Korea, at 20-19 in the deciding game Gade reeled off three points in a row to survive his 82-minute ordeal and set up a second round clash with Du Pengyu of China. Lee Chong Wei and Kenichi Tago meet again this week, this time in the second round with both securing opening round victories. The world number 1 holds an 8-0 record against his Japanese opponent, with Tago winning just two games in the previous 8 meetings. Chen Long is the highest seed in the event for China and takes on Hans-Kristian Vittinghus in the second round tomorrow, with the winner set to play either Chen Jin or Wang Zhengming in the last 8.
Massive Chinese Contingent In Women’s Singles
China have no less than 8 players in the last 16 even with the loss of the 5th seeded Jiang Yanjiao in the opening round to Bulgaria’s Petya Nedelcheva. Top seed this week is Wang Shixian after regaining the world #1 spot and progressed safely into the second round against Thai qualifier Sapsiree Taerattanachai. Wang Yihan’s progression was tougher, defeating Ai Goto in two tight games and 3rd seeded Wang Xin was forced into a tight two game match by Yao Jie also. There is no less than 5 unseeded Chinese players, from Li Xuerui to qualifiers Han Li and Yao Xue, who takes on Tine Baun in the second round.
Little Trouble For Chinese Pairings
Three Chinese pairs in the men’s doubles are safely into the second round, with Cai and Fu taking on Hirobe and Kazuno, who defeated Hong and Chen in two tight games. The second seeded Lee and Jung are also into the last 16 and they also take on a Chinese pairing, the unseeded pair of Liu and Xiu who progressed easily into the second round after beating Liu and Ng of Canada. Boe and Mogensen are seeded 3 this week and defeated the on-form pairing of Bach and Gunawan in their opening round match.
Even with both the top two Chinese seeds receiving first round byes, there was still Chinese success in the women’s doubles as three unseeded Chinese pairs also progressed into the last 16. The most impressive of the victories was Cheng and Pan’s win over the 8th seeded Jauhari and Polii, whilst Tang and Xia as well as Xie and Yixin also progressed and take on seeded pairs in the last 16.
There was four Chinese victories in the mixed doubles also, with Zhang and Zhao receiving a bye whilst Xu and Ma came from a game behind against Ko and Eom of Korea to eventually progress into the last 16. Qualifiers Jiaming and Xia defeated te 6th seeded Prapakamol and Thoungthongkam of Thailand to set up their all-Chinese second round match against Hong and Pan. Lee and Ha were another seed that crashed out in the opening round, losing to the Danish pairing of Pieler Colding and Houmann to ensure three Danish pairs in the last 16 also, with Laybourn and Rytter Juhl beating Ikeda and Shiota of Japan and the 3rd seeded pair of Fischer Nielsen and Pedersen defeating Lee and Chien of Chinese Taipei to advance to the last 16.