Birmingham: At 183 cm, and given the amount of versatility, speed and strength, Sun Yu (20) proved herself as the women’s singles future for China when she nabbed the All England quarter-finals berth by defeating women’s singles top seed Li Xuerui 21-13, 21-13 in just 35 minutes.
“I still haven’t recovered from my foot injury yet,” said Li Xuerui.
“I have only been in full training for two weeks but I came to this tournament because I love it and I never expected to win the title,” added Li Xuerui.
Another top women’s singles player, third seed Saina Nehwal of India had to show speed, control and variation to fend off Kim Hyo Min of Korea 21-15 21-15 and set up last-eight showdown with Wang Yihan, the 2009 winner.
“No match is easy here and I will have to prepare well (against Wang). The girls are getting faster on court,” added the 24-year-old who is bidding to become the first Indian female winner at the All-England.
Five-time All England champion Lin Dan of China overcame compatriot Tian Houwei’s stubborn resistance en route to a 21-15,21-19 victory on Thursday. Meanwhile, top seed Chen Long wasted no time in seeing off Hsu Jen Hao of Taiwan 21-7, 21-9 in just 41 minutes.
After dumping third seed Son Wan Ho of South Korea yesterday, England’s Rajiv Ouseph needed to dig deep and fought back from one set down and then carried the momentum to trounce India’s H. S. Prannoy 17-21,21-19,21-18 in a match that lasted 72 minutes.
Malaysia’s run at the All England came to an end on Thursday as men’s doubles shuttlers Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong were stopped by Mads Conrad-Petersen/Mads Pieler Kolding of Denmark by falling 15-21, 13-21 in 37 minutes. Malaysia’s mixed doubles pair Tan Aik Quan/Lai Pei Jing were also bundled out of the tournament by top seeds Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei of China losing 13-21, 14-21.
