Badminton: Simon says: Bring on Lee

SINGAPORE - He is just one step away from completing a fairy-tale run to become the first qualifier to win the OUE Singapore Open men's singles title.

But unseeded Indonesian Simon Santoso will face a mammoth obstacle in the form of Malaysia's world No. 1 shuttler Lee Chong Wei in today's final at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Santoso, ranked 52nd in the world, is relishing the challenge of improving his dismal record of just one win in 10 attempts against Lee.

"It will be good to test myself and see where I stand against the best in the world," said the 28-year-old after he shocked China's world No. 7 Du Pengyu 16-21, 21-17, 21-17 in 73 minutes in front of almost 8,000 spectators yesterday.

"Fitness will not be an issue even though I played two extra qualifiers and had to play three sets today."

After overcoming a sluggish first set, Santoso probed, punched, and pulled his higher-ranked opponent all across the badminton court, making numerous amazing saves and stunning smashes before prevailing. He said: "Du is a very good player who is very hard to finish off. So I had to be patient and and wait for my opportunity."

Santoso's propensity to get his big decisions right has seen the former world No. 3 mount a steady comeback after slipping out of the top 100 following a back injury.

In January, he quit the national team and turned professional in a bid to recover from his rut. The 2009 and 2011 SEA Games men's singles champion then picked up his first title of the year in the Malaysia GP Gold last month, before making another final here.

PROFESSIONAL

"I turned professional in January after 10 years with the national team. I wanted a change after hitting a plateau in my career," said Santoso.

"I was ranked third in the world at one stage but stagnated in the national team for various reasons. A back injury stalled my progress.

"Having to fend for myself may just do the trick to rejuvenate my badminton career. I still love the sport very much.

"As an independent player, there is less pressure. I am in better condition too. It is important to enjoy oneself while playing. I am more relaxed now.

"The men's singles competition is still wide open. Except for the top two players Lee Chong Wei and China's Chen Long, the standard of the others is about the same. I still have a chance to spice up the competition."

Lee will indeed provide Santoso with his sternest test this week.

It was double celebrations for the 31-year-old Malaysian yesterday as he fended off the plucky challenge by India's world No. 25 K Srikanth to win 21-19, 21-18 on the day his son Kingston turned one.

The 21-year-old Srikanth was 19-16 up in the first set, but allowed Lee to reel five straight points and the top seed never looked back.

"It's good that I'm given a good fight after having it easy for the past few rounds," said Lee.

"I'm going to celebrate my son's birthday with a big dinner with my friends and family. But I know there's still another match to win.

"Since I've accepted Singapore Badminton Association's invite to come and play, I have a responsibility to perform and I intend to make it back-to-back titles after winning the India Open last week."

The women's singles final will be a repeat of last year's all-China final between top two seeds Li Xuerui and Wang Yihan, after both posted comfortable wins over Sung Ju Hyun and Han Li respectively.

"We haven't played each other since last year's final. We are teammates, so there are no secrets. It all depends on who performs best during the match," said Wang, the Singapore Open defending champion.

FIXTURES (starting at 1pm):

Mixed doubles final Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir (Ina) v Riki Widianto/Puspita Richi Dili (Ina)

Women's singles final Li Xuerui (Chn) v Wang Yihan (Chn)

Men's doubles final Cai Yun/Lu Kai (Chn) v Lee Sheng-mu and Tsai Chia-hsin (Tpe)

Women's doubles final Christinna Pedersen/Kamilla Rytter Juhl (Den) v Bao Yixin/Tang Jinhua (Chn)

Men's singles final Lee Chong Wei (Mal) v Simon Santoso (Ina)

SEMI-FINAL RESULTS Men's singles Simon Santoso (Ina) bt Du Pengyu (Chn) 16-21, 21-17, 21-17 Lee Chong Wei (Mal) bt K Srikanth (Ind) 21-19, 21-18

Women's singles Li Xuerui (Chn) bt Sung Ji Hyun (Kor) 21-13, 21-13 Wang Yihan (Chn) bt Han Li (Chn) 21-18, 21-12

Men's doubles Cai Yun/Lu Kai (Chn) bt Kim Sa Rang/Yoo Yeon Seong (Kor) 21-19, 21-16 Lee Sheng-mu/Tsai Chia-hsin (Tpe) bt Ko Sung Hyun/Shin Baek Choel (Kor) 22-20, 18-21, 21-14

Women's doubles Bao Yixin/Tang Jinhua (Chn) bt Luo Ying/Luo Yu (Chn) walkover Christinna Pedersen/Kamilla Rytter Juhl (Den) bt Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi (Jpn) 11-21, 21-15, 21-14

Mixed doubles Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir (Ina) bt Liu Cheng/Bao Yixin (Chn) 17-21, 21-11, 21-19 Riki Widianto/Puspita Richi Dili (Ina) bt Ko Sung Hyun/Kim Ha Na (Kor) 20-22, 21-17, 21-16

This article was published on April 13 in The New Paper.

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