0
TOKYO, April 3: Last year’s All England champion Pulella Gopichand stormed back from a game down twice to beat world champion Hendrawan in the second round of the Japan Open badminton tournament on Wednesday.
The joint ninth seed from India crawled back from 1-4 down in the final game and took the last two points to beat the Indonesian 3-7, 7-3, 4-7, 7-3, 7-5 in 44 minutes.
Defending champion Roslin Muhammad Hashim of Malaysia, unseeded here, needed a tough 77 minutes to fend off an aggressive challenge from Park Tae-Sang of South Korea for a 7-4, 6-8, 1-7, 7-2, 7-3 win.
Hashim missed three game points as he lost control against Park’s smashes. But he steadied himself and never looked in danger in the last two games.
Collated results (x denotes seeds):
MEN’S (singles first round)
Roslin Muhammad Hashim (Mas) bt Hosemari Fujimoto (Jpn) 7-4, 3-7, 7-4, 7-3; Park Tae-Sang (Kor) bt Stefano Infantino (Ita) 7-0, 7-1, 7-5; Chen Yu (Chn x9) bt Ronald Susilo (Sin) 7-1, 6-8, 7-5, 7-3; Rony Agustinus (Ina) bt Shinya Otsuka (Jpn) 7-2, 7-1, 7-0; Keita Masuda (Jpn) bt Lee Tsuen Seng (Mas x9) 7-4, 7-0, 7-1; Vladislav Druzchenko (Ukr) bt Liao Shen-hsin (Tpe) walkover; Shon Seung-Mo (Kor x9) bt Yuichi Ideda (Jpn) 8-6, 6-8, 7-2, 3-7, 7-0; Taufik Hidayat (Ina) bt James Chua (Mas) 8-6, 0-7, 7-2, 7-0; Fung Permadi (Tpe) bt Toru Matsumoto (Jpn) 7-2, 0-7, 7-1, 7-1; Agus Hariyanto (Hkg x9) bt Lee Chong Wei (Mas) 7-3, 4-7, 7-5, 1-7, 7-5; Hendrawan (Ina) bt Yosuke Nakanishi (Jpn) 7-5, 7-2, 7-4; Pulella Gopichand (Ind x9) bt Lai Kuan-hung (Tpe) 7-4, 7-3, 8-6; Luo Yigang (Chn) bt Budi Santoso (Ina) 7-0, 7-5, 7-4; Sairul Amar Ayob (Mas x9) bt Sho Sasaki (Jpn) 7-0, 7-1, 7-2; Soni Dwi Kuncoro (Ina) bt Zhu Weilun (Chn) 6-8, 7-0, 7-3, 7-2; Hafiz Muhammad Hashim (Mas x9) bt Shoji Sato (Jpn) 2-7, 7-3, 7-2, 7-2
Second round
Xia Xuanze (Chn x1) bt Kazuhiro Shimogami (Jpn) 7-3, 7-2, 7-4; Roslin Muhammad Hashim (Mas) bt Park Tae-Sang (Kor) 7-4, 6-8, 1-7, 7-2, 7-3; Nunung Subandoro (Ina) bt Wong Choong Hann (Mas x5) 8-7, 7-3, 7-2, 2-7, 8-6; Chen Yu (Chn x9) bt Rony Agustinus (Ina) 3-7, 7-8, 7-2, 7-1, 7-2; Boonsak Polsana (Tha) bt Marleve Mainaky (Ina x3) 7-1, 5-7, 8-6, 7-0; Keita Masuda (Jpn) bt Vladislav Druzchenko (Ukr) 7-2, 7-2, 7-0; Bao Chunlai (Chn x5) bt Hidetaka Yamada (Jpn) 7-4, 7-5, 4-7, 7-3; Taufik Hidayat (Ina) bt Shon Seung-Mo (Kor x9) 7-0, 7-4, 4-7, 7-0; Fung Permadi (Tpe) bt Agus Hariyanto (Hkg x9) 8-6, 7-2, 7-3; Wu Yunyong (Chn) bt Ong Ewe Hock (Mas x5) 2-7, 7-3, 7-3, 7-5; Pulella Gopichand (Ind x9) bt Hendrawan (Ina) 3-7, 7-3, 4-7, 7-3, 7-5; Lin Dan (Chn x3) bt Ramesh Nathan (Mas) 4-7, 7-2, 7-1, 8-6; Luo Yigang (Chn) bt Sairul Amar Ayob (Mas x9) 7-3, 7-0, 7-1; Lee Hyun-Il (Kor x5) bt Pe Wee Chung (Mas) 7-0, 7-4, 7-2; Hafiz Muhammad Hashim (Mas x9) bt Soni Dwi Kuncoro (Ina) 7-1, 6-8, 7-2, 7-5; Chen Hong (Chn x2) bt Indra Wijaya (Sin) 5-7, 7-1, 7-1, 4-7, 7-4.—AFP
