2014 Australian Open Superseries | June 24-29 | Sydney, Australia
VICTOR STAR to watch: Yoo Yeon Seong
Yoo Yeon Seong will look to take his fourth victory of the season.
The Korean National Team captain will lead his teammates into the first Superseries event held in Australia, in which he could complete a sweep in the summer swing that includes a history three Superseries events in a row. Yoo has won the first two in Tokyo and Jakarta with his doubles partner Lee Yong Dae and they are the overwhelming favorites in Sydney as top seeds and their final rivals in the last two events, Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan, decided to pull out last minute.
Player to beat
Chinese star Lin Dan had an incredible 22-1 record since his comeback at the 2013 World Championships that sees him surge in the rankings to sit at no.22. The only defeat came earlier in the month at the Japan Open when he lost to third seed Jan O Jorgenson in three. It was expected the two will meet again in the semifinals this week at the Australian Open but Jorgenson, the top seed in the draw, chose to withdraw after his first ever Superseries victory last week in Jakarta and was replaced by Malaysian Daren Liew.
Record to be made
Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeon Seong are set to become the first pair to win three Superseries events in the same number of weeks. The last team to win three consecutive Superseries events was Ahsan/Setiawan who enjoyed success last year in Indonesia, Singapore, and lastly, with a 7-week hiatus, at the World Championships in Guangzhou.
Lee Yong Dae (left) and Yoo Yeong Seong are on a 10-match winning streak.
Match not to miss
Both born in June and just celebrated their young birthdays, World no.7 20-year-old Tai Tzu Ying will need to take on Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi, who just turned 17, in the opening round. Tai trails in the head-to-head 0-1 when Yamaguchi became the first home player in 32 years to win at Japan Open in 2013, beating Tai in the semifinals 26-24, 21-14.
Tai Tzu Ying and Akane Yamaguchi will be out in the first round for a battle of youngsters.
Did you know?
It’s a first and probably the last we’ll see from a no.1 mixed doubles team. China’s Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei will be joining this week slightly different than usual - when they pair up with Fu Haifeng and Tian Qing respectively in the doubles but are not united in the mixed.
2014-06-22 |
2014-06-29 |
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