Gopichand storms into last eight

Last year's All England champion Pullela Gopichand pulled off his second upset in as many days, beating in-form third seed Lin Dan of China to seal a place in the quarter-finals of the Yonex Japan Open badminton tournament on Thursday.

The ninth seeded Indian ace, who had beaten World champion and Sydney Olympics silver medallist H Hendrawan of Indonesia on Wednesday night, again rallied after being twice in arrears to win 3-7, 7-3, 5-7, 7-4, 7-3 in 59 minutes.

Lin Dan had defeated Ramesh Nathan of Malaysia 4-7, 7-2, 7-1, 8-6 in his second round match.

China suffered another major setback when All England winner Chen Hong, the second seed, fractured his right leg and had to abandon his match with Muhammad Hafiz Hashim of Malaysia. Chen was 4-6 down in the final game.

But current Asian champion and top seed Xia Xuanze went through comfortably, beating defending champion Muhammad Roslin Hashim of Malaysia, Hafiz's elder brother, 7-4, 7-0, 7-4 to set up an all-Chinese encounter against Chen Yu.

Earlier in the second round, Hashim, who is unseeded, needed 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 victory.

China dominated the women's singles with defending champion Zhou Mi, World champion Gong Ruina, Asian champion Zhang Ning, former Asian junior champion Hu Ting, 2000 Asian champion Xie Xingfang and Dai Yun all reaching the quarters.

The 1998 Asian Games gold medallist, Kanako Yonekura of Japan, and Chen Wang of Hong Kong are the only non-Chinese challengers.

"I played my defence very well," said Gopichand, who won several rallies by parrying Lin's jump smashes to the front of his opponent's court.

"It was tough and intense, but it was a good match. I think he (Lin) played well. It was close, close, close all the time, all the way to the fifth game, so I'm happy about it," added Gopichand.

Gopichand was playing on the same court as yesterday, where he found a strong draft from the airconditioners helping him win all his games from one end of the court and lose them from the other.

It was the same story today. Although Gopichand was 1-4 down in the fourth game, he looked confident on his "winning side" and fired an array of unstoppable smashes combined with overhead drops to tie it at 2-2.

He was leading 4-2 in the decider when the players changed sides, leaving him to see out the match from his favourite end.

"It was a big element, because I was moving from the bad end, from the end I was not making points. It was a very big advantage," Gopichand said.

"I think it was a little bit difficult to play from the other side. It was important that I saved a little bit of energy and tried to win all of my games here (the other side). I think it worked pretty well," he added.

Gopichand will meet China's Wu Yunyong, who outclassed Fung Permadi of Taiwan 7-2, 7-0, 8-7, in the quarter-finals tomorrow.

Indonesian star Taufik Hidayat, who is in action after a break of almost seven months, was knocked out by joint fifth seed Bao Chunlai of China, losing 2-7, 5-7, 4-7.

Against Hendrawan in the second round on Wednesday night, Gopichand displayed superb court-craft in the deciding game after the players won two each as he crawled back from a 1-4 deficit to take the game and match 3-7, 7-3, 4-7, 7-3, 7-5 in 44 minutes.

"It feels good, because it was really tough. I think he (Hendrawan) played really well. In the end, I just took the two points.

"The match could have been either way, but I'm happy about it," said Gopichand after his match against Hendrawan.

"It was difficult to play from one end. The shuttle is floating from the out, and from the other side, it is going in.

"So that was the main difference. And also the lighting often hit my eyes on that side," added Gopichand, who changed sides to his "winning side" at 1-4 down in the final game.

Malaysia's men's singles players suffered one of their bleakest days in international competitions on Wednesday which prompted an urgent review of the country's training programmes ahead of the Thomas Cup finals next month.

Eight of the 10 Malaysian singles players crashed out in the first two rounds. The survivors in the third round today are the Hashim brothers - Roslin and Hafiz.

Results:
Second round: Xia Xuanze (Chn) bt Kazuhiro Shimogami (Jpn) 7-3, 7-2, 7-4; Mohd Roslin 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) 8-7, 3-7, 7-2, 2-7, 8-6; Chen Yu (Chn) bt Rony Agustinus (Ina) 3-7, 7-8, 7-2, 7-1, 7-2; Boonsak Polsana (Tha) bt Marleve Mainaky (Ina) 7-1, 5-7, 8-6, 7-0; Keita Masuda (Jpn) bt Vladislav Druzchenko (Ukr) 7-2, 7-2, 7-0; Bao Chunlai (Chn) bt Hidetaka Yamada (Jpn) 7-4, 7-5, 4-7, 7-3; Taufik Hidayat (Ina) bt Shon Seung-mo (Kor) 7-0, 7-4, 4-7, 7-0; Fung Permadi (Tpe) bt Agus Hariyanto (Hkg) 8-6, 7-2, 7-3; Wu Yunyong (Chn) bt Ong Ewe Hock (Mas) 2-7, 7-3, 7-3, 7-5; Pullela Gopichand (Ind) bt H. Hendrawan (Ina) 3-7, 7-3, 4-7, 7-3, 7-5; Lin Dan (Chn) bt Ramesh Nathan (Mas) 4-7, 7-2, 7-1, 8-6; Luo Yigang (Chn) bt Sairul Amar Ayob (Mas) 7-3, 7-0, 7-1; Lee Hyun-Il (Kor) bt Pei Wee Chung (Mas) 7-0, 7-4, 7-2; Mohd Hafiz Hashim (Mas) bt Soni Dwi Kuncoro (Ina) 7-1, 6-8, 7-2, 7-5; Chen Hong (Chn) bt Indra Wijaya (Sin) 5-7, 7-1, 7-1, 4-7, 7-4.

Yesterday's report
Gopichand in second round of Japan Open