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Rajiv Ouseph will play for his first final of a Grand Prix tournament this Sunday in California, only a few weeks after Denmark’s Kenneth Jonassen took charge of the men’s singles coaching in Milton Keynes.

By Don Hearn & Raphael Sachetat (with Badminton England). Photo: Badmintonphoto (archives)

Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei (pictured) comes to town for the 2010 Kumpoo Macau Open Grand Prix Gold as the sole defending champion but despite his top seed status, he may face one of the stiffest challenges early in the tournament.  Doubles contenders have their work cut out  for them as more Lees - Sheng Mu and Yong Dae - come back to the Asian tour looking for mixed and men's doubles gold.

By Kevin Kung, Badzine Correspondent.  Photos: BadmintonPhoto

Finals day at the 2010 Yonex Canada Open Grand Prix was a coronation for former World Champions Taufik Hidayat and Zhu Lin.  Taiwan badminton fans will be hoping that pattern is a portent of glory for Chinese Taipei as their shuttlers grabbed the rest of the titles, mixed doubles partners Lee Sheng Mu and Chien Yu Chin accounting for two titles each.

Story and Photos: Yves Lacroix, live in Richmond for Badzine and BadmintonPhoto

The atmosphere inside the Richmond Oval was as warm and gorgeous as the weather outside the venue for an action-packed semi-final day at the 2010 Yonex Canada Open Grand Prix.  And rightfully so as Chinese Taipei shuttlers, who turned out to be local favourites, dominated the day with four wins – of which three were long three-setters - against their Korean opponents, who in fact couldn’t manage to clinch a single spot in the finals roster. Juliane Schenk and duo Marinello-Overzier gave the German female squad a good name after each earned a spot on Sunday’s schedule. Brice Leverdez will join Taufik in the men’s singles final after scoring a brilliant win over bête noire Rune Ulsing of Denmark. However, Triyachart and Saputra of Singapore were the authors of the day’s biggest upset with a thrilling three-game win over first seeds Bach and Gunawan of neighbouring USA.

Story and Photos: Yves Lacroix, live in Richmond for Badzine and BadmintonPhoto

Canada came up short on quarter-finals day at the 2010 Yonex Canada Open Grand Prix while Chinese Taipei, Korea and Germany ended the day with at least three semi-finalists each, including two appearances each for Lee Sheng Mu, Cheng Wen Hsing, Chien Yu Chin, and Shin Baek Cheol.

Story and Photos: Yves Lacroix, live in Richmond for Badzine and BadmintonPhoto

Women’s singles top seed Pi Hongyan narrowly lost to dark horse favourite Zhu Lin (pictured) on Day 3 of the 2010 Yonex Canada Open Grand Prix.  Meanwhile, Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat had to really work to be the only one of the top six to reach the quarter-finals in men’s singles.

By Don Hearn.  Photos: Yves Lacroix (live from Richmond)

Both ladies’ winners at the 2010 Yonex-Sunrise Malaysia Grand Prix Gold were taking their first ever title at a major event. Yip Pui Yin of Hong Kong beat team-mate Zhou Mi to nail down the women’s singles title while Thailand’s Duang Anong Aroonkesorn / Kunchala Voravichitchaikul (pictured) beat Malaysia’s Ng sisters to win the women’s doubles title.  The win by Thailand meant the local fans had to be content with a single title from the all-Malaysian men’s singles final, won by Lee Chong Wei.

By Don Hearn, Badzine Correspondent.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (archives)

With the national badminton team spending July at home, two domestic teams have crossed oceans this week to give their players some Grand Prix action.  But while the Korea National University of Sports takes on a world class field in Canada, veteran Lee Kyung Won (pictured) leads the Samsung Electromechanics team as they head way Down Under to strut their stuff in Melbourne at the Yonex Australia Open Grand Prix.  The team spoke to Badzine during their last training session before their departure for Australia.

By Don Hearn, Badzine Korea correspondent. Photos: Badmintonphoto (archives) and Don Hearn

The highly anticipated clash between six-time Indonesia Open champion Taufik Hidayat and defending champion Lee Chong Wei (photo) ended in disappointment for the Indonesian. As Taufik failed to wrap his hand around his dream for the seventh title, Lee Chong Wei succeeded in clinching his third title in Indonesia in straight games 21-19, 21-8.

By: Serla Rusli, reporting live from Istora Senayan, Jakarta.  Photos: Yves Lacroix for Badmintonphoto (live)

The drumming supporters at Istora Senayan had to witness five of their heroes being edged out of the tournament, leaving only two Indonesians in the final showdown of Djarum Indonesia Open Super Series 2010. To the crowd’s relief, Taufik Hidayat (photo) survived his semi-final match against Nguyen Tien Minh. He will be accompanied by Hendra Setiawan who, with his Russian partner Anastasia Russkikh, has created a sensation in the mixed doubles event throughout the week.

By: Serla Rusli, reporting live from Istora Senayan, Jakarta.  Photos: Yves Lacroix for Badmintonphoto (live)

The drumming supporters at Istora Senayan had to witness five of their heroes being edged out of the tournament, leaving only two Indonesians in the final showdown of Djarum Indonesia Open Super Series 2010. To the crowd’s relief, Taufik Hidayat (photo) survived his semi-final match against Nguyen Tien Minh. He will be accompanied by Hendra Setiawan, whom with her Russian partner Anastasia Russkikh has created a sensation in the mixed doubles event throughout the week.

As the fourth day of the 2010 Djarum Indonesia Open Super Series comes to a close, it reveals an exciting semi-final line-up for badminton enthusiasts to cheer on.  With an interesting mix of both seeded players and underdogs, semi-finals day at Istora Senayan, Jakarta, promises excitement and brave fights from shuttlers who wish to prove themselves worthy for the finals spotlight on Sunday.

By: Serla Rusli, reporting live from Istora Senayan, Jakarta. Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

As the fourth day of Djarum Indonesia Open Super Series 2010 came to a close, it reveals an exciting semi-finals line-up for badminton enthusiasts to cheer on. With an interesting mix of both seeded players and the underdogs, the semi-final day at Istora Senayan, Jakarta, promises excitement and brave fights from shuttlers who wish to prove themselves worthy for the finals spotlight on Sunday.

If there were any surprises to be sprung by the Japanese, people would have expected Kenichi Tago to be the one doing it in his quarter-final clash with Lee Chong Wei. When all eyes were on Tago, Hirokatsu Hashimoto / Noriyasu Hirata (photo) stole everyone’s attention when they sent first seeds Koo Kien Keat / Tan Boon Heong packing home from the 2010 Djarum Indonesia Open Super Series after upsetting them 13-21, 21-19, 21-18.
By: Serla Rusli, reporting live from Istora Senayan, Jakarta. Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

If most of the seeded players cruised through the first round of Djarum Indoneisa Open Super Series 2010, the second round saw different fates for many favourites in the tournament as they failed their tests to march to the quarter-finals. Among the fallen seeds were Markis Kido (photo) / Hendra Setiawan and Koreans Shin Baek Cheol / Lee Hyo Jung.

The China League first round robin stage is over which means the new version of the China Interclubs is halfway done. Zhu Lin bounced back while superb Lin Dan continues his unbeaten record as Qingdao and Jiangsu lead the way.

By Kevin Kung, Badzine Correspondent in Hong Kong with the help of Lee Suet Yuan. Photo: Badmintonphoto (archives)

The China League first round robin stage is over which means the new version of the China Interclubs is half way done. Zhu Lin bounced back while superb Lin Dan continues his unbeaten record as Qingdao and Jiangsu lead the way.

By Kevin Kung, Badzine Correspondent in Hong Kong. Photo: Badmintonphoto (archives)

Most seeded players did their duty successfully in the 2010 Djarum Indonesia Open Super Series.  Lee Chong Wei, Saina Nehwal and Nova Widianto / Lilyana Natsir advance to the second round, while Taufik had to struggle again.

By Vini Damayanti, live from Jakarta. Photos: Y. Lacroix for Badmintonphoto (live)

It was a one-sided affair in the men’s and women’s doubles final, with both pairs of champions triumphing in two straight games – except it was the unseeded underdogs who emerged victorious over their seeded rivals in their battles for ultimate glory in Singapore.

By Pearlyn Kwang, Badzine Correspondent, live from Singapore Indoor Stadium. Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

Taufik Hidayat (pictured) leads the Indonesian charge for gold at the 2010 Djarum Indonesia Open Super Series, the first China-less Open in nine years.  The action gets started with a whole load of grudge matches from last week, as several top seeds will be looking to regain some championship face in front of Jakarta’s legendary crowds.

By Don Hearn, Badzine Correspondent.  Photos: Badmintonphoto