The Women’s Singles Group B match saw Spain’s Marin stage a thrilling comeback, saving eight match points before her Chinese opponent regained her composure to close it out 21-18 24-22.
For most of the match, Marin was a shadow of herself as she plunged deeper and deeper in trouble against the big-hitting Sun. Unable to string a sequence of points and committing numerous errors, the Spaniard appeared to have given up the chase as she trailed 13-20 in the second.
A change came over her at this point. Marin was suddenly her old combative self once again, bursting with energy and hustling Sun into errors. The deficit disappeared as Marin ran up a sequence of eight straight points with a spell of high intensity to be on the verge of equalling the match.
Sun stemmed the breach with a 346 kph smash, and even though Marin saved another match point, the Chinese had the momentum once again on her side, winning the match after Marin sent a shuttle long.
However with two group matches yet to play, Marin still has a chance to qualify for the semi-finals.
In other matches in the same category, Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun eased past Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon 21-19 21-12, while 2014 champion Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei) also enjoyed a quick victory over China’s He Bingjiao, 21-16 21-13.
“I had very little rest after the Korea Masters as I rushed to the airport straight from the stadium,” said Sung Ji Hyun, who won her home Grand Prix Gold title on Sunday. “I haven’t won a Superseries this year, so that’s motivation for me to do well here. Today was a good start. Hopefully I can continue to play at this level.”
Mixed Doubles defending champions Chris Adcock and Gabrielle Adcock enjoyed a bright start to their campaign, winning their opening match in just 34 minutes.
The England pair were never threatened by Japan’s Kenta Kazuno/Ayane Kurihara, who appeared to be off-rhythm the entire match as they fell 21-15 21-9.
“We don’t feel the pressure of being defending champions,” said Gabrielle Adcock. “We know if we play as good as we can, we’ll do well. We had a good start today.”
“It wasn’t as easy as it seemed,” said Chris Adcock. “Even though we were ahead, we had to keep our concentration. There weren’t too many rallies; it was a bit tense. We’re happy with the good start. We play a couple of young Chinese pairs in this group. We’re looking forward to getting on court as it’s always a challenge to play them.”
Mixed Doubles saw Yonex All England winner Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto upset their senior compatriots Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir for the first time. The younger pair made it past the Olympic champions in Group A, 21-11 21-12.
Men’s Doubles also saw an all-Indonesian battle, with three-time Superseries winners Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon battling past Angga Pratama/Ricky Karanda Suwardi 21-18 17-21 21-14.
Recent Yonex-Sunrise Hong Kong Open champions Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda suffered an early setback in their Dubai campaign, falling 21-15 21-17 to Denmark’s Mads Conrad-Petersen/Mads Pieler Kolding.
Action in the BWF Dubai World Superseries Finals continues with the finals being played on Sunday 18 December.
Tickets for the BWF Dubai World Superseries Finals are on sale at www.ticketmaster.ae – prices start from AED 25, with those under 18 years entering for free when accompanied by a ticketed adult. For more information about the event go to: http://www.dubaisuperseriesfinals.ae.
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