China’s Wang Shixian slams Hong Kong Open set-up after late finish
Chinese former world number one forced to play soon after late finish because Coliseum in Hung Hom can accommodate only four courts
The court set-up at the Hong Kong Coliseum was slammed by leading player Wang Shixian, of China, after she battled through to the third round of the women’s singles competition at the Yonex-Sunrise Hong Kong Open in Hung Hom on Thursday.
The former world number one got past Aprilla Yuswandari of Indonesia in a tough 22-24, 21-13, 21-17 victory but was far from happy. “When I finished my game the previous night, it was already one o’clock in the morning,” said the fourth seed, who was back in court yesterday afternoon. “There is such a big problem in the arrangements and the organisers should look into it.”
The chairman of the Hong Kong Badminton Association, Tong Wai-lun, said organisers were restricted by the venue. “We can only set up a maximum of four adjacent courts here,” he said. “This problem happens at other super series events also ... I heard one tournament finished the first day at 2am.
“We hope the problem can be resolved when the new indoor arena at the former Kai Tak airport site opens – we have already requested space to accommodate seven adjacent courts.
“But we’re also worried about the seating capacity at the new arena – the government plan is for only 4,000 seats and we are now selling 6,500 tickets at Hung Hom. Some fans may be deprived of the chance to watch top-class badminton in future.”
Meanwhile, the biggest upset of the day came in the women’s singles when reigning world champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand was beaten by unseeded Bae Yeon-ju of South Korea, 21-14, 21-13, in just half an hour.