All-England - Thai pair end Jiang and Li's surprising run

AN UPSET was on the cards, but there was no fairy tale finish. The Singapore surprise ended at the All-England Badminton Championships in Birmingham late on Friday when Jiang Yanmei and Li Yujia bowed out in the last eight of the women's doubles.

They lost 15-6, 8-15, 9-15 to Thais Sathinee Chankrachangwong and Saralee Thungthongkam, the fourth seeds, in an hour.

The unseeded duo had made headlines earlier in the day when they pipped the top Indonesian pairing of Jo Novita and Lita Nurlita 15-7, 9-15, 15-10 before stunning sixth-seeded Danes Rikke Olsen and Mette Schjoldager 15-4, 15-7.

Their loss ended Singapore's challenge at the 106-year-old tournament as Ronald Susilo, Kendrick Lee, Li Li, Xing Aiying, Li and Hendri Kurniawan Saputra all bowed out on opening day in their respective events.

Buoyed by their early success on Friday, Jiang and Li stuck to a defensive, counter-attacking strategy in the first game and shocked their more experienced opponents 15-6.

That was when the crowd sensed an upset. But it was not to be.

The Singapore pair tried to match the Thais for speed in the second to no avail - they committed a host of unforced errors and lost 8-15 despite leading early on.

They surrendered the third 9-15.

Said Jiang: 'What a waste. We did not stick to our plan after the first game, and were caught by their fast drives in the second and third games.'

The team are expected to return next week before going to the three-star Thailand Open in a fortnight.By Alvin FooThe Straits Times Interactive, March 13, 2005